Usain Bolt lit up after driving Formula E’s GENBETA car in Mexico

If you look up the word “fast” in a thesaurus, you’ll find Usain Bolt listed beneath it. No human on earth has ever run faster, but in Mexico City, the 100- and 200-meter world record holder finally met his match.

“It’s the first time in my life I’m comfortable saying something is faster than me,” Bolt conceded after a run in Formula E’s GENBETA car, a prototype based on the current GEN3 racing machine, with an increased battery power output of 400kW (up from 350kW in the GEN3) and softer Hankook tires.

Bolt sampled the machine ahead of the first free practice session at the season-opening Mexico City E-Prix, an opportunity that initially caught him by surprise.

“There’s no words to explain. For me, that was just the experience of a lifetime,” he said. “I never knew I was actually going to get to drive the car. I remember when they hit me up and said, ‘You need to get a suit made,’ I thought we were going to a dinner until I saw the measurements.”

A dinner table might have been a touch more comfortable, at least at first, with Bolt noting that he felt somewhat claustrophobic after he squeezed his 6 foot 5 inch frame into the compact single-seater.

“There’s no space; it was really close,” he said. “It was the first time I’ve ever been claustrophobic because it was so close, [but] for me, the moment I got going, it was gone. I was just enjoying myself.”

Ahead of his run, Bolt received training from Formula E safety car driver Bruno Correia and 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard, who was impressed by Bolt’s application.

Bolt in the Porsche Taycan safety car with Correia. Formula E photo

“I was very impressed with Usain’s focus and desire to put in a strong performance,” the Scot said. “Put the world’s fastest man in this incredible race car and he was always going to push it to the limit. Once a champion, always a champion.”

Bolt, a noted gearhead, added, “I drive fast so I take notes of how people drive and I listen to commentators and stuff so I understand how to go into a corner, get out of a corner. It was a beautiful experience.”

While Bolt is no stranger to driving fast, a Formula E car isn’t a typical car – “It’s different,” as he appropriately put it.

“It’s like a rocket ship on wheels,” he said. “The power that I got, the surprise that I got, the launch and everything just gives a different feel and the adrenaline that you get from this is on another level, easily.