Bahrain Grand Prix with Williams F1 

Williams F1 offers the few students who live outside the UK the opportunity to attend their home Formula 1 race. I was invited to attend the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix for two days where I was provided with full access to all of Williams’ facilities. I had a tour of the hospitality area and garage with Chief Technical Officer at Williams, Pat Symonds, who has been an engineer in F1 for decades. He was a great man to talk to and he sacrificed a lot of his time to show me around, talking very in-depth about the 2016 car and even sat down for lunch with me. I look forward to continuing my work in the academy and all of the challenges it puts before me. ~ William Mattar Year 13 – Randstad Williams Academy

As representatives of St Christopher’s School and of the Bahrain F1 in Schools program; Team 7th Gear was granted access to a Paddock walk during the 2016 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir International Circuit. Two of our members, Shawn Amirthan and Hussain Mattar were given a tour of the Red Bull Racing Team Garage where they gained an insight into the inner workings of setting up a team of drivers for a Grand Prix. They were also greeted with the sight of the processes and instruments required to make, repair and develop a Formula 1 car and guided by an Engineer at Red Bull Racing. I, Anish Vishwakoti, along with teammate Daniel Horler was given a tour of the pit lane and the exterior of all the Team Garages. We were able to watch the tools required for pit stops being tested in preparation for the Grand Prix as well as the open set up of the cars right before their final adjustments and repairs prior to Practice and Qualifying. We also managed to meet F1 Drivers Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa as they were walking around the pits and take photos with them. ~ Anish Vishwakoti Year 12