Want to try your hand at Formula 1?

Yes, most of us Formula 1 fans think that if we had the cash or the opportunity, we'll be racing head-to-head with Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber and those guys.


Well, Some of the fans were given a chance to prove it...


A recent two-day driving event hosted at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi surely proved a point.


A lot of people think that F1 drivers have the easiest job in the world. You sit in a car, drive around a track, and it's all in a day's work. Nothing to it, right? Wrong...


Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli, an expert working 20 years with F1 drivers, took some fans under his wing and opened their eyes to what a Formula 1 driver endures and what one needs to be a good Formula 1 driver.


This included some challenging physical and mental tests, including strapping some 5kg weights to the visitors' helmets to simulate the g-forces on the neck. Then they had to hold a steering wheel, also with some weights attached, on full lock for six minutes at a time to simulate how difficult the steering can get in those cars.


The mental test included a reaction time test on a computer, with a string of "True" and "False" questions about the colours of words flashing on the screen.


The visitors averaged 75 correct out of 100, and Dr. Ceccarelli said that Robert Kubica can do 100 of them in 60 seconds, going up to 300 without getting one wrong.


He also added that a Formula 1 driver's heartbeat goes up to 210 beats a minute in a race, slowing down to around 50 beats when they are braking.


So, do you still think F1 drivers are pansies? I'd certainly put my head in the ground if I were you...