Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc flies a Rafale B fighter jet reaching over 8G

Driving a Formula 1 car is the most extreme experience you can have in a four-wheeled vehicle, but there is something even more extreme.

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The Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, of the Ferrari team, had the opportunity to check it out thanks to the French Air Force. Leclerc has published a video on his YouTube channel in which he shows his experience during two flights aboard a Dassault Rafale B fighter plane, the two-seater version of the most modern aircraft in the French air defence system. On the first flight, Leclerc withstood manoeuvres of up to 5 G (the maximum gravitational force that Formula 1 drivers usually experience in their cars), while on the second flight he reached up to 8.2 G:

You can see some images from the video here. The two flights were made from the Saint-Dizier-Robinson Air Base 113, near Saint-Dizier, 163 kilometres east of Paris. Here we see Leclerc in the co-pilot's seat of the Rafale B.

The plane Leclerc flew is the Rafale B 321/4-HQ, seen in this image. The plane belongs to the 4e Escadre de Chasse (4th Fighter Wing). As we can see in this image, the plane wore a black band on its wing insignia, in mourning for the death of Captain Sébastien Mabire and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens in an accident in which two Rafale fighter planes from the aforementioned base collided in flight over Colombey-les-Belles on 14 August.

This first flight lasted 3 hours and Leclerc's plane carried out an in-flight refueling with an Airbus A400M Atlas tanker aircraft of the French Air Force.

On this flight, Leclerc was able to fly over his country, Monaco, and see his home from the air. Monaco is the second smallest country in the world and has a very small armed force. It has no air force, so its air defence is provided by France.

This first flight left some beautiful images, such as this sunset over the Mediterranean Sea.

Leclerc finished this first flight somewhat dizzy, although with a happy face, as you can see. As a curiosity, the French Air Force assigned him a flight suit with an identification patch, indicating his name and his own aeronautical nickname (an old tradition among aviators): "Perceval". The full name of the Monegasque pilot is Charles Marc Herve Perceval Leclerc, which is why the Spanish pilot, Carlos Sáinz, referred to him as "Lord Perceval" on one occasion, in an ironic tone.

Finally, here we see Leclerc on the second flight, at the moment when he reached 8.2 G. The reaction of the Monegasque driver was very funny, as you can see in the video.