Jacques Villeneuve said he was "dying of pain" after driving a modern Formula 1 car this week and compared the experience to "fast-forwarding a movie".
The Canadian got behind the wheel of an Alpine A521, the car used in the 2021 world championship, in a test at Monza on Wednesday. It was the first time he has driven a contemporary F1 car since 2006, when he ended his career with BMW Sauber.
And the only things familiar to the 1997 world champion was the track itself and, of course, Fernando Alonso. Everything else, he said after completing the test, felt very different to the machines he was used to piloting in the prime of his racing days.
"The car was actually very stable, it's quite simple to drive, but there is so much grip," Villeneuve told RacingNews365. "The speed... your brain really struggles to comprehend this. You're nailed to the ground and it feels like you're watching a movie while you're fast-forwarding. It's really impressive.
"I thought: 'Okay, your brain remembers everything – the racing lines and anything from 15-16 years ago'. Even the braking boards where you should brake, how you should [do it], everything is there. So that memory is not gone. But when you go with that memory, you hit the brakes, and finished braking, the corner is still 50 metres away!
"Even without braking, it feels like a parachute is braking the car. I can't remember ever having the opportunity to drive such a stable car. I was afraid I couldn't keep my head up, but I just managed to. Tonight, I am dying of pain!"
The event was organised to celebrate 25 years having passed since Villeneuve won the driver's championship for the first and only time. To prepare, he was given some time in Alpine's simulator – and found the experience to be an unsettling one.
"It made me sick," the 11-time F1 race winner admitted. "When you step on the brake pedal, your brain thinks you are in an F1 car, it forgets you are in a simulator. It thinks you are getting the g-force, when you aren't getting it. You are supposed to get weight on your head and arms, but you aren't.
"Instead of feeling the weight of the belts, you get the weight of the seat – it's the opposite of what you should feel. That's when the brain goes: 'Oops, something is wrong here', like you've taken some mushrooms or something. That's why the brain tries to make you sick – it thinks you've taken something you shouldn't.
