Memories of the year: A fast ride with Jean Alesi

When you are lucky enough to travel to all 19 grands prix, it is no easy feat to try and pick out a single moment as the best of the year.

There have been countless instances over the course of the season that still bring a smile to my face when I look back to them: the excitement on the grid in Australia with the rain clouds rolling in; the tension of the Abu Dhabi weekend; standing in the rain watching Eminem in Sao Paolo; winning the final annual Bridgestone media kart race in Barcelona; celebrating with champion Sebastian Vettel in Monaco at the FIA prize gala earlier this month.

Any of those could be picked as my best memory of 2010, but in the end there is still one crazy afternoon at the Yas Marina circuit that will stay with me for a very long time.

I was one of a select group of journalists invited to Abu Dhabi for a 48-hour workshop on what it is like to be a racing driver. We ate like racing drivers, were given mental and physical tests that drivers go through and we got to have a pretty good blast in some racing cars, too.

The highlight came on the final afternoon when we got passenger experiences that were out of this world. In terms of an instant adrenaline rush of screaming speed where your body and brain are not quite in sync, then nothing could beat that first blast of acceleration in a ride in Yas Marina's 1000bhp three-seater dragster.

But, for an overall experience that left me grinning for ages, riding in an F1 two-seater with Jean Alesi was simply magical. The Frenchman may never have achieved his full potential in grand prix machinery, but he is one of the most exciting drivers of his generation. Put him behind the wheel of anything and he will rag it to the max.

It was no different in the two-seater. Not for him the cautious approach - this was about flat-out acceleration, braking as late as he could for corners, smashing the car over kerbs, getting the back to step out and dancing the car on the edge of adhesion as much as he could.

My brain loved it; my body not so much. My head was getting thrown about by the braking and cornering G-forces, my back was aching, my body hurting as it was chucked about inside the tight confines of the cockpit - but all the while I was smiling away inside that helmet.

It was simply magical. Thanks Jean.