EVENT: Williams Racing Family Summer Festival 2023
On Saturday 24th June we were at Williams Racing HQ in Grove for their ‘Family Summer Festival 2023’. This event was put on for the Williams RACING staff and members of their family. It was such a great day, and was also a very busy day, with over 2,500 people attending this amazing event.
They had several Williams Racing drivers there too, including:
- Alex Albon (current Williams F1 Driver)
- Logan Sargeant (current Williams F1 Driver)
- Jamie Chadwick (IndyNXT Driver)
- Karun Chandhok (Commentator & ex Williams Racing Driver)
- Zak O’Sullivan (Williams Academy Driver)
- Ollie Gray (Williams Academy Driver)
- Franco Colapinto (Williams Academy Driver)
It was great to meet Karun Chandhok and Jamie Chadwick again. We managed to get Karun to have a race with his son, which was great to see, and also set a time for our ‘Celebrity Fastest Lap’ leaderboard. Jamie had set a very fast lap time at a previous event and was happy to keep that time. We also had a couple of the Academy Drivers have a race too.
The event was quite a spectacle and had a ‘Greatest Showman’ theme to it. For entertainment, as well as our giant Scalextric track and the simulators in the Williams eSports Lounge, they had:
- Circus skills workshops and circus shows
- Exotic animal talks
- Magicians
- Fancy dress competition
- Dancers
- Face painting
- Crazy golf & English garden games
- Inflatable activities
- Live music the big tops
- …plus much, much more…
Our Think Scalextric track, and the Williams eSports simulators, were constantly busy; at some points 3-4 people deep all around our track, from the moment doors opened at 11am, all the way through until they closed again at 6pm. At midday there was a noticeable difference, this was due to Karun Chandhok driving Nigel Mansell’s FW14B (also known as ‘Red 5’) down the main driveway of Williams F1 HQ. There were plenty of food vendors, as well as a bar tent, which were constantly busy. Also in attendance were Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire Fire Service.
During the day there were tours of the Williams F1 Factory and Wind Tunnel and also their museum; which is the largest private collection of Formula 1 cars in the world. The collection spans the entire history of Williams, commencing with the inaugural Williams FW06 up to the present day. Displays include Alan Jones’ championship-winning car from 1980, the infamous FW08 six-wheeler, and many championship-winning cars from Damon Hill, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell. Highlights from the modern era F1 collection include Jenson Button’s first-ever Formula 1 car from the 2000 season and Juan Pablo Montoya’s winning car from the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix and Ayrton Senna’s last racing vehicle.
CLICK HERE for more information about our Scalextric hire and branding options for your event.
Did you know that Williams Racing offers a F1 Grand Prix Race Day at the Williams Experience Centre?
The day includes a review of qualifying with an exclusive live link up to one of the drivers, live control room link up, VIP guest appearance with interview, refreshments and lunch followed by the live race screening. There is also the opportunity to browse the Williams Grand Prix Collection with a tour guide, as well as testing your speed on our 20 x F1-style driving simulators, our Super-Size Scalextric Track and other activities on the day.
WHAT’S INCLUDED DURING ‘RACE DAY HOSPITALITY’:
ACTIVITIES
- Unlimited use of the Esports lounge, with 20 state of the art simulators
- Our Think Scalextric Bespoke Super-Size Scalextric Track (click the link for more info about out track)
- Batak
- Museum Tour
- In addition you will have the opportunity to browse their shop with exclusive merchandise and 20% off
FOOD
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Unlimited soft drinks
Why not book up on a ‘Race Day Hospitality Experience’ at the Williams Racing Experience Centre. For info visit: williamsf1.com/experience-centre.
LEARN MORE (click below to open pdf)
Below is a video of the Giant Williams Racing Bespoke Track from our YouTube channel.