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Lewis Hamilton might be a seven-time F1 champion, but there’s one challenge that even he can’t overcome: the tutorial stage of Driver. The PS1 game, which was first released in 1999, has become infamous for its absurdly difficult tutorial stage.
Within a 90-second time limit, players have to fit in a burnout, 360-degree turn, 180-degree reverse turn, a brake test, and a lap of the racing course. There’s little room to mess up too, as the player is only allowed three strikes within that time frame. It’s a non-skippable tutorial, and if you can’t complete it, you’re cruelly unable to progress any further in the game.
In a video posted on the Mercedes-AMG F1 YouTube channel, Hamilton tries numerous times to get past the first stage to no avail. Firstly, he wrecks his car. Then, he runs out of time. “Damn it, I can’t get past the first stage,” he said.
Lewis Hamilton gets nostalgic
After giving Driver a crack, Hamilton fared a little better in other retro racing games like F1 2000 and Gran Turismo. “[It’s] crazy to be in games because I remember I used to play F1 2000 for example, and the ones before,” Hamilton shared.
“I think when I was always playing this I would always play McLaren because I was signed by McLaren. So it was always like dreaming of that being in that car so I’d always play, like Kimi [Räikkönen],” he added.
Hamilton then went on to share how his first games console was a Nintendo, although he did once get a Playstation for Christmas.
He recalled: “I remember I got this Playstation; my parents all put their money [and] together got this for Christmas but I wanted a new helmet. So we took the PlayStation back and I got a new helmet and then couldn’t afford to paint it so my dad painted it.”
Given how his career is going now, it’s arguable Hamilton made the right call with the helmet, though if he kept his PS1, maybe he’d be a little better at Driver.
For more on gaming, check out our pieces on the latest Steam sale and the new arrivals in the Nintendo Switch SNES Library.
Featured Image: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team/YouTube
