Inside Williams Racing: What I Learned About Formula 1 From the Inside Out

Let me just say this: If you ever get the chance to spend a week behind the scenes at a Formula 1 team, TAKE IT. Even if you accidentally ruin Charles Leclerc’s race strategy during a simulation (oops), you’ll still come out buzzing.

As a 16-year-old student with dreams of working in motorsport, I was incredibly fortunate to spend four days inside Williams Racing, one of Formula 1’s most iconic teams.

It was not only fascinating to gain a deeper appreciation for how many different areas contribute to racing but also inspiring to see the wide range of career paths available within the industry as well interact with the different people collaborating together to produce the fastest possible car.

From walking through the factory, to listening to people who live and breathe F1, and even trying my hand at different aspects of the sport this program was an unforgettable experience. I got an inside look at one of the most complex and exciting sports. And here’s what I learned.

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🏁 Day 1 – From Factory Floor to Team Principal

The week started with a welcome from HR, before we were welcomed into the Singapore room to be given our first big challenge of the week, a marketing project that would run across all four days where we had to design the launch of a new Williams livery.  

We then went on a factory tour that showed us how parts designed by the engineering team go from design to production and into the race bay.

We then went onto learn about the role of employee ambassadors and heard from Paul Williams about race engineering and the teams he manages. It was extremely interesting to learn about the size of each driver’s race team which goes much further beyond the voice we hear on the radio on weekends.

One of my favourite parts of the week was the visit to Mission Control. We took part in a race simulation, based on the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, where I controlled the decisions for Charles Leclerc (that year’s polesitter). Everything was going well... until I accidentally made a switch to inters in the dry, which saw Charles tumble down the order into P20. However, with some quick thinking to burn fuel by putting the car in qualifying pace, I helped Charles recover to P2 and will now never underestimate tyre choice again.

We were then extremely lucky enough to meet James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams Racing. He was getting ready to fly out to Zandvoort for the forthcoming race on 29^th August.  Meeting Mr Vowles was another real highlight. He gave us an honest, fascinating insight into what leadership looks like in a high-pressure, high-performance environment like F1.

The day concluded after an exploration of the heritage museum, which brought the team’s rich history to life.

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🔧 Day 2 – Building, Budgeting, and Steering Wheels

The day kicked off with an F1 quiz, which made me realise I need to brush up on my Williams history (sorry Frank).

Then we met Aaliya from the design team, who showed us what goes into creating car components that are both fast and, at the same time, don’t fall apart at 300kph.  They further explained the challenges of balancing performance, safety, and cost.

Speaking of cost, we also heard from Mary in finance, who explained the cost cap regulations and how carefully teams must allocate every penny and find creative ways to balance budgets while still pushing performance

My highlight of the day was building our own model steering wheels which really helped bring the engineering side to life. It made me appreciate just how complex and customised they are!

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🌬️ Day 3 – Wind Tunnels, Simulators, and Giant Sidepods (STEM in Action)

This was the most STEM-heavy day of all — and one of my favourites.

Today. we heard from procurement about managing supplier relations and even tried role-playing supplier negotiations — turns out I’m a surprisingly firm negotiator when carbon fibre is on the line.

We visited the driver-in-loop simulator (DIL), where we discovered how drivers, engineers, and even Mercedes HPP collaborate during 20-minute testing stints. It’s basically the gaming setup of your dreams, only much more technical, and you know... real.

Later, we met two mechanics, Logan and Josh, who let us hold a sidepod. Fun fact: it's way bigger than you'd think. They were both prepping real parts for the upcoming race in Zandvoort.

We also visited the wind tunnel with Mark Peers (Lead Wind Tunnel Technician), where we learned how testing runs operate under strict time limits and even stepped inside to see how fog particles are used to map airflow.

We ended the day with a STEM challenge designing nose cones for a crash test challenge. Ours didn’t survive the first crash test, but at least round two was much better. The trick, we were told, was to balance the need for a crumple zone to minimise the force on the driver along with not letting it get completely destroyed.

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🎮 Day 4 – Marketing Pitches and Many, Many Simulator Crashes

Our final day included a career pathways session with the amazing Alice from Early Careers. She gave us an overview of different career paths into F1

We also worked on the finishing touches to our marketing pitch, which we then presented to the group.

Then to round off the week we had lots of fun racing in the esports sim. I was confident but disappointingly also wrong. Let's just say my lap times were... well, not exactly pole position and I visited the gravel trap more than once and had a few crashes along the way. But it was so fun.  Let’s just say I’ll probably be better of sticking to the engineering side of things and leaving the driving to the experts!

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🚀 Final Thoughts

Looking back, the four days at Williams Racing were an incredible journey through the many facets of Formula 1. From engineering, marketing, logistics, finance, procurement, and more every area plays an essential role in making the team successful.  It was eye-opening to see just how much collaboration, innovation, and dedication it takes to compete at the highest level.

It also reminded me how important it is to show girls that STEM careers in motorsport are for them too. There’s a growing space in this industry for creative problem solvers, strategic thinkers, and driven young people.

Huge thanks to Lucy and the Williams Early Careers team for an unforgettable experience and for giving me the opportunity to explore the sport from so many different angles.  This experience has deepened my appreciation not just for F1 as a fan, but for the people and expertise that drive it forward every day.