Formula 1 and DTM driving techniques with Gary Paffett

"The V10s were pretty extreme cars. I remember my first F1 test in December 2000 at Jerez. I did about 14 laps, got out of the car and my neck was finished. It was hanging off. So they got the foam pads out, stuck them on the side of the cockpit and sent me out again.

"But that’s how it was back then. The g-force in those days was incredible. Owing to the amount of power the V10s had, they needed massive wings and massive amounts of downforce to go with the 950bhp engines. Then we changed to the V8 which, to start with, was a bit of a toned-down V10, and a bit slower.

"To start with, we would blow up two or three engines every test, which was the kind of thing you got used to. You’d learn the sound of the engine about to expire and you’d be on the straight close to the rev limiter and pull the clutch paddles in before it went pop, so you didn’t get fired off into the barrier.

"A couple of times I had it happen at Jerez where the engine let go. You’d go to pull off to the side, the gearbox would lock and you would be fired off into the barrier, so you learnt the sound before it would let go."

At this point I just sit back and let Gary continue. His enthusiasm is unrelenting.

"In 2009 we started with KERS and that headache. I remember the first test with that car and the team were like, 'Right, KERS is on this button, and then there’s this button to do this...'. I just thought, 'I can’t drive this; there are too many things to do!'.

"The problem at the time was, as soon as you got on full throttle, you were trying to get KERS, and you were looking at the dashboard because they wanted you to use 10% out of this corner and 7% out of that corner, and you were forgetting to change gear.

"However, once you got used to that and all the procedures, then DRS came in as well. And then you had the magnificent f-duct system, where you placed your elbow into the hole in the side of the cockpit and changed the car's aero to reduce drag. It was a great innovation, but some of the things were really quite challenging.

"Recently, the most incredible F1 car was the 2011-2012 version with the blown diffusers. The amount of downforce they had was phenomenal. In qualifying modes, the throttle bodies were open 90% through the whole corner.

"When we had the F1 cars with blown diffusers, they were completely different from before because the more throttle you had on, the more downforce you had. In other F1 cars you’d get on the power and you’d get a bit of wheelspin, so you’d wait. With these cars you’d get a bit of wheelspin so you would have to apply more throttle to get more downforce and get rid of the wheelspin.

"It’s a case of trying to compute and get your head around how to drive these different cars. High-speed corners were just for braver people. If you stayed flat, you would have more downforce and you’d get through quicker."

Gary admits he's seen a lot of changes in F1 over the years but, in his view, the latest return to turbocharged engines has definitely been the most revolutionary, and the most difficult to get used to.

"We used to have a ‘normal’ engine, and then a KERS package that recovered into batteries. You’d press a button to use it. But, nowadays, it’s all integrated into the system, so basically your KERS now fills in the torque gaps in the engine, so you have a perfect torque curve as the electronics fill it in.

"The amount of recovery systems you have now, and the amount of recovery going on, means you can have smaller rear brakes. You have very little rear braking. The engine, gearbox and brakes are all integrated and if one thing goes slightly wrong, then it’s a chain reaction.

"The cars this year aren’t anywhere near as physically hard to drive as the old V10s, with their massive amounts of downforce. They were really, really tough. They’re now easier to drive but with all the other things you’ve got to do - DRS, and understanding your fuel saving and things like that – it’s a different challenge.

"One interesting thing is, however much the FIA takes downforce and grip away from you, the engineers just find it. Within six months you’ve gone from a car which is horrible to one that is amazing!”