Driving a F1 Benetton B198 at the Catalunyan Spanish Grand Prix circuit near Barcelona.

[@francescociorpoido4475]

a lot of 12 years old world champions here in the comments

[@nanodrummer]

Must have been scary and exciting at the same time. Congrats on fulfilling your ambition

[@nicholaslees5701]

Thanks Anderson, scary beforehand but not during (adrenaline/concentration) but exciting yes. Just wish I could have made myself press the brake harder, would have improved my lap times a lot!

[@sergimontagut]

Amazing last lap recorder. It is so difficult to drive these cars! Great!

[@lucashajje3919]

The engine of the Benetton B198 sounds like the Benetton B194 with Ford Zetec-R ECA engine amazing sound with lower revs 14.000RPM what a dream love the ride and the cars thanks for the vídeo!

[@nicholaslees5701]

Thanks Lucas, the engine is a Ford Cosworth HB Formula 1 Engine - see my reply to James G below.

[@DorianG-sf2dt]

That's a dream of a lifetime !

[@ajlakanen]

You've got great reactions and nice driving lines. I'm sure it was worth the money!

[@nicholaslees5701]

Thanks Antii. Hope you enjoyed the video.

[@darkstar2315]

That car is in terrible condition lol. But it must still be an awesome drive.

[@amjan]

Wow, they modified that Benetton and made it wider!!! Instead of the silly narrow 180cm.

[@BobSmith-uu5kj]

Thanks for the vid. I tried the Benetton in August. Great experience! The first 2 laps got stuck in 6 gear but the crew solve it. Quite a run to drive slow corners on 6 gear! Then I did 4 more laps with no much downshift issue. My best lap time was 1:57 and reached 290km/hr end of the straight line. I hope one day I try the FW12, on that day it reached 325km/hr with no issues (it has 200hbp more than the Benetton at 650bhp). Best feeling... Bringing the car back in one piece :-)

[@nicholaslees6993]

Hi Bob, 1m57s is very good and beats my 2m5s, well done - have you done any racing before? 290km/hr is 180mph, fast - how was this measured? 325km/hr is 202m/hr, extremely fast! Regards Nick

[@BobSmith-uu5kj]

@@nicholaslees6993 Hi Nicholas, thanks. I do FR 2.0 in a club (a few times a year). I computed that a very good laptime on the Benetton would be 1:44 but the downshift issue is a real pain to facilitate corner entry speed - did you have problems with the downshift? A friend and I, we asked to see the telemetry on their laptops and took pictures of it. My friend who reached 325km/h was lapping at 1:50 consistently. It remains tricky to go faster as you do not want to run out of road with these historic and expensive cars. I am sure with more laps the chronos start to go down. Cheers!

[@nicholaslees6993]

@@BobSmith-uu5kj Glad to say I had no probs at all with the car, although the gear changes were VERY clunky! Have you put your vid on utube, if so let me have the link. Nick

[@BobSmith-uu5kj]

@@nicholaslees6993 Hi Nick, unfortunately my video got corrupt, and I only see leaving the pits. I will try to get it repaired at a pro shop (try online repair tools and did not work). I do have videos from my buddies filming outside the car and vids from this year FR2. If you have an email, I will send you the links as I don't post to the public. I can also send you my telemetry.

[@SS454LS6]

So you're saying the 1988 Williams FW12 which had 600-650 hp under the F1 rules has 850 hp in a rental program? Also you claim the FW12 can hit the same top speed as a 2003 Ferrari F2003-GA turned up to the max driven by Schumacher?

[@jd9799]

Lucky guy, I'm very jealous

[@nicholaslees5701]

Hi James, it is a F1 engine, it's a Ford Cosworth HB Formula 1 Engine - see www.flickr.com/photos/arvosadventures/5312251970/in/photostream/ The earliest versions revved to 12000rpm and produced at least 600bhp. I have no idea what the max revs were when I drove it but I remember 10000 being mentioned. The original engine in the Benetton B198 was a Playlife (Renault) F1 engine, I assume they have changed it for reliability.

[@MichaelCartyIreland]

Looks like a great experience but just because you spin a car, does not mean your near the limit. Great video.

[@agxenikos1445]

Wonderful last lap!!

[@nicholaslees5701]

Apart from the braking and missing a few apexes but thanks!

[@agxenikos1445]

nothing :p

[@johnpap1837]

AG Xenikos14 όταν φαίνεται ο Έλληνας .Welcome λένε στα αγγλικά όχι nothing χαχαχαχα 😂

[@RN-sw9lh]

Good driving Nicholas! I think You are not professional driver, but You have very good reactions! Anythink else is a lack of training, so good drive!

[@duncanclark937]

quite an experience I bet. The actual width of the track looked much smaller when you feel the speed and when you were catching the other car there looked to be absolutely no room to pass. The acceleration must be totally exhilarating but I am sure it takes a long time to get used to the idea of taking corners fast when your brain is telling you to brake. would love to try it Tom Clark

[@nicholaslees6993]

Hi Duncan / Tom? Thanks for the comments. Track is narrower than the newer ones but didn't feel narrow with just one other car around. I possibly could have have overtaken the 3 seater but thought they might not like it - I wish I had tried! The acceleration is great. I was happy taking the corners fast as the car gives you so much confidence, I just wish I braked harder to reduce the braking time & distance which would have reduced my lap times considerably - don't know why I didn't / couldn't, maybe too much else to think about (see my blog above). Start saving, wait for the pound to get stronger and have a go!

[@LorenzoMartullo]

Good Job, i Think IT was a fantastic experience For you ;)

[@gerhard4187]

A B199 with Ford V8 ... 🤔😅 it looks like an "Component-Cocktail" of 3 or 4 Benetton-Generations... But definitive really cool

[@Xvictor29]

Nice video mate ! Crosing fingers one day I’ll do the same with that beautiful Benetton! 🤞🏼

[@hugolafhugolaf]

Crazy, it seems so unstable and to have zero grip. I guess you have to actually go faster to generate some aero grip.

[@wyo550]

I've driven chassis seven with a Judd engine. Cool experience

[@GuilNascimento]

Well done, that must have been so exciting! There was good progression and your fastest lap seemed very enjoyable! In the video, the only reason you spun out on Turn 10 was because you put the power down too early and while you had too much lock on. If you waited another few metres you would have been fine. I'm sure a lot of people have already pointed this out to you and you're probably sick of hearing it, so apologies if that's the case! Don't compare yourself to Lewis' lap, his car is much faster in both acceleration, top speed and cornering. You did well :)

[@nicholaslees5701]

Thanks Guil, corner 10 is horrible, I don't think i got it right once in any of the cars!

[@Silkaz7]

How much did you pay to have this experience? thanks.

[@nicholaslees5701]

Around £3100 for 10 laps in the F1 at the time, unfortunately more at the moment because of the exchange rate (Euros). Not cheap!

[@Silkaz7]

thanks, i think i will go for it some day.

[@roguirio6911]

Can I give it a go?

[@Sum_Ting_Wong]

Apologies if I have missed it, but is this is an actual B198 from the 1998 season? It looks (and sounds) like an earlier iteration of the Bennetons but with modern livery.

[@nicholaslees5701]

Yes it is a B198 - see picture of Alex Wurz at 4.35.

[@bwoah4254]

Nicholas Lees The livery is painted like a B199 though.

[@gbdriving]

Hi Nicholas. This looks fantastic, great last lap. Did you have any track experience prior to this?

[@nicholaslees5701]

Thanks Graham, my laps would have been a lot quicker if I had pressed the brake harder (see blog). I did a bit of racing school at Brands hatch when I was 17 & 19 but ran out of money each time, since then a fair amount of 'corporate' karting and recently about 8 track days in my Honda S2000. All the best.

[@mattafact8929]

Need more heat into the tires and brakes, the concept of going faster and faster past the point of your comfortable understanding of what the limit of the grip is in order to generate more downforce/heat/traction and stability is difficult for anyone not accustomed to this type of vehicle

[@jd9799]

Man it looks like there's no grip on that, bad understeer. Is it due to set up or lack of tire temperature ?

[@nicholaslees5701]

Hi JD, understeer until I got moving / tyres hotter, then oversteer. The handling felt pretty good to me. I'm not really sure if I got the tyres up to temp or not but remember the tyres are probably a hard compound for longevity, not like the tyres used for real F1!

[@justarandomguy4873]

your last lap was 2:04.97

[@Elaba_]

0:32 I feel for ya.

[@PanzerFalcon2232]

It has a v8 instead of a v10? what?!

[@jimmycrackers7914]

Hey dude, cool video! How much did you pay to do this? And what experience did you have before this? Karting etc?

[@nicholaslees6993]

Nicholas Lees 1 year ago Thanks Jimmy, it was about £3000 for 10 laps in the F1 + 2 lots of 20mins in the FR. I did a bit of the racing school at Brands hatch when I was 17 & 19 but ran out of money each time (did 2 races with them), since then a fair amount of 'corporate' karting and recently about 8 track days in my Honda S2000. I would have had a lot better time if I could have made myself brake harder (see my original blog). All the best.

[@demonlover4110]

These cars are meant to be driven at there limit 🙄😒🏎️

[@240867ab]

I guess they are still unbelievably quick ,but that does not sound like a full blown f1 engine.Should have been a renault in there.

[@nicholaslees5701]

Hi, it is a F1 engine, it's a Ford Cosworth HB Formula 1 Engine - see www.flickr.com/photos/arvosadventures/5312251970/in/photostream/ The earliest versions revved to 12000rpm and produced at least 600bhp. I have no idea what the max revs were when I drove it but I remember 10000 being mentioned but could have been less, no rev counter just lights. The original engine in the Benetton B198 was a Playlife (Renault) F1 engine, I assume they have changed it for reliability.

[@finn0017]

3:13 2021 spanish gp practice 1 kubica vibes

[@o.jv.g2942]

is that an f1 car?

[@Gupko1662]

Yes, With a Gp2 engine

[@FOSIFER]

@@Gupko1662 When you don't know, you don't say anything

[@lukeholly4344]

Definitely need to be letting it rev out more between gear changes, and more speed would have help u take corners better cause there would bbe more heat in tyres , but God job anyway

[@nicholaslees5701]

Thanks for the advise (?) Luke - have you done it? If by 'letting it rev out more between gear changes' you mean taking it to max revs in each gear, I was all the time, they have limited the revs to some degree or other. With regard to the speed / heat in the tyres, I was on the limit all the time as is shown by the oversteer. As I said the only thing I could have improved on a lot (in my first go driving a F1 car) was pressing the brake pedal a hell of a lot harder! Thanks for the 'good job'. Nick

[@AJAnewage]

if you think you was pushing to the "limit" you obviously have no driving ability and if by over steer you mean part where you span and stalled it that was completely your own fault not the car and well every other time from what i could see couldn't be bothered watching it all because it was that bad...

[@MrSheffe]

Not sur a WoW backpedaller should criticize F1 driving :) Stop hating man, this guy did better with the beast than most people ever would.

[@jeremyalmquist27]

You're a big bitch lol.

[@hungrypanda2710]

Hi Michael Schumacher how u doing

[@RobbertsTravelGuides]

How to screw up a F1 car. Take out the V10 engine and put a aftermarket crappy engine in it to make people think you are actually driving something cool when its not

[@waty0usay1]

jees luis...slower than a kart.

[@akakaksk]

Is it really that hard to drive?

[@ChannelNotFound]

He was going too slow. The faster you go the more downfore you have = more grip.

[@fargeeks]

@@ChannelNotFound so you turn better at higher speeds?

[@ChannelNotFound]

@@fargeeks Yes

[@ErikS-]

From the time that they still made real racing cars. Lots of oversteer by the way.

[@nazart7830]

Lol at the over dramatic music

[@ruggeronardini]

It looks like a replica to me! Engine Sound is not that! moreover, I am not an F1! What engine mounts ??? F3? ..... :/

[@qksf1645]

the engine was changed to less powerful v8

[@iraniojose3730]

Errou a curva,kkkk que nem eu,no F1 no vídeo game claro kkkkkk.

[@TheManTheyCallAlex98]

How many times did you crap your pants.

[@nicholaslees5701]

No, all clean at the end thanks!

[@homonovus6]

chi ha il pane non ha i denti..

[@GhostriderPL23]

wtf is he doing?

[@funkjoker70]

GhostriderPL23 simulating a pace car lap? 🤔😏

[@umityldz3240]

Engine not playlife.

[@hitchernl1625]

Better you bought place in two seater, passenger place.

[@francoismeran3178]

Je me demande bien qui est ce pilote a 2 euros. Heureusement qu'il a pas mis son nom, je me serais foutu de lui.

[@FOSIFER]

Ca vous pose un problème qu'un simple amateur stagiaire ose faire ça ? Qui a parlé de pilote ? Toujours un naze pour les critiques à 2 balles.

[@davo5659]

Ur not a very good driver 😂

[@constantin4958]

Racing Craft Just shut up fool

[@davo5659]

victorfilm ummm first lap turn 4 goes off

[@davo5659]

Fridolf_the_Finn There is a reason a put a laugh after it because I said it with a pinch of salt. And I wouldn’t ruin someone else’s fun especially about or to do with racing.

[@FrontWing-EndPlate]

knob....my Granny could handle that better!!!!

[@anavgeekspassion5727]

You go drive it THEN

[@juanm.5803]

Very bad driver