Ted Kravitz explains thrill of driving Alpine F1 car before their shock podiums

Hours before Alpine’s sensational double-podium at the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Sky Sports aired footage of Ted Kravitz taking one of the team’s cars for a spin.

TV broadcaster Kravitz learned the ropes at the Wingfield Racing School and first practised in a Formula 4 car, enduring a spin in the process.

But he was afforded a once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive Alpine’s Formula 1 machine.

Esteban Ocon’s advice was: “You can go full throttle from the last corner. Wait a bit, or you might spin from the power.

“Go full throttle then try to brake hard at the end of the straight. “That’s when you will realise the potential of an F1 car.

“In the corners, you will struggle to get to the limit of it.

“In braking, if you smash the braking, you won’t see the corner! You won’t be ready for the forces!

“Brake hard, and try to hold your neck.

“Downshift when you arrive to the corner. Get easy on the gas. “When you feel comfortable in the middle of the straight, third to fourth gear, start to go on the throttle.”

Kravitz asked: “Like there’s an egg between my foot and the throttle?”

Ocon answered: “That’s pretty much how you have to take it. There is a lot of power.”

Kravitz drove the Alpine around the Circuit Paul Ricard successfully, experiencing the rare thrill of what F1 drivers feel.

Still in the car, he jubilantly said: “That was great! What a machine! It’s so sweet!

“Well, I’ll never do that again but thank you for the experience. “It was so much fun, unbelievably good.”

Kravitz later told Ocon: “I see the thrill. All the sacrifice - watching what you eat, being selfish - is worth it! That’s the feeling.

“Now, I know why you do it.”

Ocon replied: “I am glad you’ve done it.”

Kravitz later explained: “It’s a fighter jet on wheels. The power is unbelievable.

“Once you are reasonably sure you won’t crash or spin off, it’s so much fun.

“It has completely reframed my references of what these guys are doing. They are superheroes, they are so good.

“Not only are they mastering these cars, but they think about racing, tyre wear, strategy.

“It’s hard, tough, loud, violent in those cars. It hurts. But the reward is worth it.”

Reflecting on the experience in Brazil last weekend, Kravitz said: “It was a bit wet, the best advice was to go fast. Because the car doesn’t work unless you go fast, with the aerodynamics.

“The reward you get at the limit? I got nowhere near. I braked, the force of the braking was immense, but I had to get back on the gas to get to Turn 1 because I braked far too early, because I didn’t have the bravery.

“Any of us can pick up a cricket bat, a baseball bat… but Formula 1 is the only sport completely out of access to an ordinary person.”

And whatever became of Alpine, afterwards? Well, Ocon and Pierre Gasly claimed a brilliant double-podium to cap off the Sao Paulo GP weekend.