GB4 title contender Nikolas Taylor received his prize tour of the Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 Technology Campus yesterday (Monday), with the Anglo-Malaysian contender enjoying a behind the scenes look at one of F1’s leading facilities.
The prize, provided by John Cavill, was awarded to Taylor for leading the GB4 Championship standings after the Donington Park rounds in June.
The experience allowed the 17-year-old to get an in depth look at how F1 teams operate, and started with a viewing of the team’s impressive line-up of F1 machinery since its debut in 2005 including Max Verstappen’s title winner from last season.
A glimpse at the levels of success enjoyed by the team was given by a visit to the main reception area, where the hundreds of F1 trophies earned by the squad are on a floor to ceiling display and providing plenty of inspiration for any young driver.
Taylor was also able to see the manufacturing processes that enable championships to be won, as well as a close-up look at a 2022-specification RB18 that was being painted up for this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
In addition, there was a chance to observe how parts for wind tunnel testing were 3D printed, and a visit to the machine shop where parts were being manufactured for future races in state of the art machines.
The tour also took in a visit to the autoclaves where carbon fibre race parts are cured and prepared as well as a look at the NASA-designed operations room, which becomes a hive of activity on race weekends and where important race strategy decisions are made each weekend.
Finally, the tour stopped in the race bays, where the cars for this weekend were being prepared, with one even fired up into life during the visit.
“It’s been a pretty astonishing day” Taylor commented afterwards. “Thanks to John Cavill and the GB4 Championship for making it happen.
“To see how everything works in a massive factory just to put together a race car is amazing.
“I’m pretty sure we saw two monocoques from the cars that are racing at Silverstone this weekend and to see them so close, within touching distance, was pretty cool.
“When you walk through the reception and see those trophies, you just want that sort of thing to happen in your career.”
