Shropshire Star

Airfields, Astras and ancient mobile phones: Rob Wilson teaches us to drive like an F1 racer

Can a day in a Vauxhall Astra at an airfield make us faster drivers? We head to Bruntingthorpe with professional coach Rob Wilson to find out

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A WWII airfield, a Vauxhall Astra and a battered Nokia 6310 — three things you find hard to believe are used to train some of the top Formula One drivers.

But these are the tools that racing driver and professional F1 driver coach Rob Wilson uses to get the best out of his pupils – some of which include the likes of current F1 stars Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Hülkenberg.

And it works. He manages to get those extra tenths out of even the seemingly most perfect drivers, and as a result, has a waiting list of three months. This is more impressive when you find out he never advertises, and good luck finding out his contact details – there are even online forum threads dedicated to just trying to get his number.

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One Russian driver actually buys him a diary each year before filling it out with the dates they’re having with him to ensure availability. Clever.Despite 11 out of 20 of the current Formula 1 grid being on his books – some visiting once before every race – his portfolio extends to engineers, development drivers, other professional racers and some who travel from Australia just for a few sessions.

Among the glitz and glamour of F1, it seems odd that we’re at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground in the Midlands driving around a standard petrol Vauxhall Astra.


It might seem strange to outsiders for a standard run-of-the-mill car to be used to help those at the top of their game in motorsport, but this is all about mastering the smallest of things that you couldn’t pick up in a modern Formula 1 car with over 1,000bhp, and that modern telemetry couldn’t detect either.

The Astra in question is a 2018 1.4-litre petrol with 138bhp. It’s completely standard and takes a ton of abuse. Vehicles get switched every three months with each car covering the equivalent miles of two Le Mans 24 Hour races.

The front tyres are replaced every day, while brake pads get changed every three to four days. Other than brake discs which have to be changed from time to time, the Astras never have anything else done to them.

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Wilson explained why he uses them: “When you’re racing, you and the cars have to deliver every day and you need something you can rely on. The Astras are both dynamically good, but importantly robust which is why they’re the car of choice.”

“Everyone understands the value of using the Astra because it helps as all the messages [braking points, steering inputs, weight transfer, for example] are bigger and it’s easier to see and improve on in slow motion.

“This means that if you know if you did one certain thing and it led to a mistake, then you can discuss it and it acts as an exaggerated version of what’s going on in a racing car.”

So, he may be able to improve an F1 driver — but how about me, a scruffy motoring journalist? Time to find out.

Rob goes around first, showcasing what the Astra can achieve on the limit. He sets a 1:27:6 — timed on his trusty Nokia phone.

I stepped in the driver’s seat — and by comparison, the first lap is leisurely, to say the least. The Astra feels settled (which it shouldn’t) and I record a tortoise-pace 1:59:3. It doesn’t take long with a bit of guidance from Rob to cut 10 seconds off that.

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The first thing I’m taught is the importance of being fluid. Rob says that if you remain rigid in the car, gearshifts, steering inputs and use of the pedals are slowed down. As hard as I try, although remaining calm while driving an Astra at 100mph around an airfield is easier said than done.

We then move on to what’s known as ‘heel and toe’. I try and try but it feels as if I’m learning to drive again. Despite Rob’s persistence, it proves beyond me. Let’s ignore this…

Braking becomes the next hurdle to overcome. Rob gets increasingly agitated as I keep braking too early at every corner. But with a telling off for every time I brake before instructed, I get there eventually.

Well, nearly. At one point I arrogantly believed I knew best as we careered towards the sharpest corner of the makeshift track — how wrong I was proven to be. “Brake, brake, brake,” Rob yells – increasingly louder and louder – before he has to take evasive action and yank on the handbrake. At this point Rob asks for a cigarette break — and I can’t exactly blame him — which I learn is a commodity with Wilson. No doubt we’d all be smoking 50 a day, too, if we had to endure that on a regular basis.

Then came the final lap time. After repeatedly messing up at least one aspect of everything I’d been taught, I eventually broke through the barrier.

Late braking, accurate steering and a passion to succeed got us what we wanted. The result? A 1:32.1 – just four and a half seconds off the pace of Wilson and some of best F1 drivers. While there’s always room for improvement – shaving 27 seconds off my lap time in just a few hours is quite the major feat.

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Although Astras get the opportunity to retire every three months to a (hopefully) more placid life, Rob soldiers on. At 65 years young, he’s certainly experienced but is retirement a question. “No, you just keep going,” says Rob.

It’s a wonder that both Rob Wilson and his Vauxhall Astra accomplice can keep going under the thrashing of people like us — and those who actually know what they’re doing. But it shows the benefits of getting the basics right, and that you don’t need hundreds of horsepower to both drive fast while also sticking an enormous smile on your face in the process.

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