I’m the Mexican driver’s sixth ride that night, so he’s got his eye in – but the ferocity with which he nails the throttle and then hits the brakes into Turn 1 is still… striking.
I’ve headed to my hot lap just after interviewing the F1 drivers post-Free Practice 2, where every single one of them had complained of low grip conditions on the cold and dusty track. Esteban, however, doesn’t appear to have got the message, going hard on power well before the apex of the long Turn 1-2. My civilian brain feels sure that the front end of the car is simply going to understeer and wash us into the barriers, but Esteban keeps his foot planted and the nose pulls around.
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The onboard footage – every Pirelli Hot Lap participant is sent a beautifully put together edit of their lap – shows my helmeted head being wedged between the door frame and the window at this point, before the Stuart bonce is then thrown the other way as Esteban hoons it around the long radius Turns 3-4 and onto the first bit of respite as we make our way down to Turn 5.
We’re approaching traffic, though, Jess Hawkins’s black Aston Martin DBX and IndyCar racer Christian Lundgaard’s turquoise McLaren Artura up ahead. ‘Ah – that’s torn it,’ I think. Esteban, though, is in a devilish mode, and as we steam into Turn 7, he’s practically in the bumper of Hawkins’ car, before divebombing down the inside of her into the slow Turn 8 left-hander.
I’m breathless at this point, but Esteban is giggling to himself. Seemingly the Pirelli Hot Laps drivers – all ex or current racers – like to have a good time out there…
