Williams factory visit

As you may be aware I recently had the great pleasure of been invited to the Williams F1 team factory in Grove. For a person like myself this is like been presented the holy grail of motorsport. I must thank everyone at Williams, in particular CB ( she knows who I mean ) and all those I spoke to who made the visit so enjoyable for myself and my family.

After an uneventful drive from London to Grove I found myself seeing the sign pointing to the Williams factory. To say that I started to get somewhat excited would be an understatement. Going through the front gate, after presenting myself to security, and parking in the car park my level of excitement continued to grow. Speaking of security I must apologise for the lack of photos of my visit but the signs all said no photography. The Williams factory does not have the grandeur of say the McLaren facility, been more like any office and factory complex.

Walking through the front doors and up to reception I continued to have that buzz that comes from such a visit. This was despite been all calm on the outside. Waiting in the foyer for CB to arrive I had time to look at various trophies that were on display and Clay Regazzoni's FW07 which was also on display in the foyer. I don't know if any of you have seen pictures of the foyer but the FW07 was in the middle of a large polished floor with the walls covered with photos of various Williams drivers.

I first thrill of the visit came quite unannounced as I stood there talking with my
wife. She started to gesture to me to look behind me and I turned around to find Frank Williams there right behind me. He smiled at me and my family in recognition of our presence as visitors. Just as quickly as he arrived he moved off to a lift in the foyer to go up-stairs. I was simply put just lost for words. I should have said hello or something to him like I hope all goes well in 2007 but I was just slightly in shock that I had been in the same room as Frank Williams. Some of you may think this somewhat of an over reaction but for me I simply was in awe of the fact that I had been with Frank Williams, one of my heroes of Formula One.

Shortly after this CB arrived and after introductions I was able to start my visit.
We moved off and proceeded to the factory and into the machining area. Our first stop was at the area where the exhausts for the cars and developed and created. I was able to take time to hear about some of the technical aspects of exhaust manufacturer, including the need to all the exhausts to be the same length. We were given an exhaust from a V10 engine to look at and it was amazing how light they were. I also discuss how the team copes with the incredible temperatures that the exhausts create and how the team stops them from causing damage to the rear of the car. It was amazing to find out that gaps to the bodywork of just millimetres are sufficient to allow for the cooling of the exhausts.

Into the machining area we stopped to have a look at some parts; front and rear
uprights, suspension components and the like. We were shown the difference in how the parts were produced in the past and that of today. For example in the past uprights use to be made and then the suspension connection points would be welded to these parts. Today they are milled out of one piece of metal. And the difference was amazing. A rear uprights from the 2006 car was compared with one several years ago. The new one was so much lighter and far more complicated in its construction, allowing for such things as cooling.

Further on and we passed various machining equipment and we stopped at one to see what parts were been produced. There were a part for the new gearbox and its seamless gear shift system. The part was both very complicated in its design and also very very light. We also took time to discuss the complexities of the seamless gearshift. Unfortunately I can not disclose what I learnt. We next stopped at the teams two gigantic autoclaves in which they finalise the creation of the various carbon fibre parts. These units basically heat up the parts under vacuum conditions which results in the hard carbon fibre structures like the monocoque and wings.

Moving on we then went past the area where the team stores various components including wings, drivers seats and the like. We stopped to have a look at the seat of Nakajima. Again the lightness of this component surprised me. Next we stopped in front of some windows behind which was a room full of people hard at work applying carbon fibre to several moulds. These just happened be the moulds for the new FW29. They are able to rotate the moulds so that they can lay the various carbon sheets out at different angles to produce strength in the components in a particular direction. Looking at the work that were doing it did not give me any indication of what the new FW29 would be like and even if it did I could not tell you.

Past this area were various component testing areas and finally we moved into the workshop area where the cars are finally put together from the large number of components and then loaded in the transporters. In there were two FW28's with an interim colour scheme most of which you would have seen in photos on the Internet. If you ever get the chance to stand close to a Formula One car and look at the attention to detail that goes into everything from the chassis, wings, bodywork, the carbon fibre covering the suspension components it is simply a work of art. The two cars were to be used by the team in testing. Little could be seen of the Toyota engine apart from its engine outlets coming up through the exhaust.

Once we were finished in this area we moved outside and past the teams transporters which will be repainted prior to the start of the season. Walking up the road we past the teams wind tunnel facilities which for obvious reasons we could not go into. You sort of have to sign the Official Secrets act to get in. Then it was back into the foyer and into the cafeteria where we sat down and took at break. Even though the visit took about an hour time seemed to pass so very quickly.

After we said our goodbyes it was time for me to return to London. There was so much to take in and I hope in these words I have at least conveyed some of what the Williams factory is like. One thing I can again highlight was the friendliness of all the Williams staff that I had time to talk to as I moved around the factory. Thanks again goes to CB for allowing me the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes in a Formula One team.