There aren’t many places on Earth where you can say you’ve overtaken someone through Eau Rouge while taking it flat out on a Formula One driving sim after having a couple of drinks.
But F1 Arcade is one of them and after checking it out, it left me hungry to do it all over again.
F1 Arcade is a social gaming bar with dozens of full-motion Formula One racing simulators, bars and food with UK locations in London and Birmingham.
Myself and five colleagues were very kindly given the chance to check out F1 Arcade in London after work one night and as soon as we got there, we were all stunned with what greeted us.
The racing sims at F1 Arcade / indy100 & The Independent
Going up a flight of stairs, the venue is illuminated by two big bars, neon lights that look as though they resemble circuit outlines, start lights and, of course, the glow from the screens of all the racing sims.
We checked in at the reception and were shown to two racing sims that were booked out for us for just over an hour. As there was six of us, we played team racing.
If there are two or three of you, you can drive three or five races directly against each other. If there are four or more, you will be split into different teams and will compete against each other.
In our case, we were split into two teams of three and battled it out across 12 races, each with a total of 10 drivers – two of us and eight AI.
These races are random as there’s no telling who you’ll be going up against in each race. Each one lasts for 300 seconds with your position at the end of those five minutes determining the final result.
Once we were shown how the sims work, talked through the different difficulties and got a round of drinks in, it was time to strap in for the first race. And I was up.
Bit of a baptism of fire, the first race was at Suzuka. Having been to F1 Box before, and even driving this very track, I was feeling confident and went for the normal difficulty.
However I had a bad start and spun out of one of the early corners after applying the throttle too early. It was a recovery drive which wasn’t helped by my colleague doing their best to stop me from overtaking them at all costs…
I ended up fourth but felt like I was getting the hand of it again by the end of this race. And after that, I found my rhythm and reeled off wins around COTA (US), Spa Francorchamps (Belgium) and Zandvoort (Netherlands).
I felt quite chuffed winning the Zandvoort race by 24 seconds! But the team I was on lost and we were given pelters by the winners.
Now – for the prices, which I’d say are on the higher end.
F1 Arcade in London / indy100 & The Independent
Going off the prices at F1 Arcade in London, both team racing and head-to-head start from £15.75 per driver. As each race lasts five minutes and you only get a handful, this might be considered a little pricey.
There are watch parties too which start from £39 per driver where you can join others to watch live Formula One races. Tickets include open sim racing plus unlimited tea and coffee before and throughout the race.
And the food and drink is a little steep too.
At the London venue, the cheapest pint you’ll get is £7.20 (which is pretty much what you expect in London nowadays) with the cheapest alcoholic drink of any kind being £6.20 for a bottle or a can.
But alcoholic cocktails start from the eye-watering price of £13. There are non-alcoholic options for both, along with a selection of soft drinks, spirits and more.
There’s food as well including sharing plates, tacos, flatbreads, large plates, bar snacks, sides and desserts but these are all a bit on the pricey side too – it’s at least £8.50 for a portion of three tacos, a double burger with fries is £19 and the cheapest bar snack is still a fiver.
F1 Arcade is brilliant – even though it’s a bit on the pricey side / indy100 & The Independent
Overall, I absolutely loved my experience of F1 Arcade and every single one of my colleagues enjoyed it too. It’s a really fun space for Formula One fans to hang out and to race against friends and family for those all important bragging rights.
It’s not the cheapest venue and I personally wouldn’t have more than one or two drinks – but it’s a heck of a lot of fun and I would recommend checking it out if you’re looking for something different to do or love Formula One.
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