SINGAPORE: Not many amateur drivers get the chance to drive a Formula One car.

But a few Singaporeans managed to get behind the wheels, by enrolling on a course at the TAG Heuer-AGS F1 Driving School in southern France.

MediaCorp artiste Tay Ping Hui did just that.

The F1 car can reach a speed of 325 kilometres per hour (kph)!

Tay claimed he hit a top speed of about 260kph.

"The experience is something you will never be able to imagine. I can tell you how it feels and how it is. But the G Force that you experience, the compactness when you are sitting inside there, the fear when you are going to drive the car, (the experience) is nothing that you can imagine in this world," he said.

That rare opportunity cost Tay more than S$2,000.

Another Singaporean who got that privilege was Dr Kenny Chan, the CEO of Hour Glass.

"The whole driving experience is not about attaining the speed; it really is about navigation control and manoeuvring, it is really much more complex than I ever envisaged, it is not just about putting your foot down on the full throttle, but it's really braking, releasing, going round the corner, driving round the bends," he said.

To make sure the rookies know what to expect, they are given a theory lesson on safety and how to handle the super-fast cars.

This is followed by a trial test driving the F3 versions, which are similar but have less power than F1 cars.

Tag Heuer says that so far about 15 people from Singapore, including Tay and Dr Chan, have been given that once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive an F1 car.

If you also want to be on the list, get the details at the website www.agsf1.

- CNA/ir