With another round of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship down, Round 9 in Berlin pulled in record crowds to the city's iconic Templehoff airport, with more than a few familiar racing faces spotted among them. With everyone from Team Principal & CEO of Mercedes-AMG motorsport Toto Wolff and his wife Susie, to world champion driver Nico Rosberg, German football legend Lother Matthaus and driver tuned pundit David Coulthard, it's safe to say Berlin wasn't short of celebrity endorsements.
But among the crowd of accomplished sports people was model and actress Emily Ratajkowski. Best known for her roll in Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines music video and 2014 Hollywood blockbuster Gone Girl, Ratajkowski didn't just come along for the racing action - no, that's far too tame - she donned a racing suit, did a sighting lap with Rosberg and hit the track. Here's how she got on.
"I'm excited [about the drive] - I've never driven a race car before, so it will be fun!" she said, moments after stepping out the car following her sighting lap with Rosberg. "He taught me very well, lots about the right way to brake and where to accelerate - I learnt a lot about that!"
With a coach like world champion driver Rosberg, what could go wrong? That said, some of our celebrities haven't fared too well on the track before. Remeber when Chris Hemsworth ditched in the barrier in New York City last season? Or what about the time Orlando Bloom trimmed the nose cone of the championship car in Marrakesh earlier this year? "Yes, I'm hoping that doesn't happen to me!" said Emily, moments before stepping into the car. "I'm not going to take it too fast - I'm going to start slow and see how I feel," said a slightly apprehensive but no less determined Ratajkowski.
After cracking out a lap around the 2.375km Templehoff circuit, the actress emerged from the car calm and collected. "I got really nervous before but then it was so fun. You're really low to the ground, so that's the strangest part."
"I think it's amazing to see such a quiet car. You always think of race car driving as such a loud thing, so it's beautiful to see something so quiet move so fast," she added.
Stay tuned to fiaformulae.com to watch her full lap.