F1’s exciting new driving experience is open for business in London. We asked F4 star Louis Sharp to give us his verdict
Tackling the motoring issues that matter
Steve Fowler
THERE’S no end of evocative names when it comes to Formula One racing circuits: Silverstone, Spa, Monza, Monaco and now Las Vegas, too. But Tottenham?
Hidden away underneath the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London is a new attraction that’s aimed at following Netflix’s Drive To Survive in taking F1 to a new audience. F1 Drive is a karting experience that’s set to give fans a taste of the real thing – and Auto Express was one of the first to take a look.
However, when it came to driving around the new 500-metre, 17-turn circuit, we had someone special up our sleeve: current British Formula Four champion (and, we reckon, future F1 star) Louis Sharp.
We last met Louis 18 months ago when he was just into Formula Four – and couldn’t complete the whole season because he was too young. He went on to win the championship in his first full year of competition.
Now 16 and still not legally allowed to drive on the road, Louis has moved up to GB3, won first time out at Oulton Park and, at the time of writing, leads the championship table. You get the drift – he’s a bit special. And that was instantly recognised by the F1 Drive team the moment our ringer took to the track.
More of that later, but there’s much more to the F1 Drive experience than just a kart and a track. As an engineering feat, it’s a thing of wonder.
It lives directly underneath the famous South Stand in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, which is the biggest single club stand in the UK, holding 17,500 fans on a match day (or rock concert, boxing match, NFL or rugby match, or any of the other events held at the 62,850-seater venue).
F1 Drive is the latest attraction to be added to the Stadium roster – you can do a stadium tour, walk out 47 metres over the pitch from the roof or even abseil down the side. Obviously, we couldn’t resist a quick look in the Tottenham Hotspur home changing room – and sitting in captain Son Heung-Min’s seat – but for us it was all about the F1 experience.
And although this is a karting track, it feels unlike any other karting circuit we’ve ever been to – and very F1.
This is the first F1 Drive to launch, so – as you’d expect – F1 has
