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Formula One Team Factory Tours

Not all teams offer public tours / visits, team tour options.

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Red Bull Racing Factory Experience

2024 Factory Tour Open Days:

• Tuesday 16th January
• Monday 26th February
• Monday 4th March
• Monday 18th March
• Monday 8th April
• Friday 19th April
• Monday 20th May
• Wednesday 29th May
• Monday 10th June
• Friday 28th June
• Friday 5th July
• Monday 15th July
• Monday 16th September
• Friday 25th October
• Friday 1st November
• Monday 2nd December
• Monday 16th December

Please note: Children under the age of 12 are not permitted. Any person under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

How it Works

Before heading off on the tour, guests will be invited for welcome refreshments. With hands-on opportunities to touch and feel intricate car parts, enjoy one to one conversations with experienced technicians, and hosted by your very own personal guide. F1 is a notoriously secretive business, so camera phones are not allowed, but the excitement of seeing one of these exclusive teams behind the scenes will give you an insight into your favourite sport to which few people have been privy before.

I look forward to hearing from you - Kevin May

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Visiting Brackley: Inside Mercedes-AMG F1 HQ

Visiting Brackley: Inside Mercedes-AMG F1 Headquarters

Location: Brackley, Northamptonshire

Well, what a few weeks it’s been! As a lot of you know, I’m doing all I can to bring you a variety of content on The Formula 1 Girl and here, we have something rather special.

I was kindly invited to the Mercedes-AMG F1 Headquarters in Brackley where I was given a factory tour – taken through all the different departments, seeing how the team works and also managed to get a glimpse of what happens during the race weekends.

If you know me, you’ll know that I love things like this – as much as I love the racing side of Formula 1, there’s something so special about seeing what goes on behind-the-scenes, within a team, as it’s something that many people don’t think about it.

VISITING BRACKLEY: INSIDE MERCEDES-AMG F1 HQ

As soon as you arrive, you’re greeted by the lovely reception team who instantly make you feel at ease. As you can see in the photo, on one side, you have Lewis Hamilton’s 2018 winning car ( more details on that further below )….

On the other side (behind me in the photo), there’s a huge wall displaying just some of the team trophies. It’s actually amazing to see them in person – some are a lot larger than what I had imagined. 

RACE SUPPORT: INSIDE MERCEDES-AMG F1 HQ

I wasn’t allowed to take too many photos (confidential) when I was taken around the factory but after a quick coffee stop ( it was a good coffee ) I was shown around different departments, one of which was race support. 

On my visit, it was during a race weekend and I got to see the team at work – it’s amazing to see how every single person has a valuable role within the team, providing their input to the race weekend. 

Race Support – the only way I can describe it is as the mission control centre! Seriously, it was incredible to see! Screens covering an entire wall to show the team what’s happening at every moment – live timings (with only a split second delay), weather data / radars, info and even interviews from drivers too. 

The team alternates between who stays at Brackley and who goes out to the races – giving everyone a chance to build on their expertise and support.

(There was also a separate row of team members. Most being students – Mercedes-AMG helps people to develop the skills and be a part of a team.)

SEEING THE 2019 CAR: INSIDE MERCEDES-AMG F1 HQ

Following race support, I was then taken to more departments and actually got to see a model of the 2019 car too!

Let me tell you one thing about this years car – it’s massive! It’s a longer and much wider compared to last years model.

The model car was half covered with the livery and half open – allowing you to see all of the intricate detail and work. Seeing things like this really makes you appreciate all of the hard work which goes on behind the scenes.

It’s not just about the drivers – it’s about the hard work, dedication and development from the teams too and Mercedes-AMG F1 have set the bar high. Always pushing themselves to do better.

MACHINE SHOP: INSIDE MERCEDES-AMG F1 HQ

Once you leave the ‘tech’ side of things, you come across the more hands-on part of the team.

At the ‘Machine Shop’ I looked at the difference in weight for DENSAMET and ALUMINIUM. Despite being the same size, Densamet weighed much, much more then Aluminium.

Densamet – 969 Grams

Aluminium – 148 Grams

With machining centres, on this floor – you come across everything that’s needed to build and develop the car. It’s here where components and parts are made, where the paint-shop is and where parts of the car are built and put together.

If there’s an issue with the car – parts are also sent back here to analyse and go through. Finding out what the problem was.

Behind glass window-walls, you see members of the team working on things in their protective gear (due to some of the equipment being used – health & safety) and it’s here when you really realise how much goes on behind the scenes.

It’s a true factory and despite there being around 900 members of staff, there’s a connection between everyone. Everyone is doing all they can to make sure the car will perform and be consistent throughout the year.

You feel the connect within the team – they pick each other up, the support each other and the all keep going.

TROPHY WALL: INSIDE MERCEDES-AMG F1 HQ

I mean, just take a look at the trophy wall, it’s beautiful! Once I finished the factory tour, I went back to the reception area and here’s where I took a few more photos…

I briefly mentioned this at the start of the post – this is Lewis Hamilton’s 2018 winning car. The car he raced in at the Abu Dhabi GP – complete with tape marks too.

If you visit the factory, take a look around the car and you’ll notice that the team have left the car as it arrived from the race track – marks and all.

Take a look at more photos from the factory tour below!

That’s not all – there’s more! You can take a look at my VLOG below to see my time at the Mercedes AMG F1 Factory!

The Formula 1 Girl 🙂

Thank you to Mercedes AMG F1 for inviting me to the factory – I had an amazing time.

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Australian grand prix 2024 – everything you need to …, team talk – 2024 monaco grand prix, fernando alonso signs new deal – staying with …, sebastian vettel tribute for ayrton senna and ….

F1®, FORMULA ONE™, FORMULA 1™, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX AND RELATED MARKS ARE TRADEMARKS OF FORMULA ONE LICENSING B.V. AND THE FORMULA ONE GROUP OF COMPANIES.

In pursuit of perfection: A behind-the-scenes tour of the Mercedes factory

The Silver Arrows lounge at Mercedes' base. Brackley, September 2022.

If there was one term to describe a visit to the factory that houses the Mercedes F1 team, it is ‘no stone left unturned.’

The Mercedes factory, which is home to the last eight Constructors’ titles, is based in Brackley, a town of 15,000 in the English county of Northamptonshire.

30 miles north is the team’s power unit base where the engines are manufactured but, for the most part, everything comes from here.

This part of the country is somewhat of a Formula 1 mecca. The Silverstone circuit is just 13 miles away with Aston Martin based close by. Haas reside 10 miles to the north west while Red Bull’s base is 25 miles to the east.

But it is here, on the third exit of a roundabout shared by a Tesco supermarket, where for the last eight years, near perfection has been created.

I was invited along as part of event with Eight Sleep, a sleep fitness company who have partnered with Mercedes to provide the drivers, as well as the crew, a better night sleep to optimise their performance.

Even before you have passed through the security checkpoint, Mercedes’ immense attention for detail is noticeable.

The road sign, which is usually reserved for simplified drawings of petrol stations and picnic tables, bears the three-pointed star logo that is recognisable across the globe. In the centre of the roundabout is a hedge trimmed to bear the same badge.

The base itself consists of several silver-clad buildings with a car park, which to my surprise featured brands other than Mercedes, separating them.

On the left is the team’s dyno while further down the road is the simulator that Lewis Hamilton and George Russell spend most of their time in when at base.

But for my first stop of the day, it is was to the large building that is home to the wind tunnel but also Mercedes’ hospitality area known as the Silver Arrows lounge.

As you walk up the spiral staircase, Nico Rosberg’s car is hung above you by some presumably very strong wires.

Upon your entrance into the lounge, Hamilton’s car from the 2020 season sits before you as a reminder of just how enormous the cars were even before the 2022 shake-up.

This particular model, still painted in dust, was only used in one race, the 2020 British Grand Prix in which Hamilton emerged successful.

Behind it, a wall has been replaced by a glass cabinet displaying the various trophies the team had won over the years, a theme that would develop further as the day went on, and every available surface is displaying some kind of car part from the steering wheel to pieces of the engine.

Hamilton’s race suit is hung on the wall and both of the drivers’ helmets form part of the decoration on one of the many bookshelves.

After a visit to the theatre room which would beat many of my local cinemas in London, it was time for the factory tour itself.

Mercedes have gone the extra mile in their pursuit of perfection

If you ever seen a James Bond film, you will no doubt be familiar with the kind of bases the movie’s antagonist resides in.

Polished white walls, machines bigger than most buildings and unnamed workers wandering around in pristine lab coats with one menacing goal in mind.

The Mercedes factory may be lacking the men in white coats and the smell of mischief in the air but Blofeld would not feel out of place if he were forced to call this his home.

The factory itself is at the back of the Brackley base, the furthest possible place from prying eyes. Once you step inside, it is almost like stepping into a zoo.

A white corridor is flanked by glass windows looking into the various departments that exist to create a race winning car.

The first room on the right is home to the carbon fibre team which makes up 80% of the car. Outside there is a shelf displaying various pieces of the car such as part of a front wing which are deceiving to look at.

Having lived in the world and grown used to the weight-size ratio we all abide by, it takes a moment for your brain to adjust as you lift this portion of the wing which is as easy as picking up a few sheets of A4 paper.

Next up is the room where the cars are built and aside from the machine room, which we will come to later, it is perhaps the biggest room in the factory.

The space is divided into three sections, on one side is Hamilton’s team, on the other is Russell’s, and at the back is the legacy department which works on the cars used for extracurricular events.

On the day of the visit, the team are preparing to ship the cars out to Singapore so each is in various stages of being dissasembled. Access to the room is restricted to only those with a yellow badge strapped around their arm, as if the cars were in quarantine.

Down the corridor is the testing department or to give it is colloquial term, the ‘Make It or Break It’ department. In here, huge machines have been constructed all with the same purpose. ‘How much pressure can we put on a part before it breaks?’

When you see a car going round the track on any given race day, you will now know every single piece has been tested to extreme lengths to ensure its safety.

We headed to the loudest room in the building, the machine shop where huge devices work all day and all night to create parts and pieces used for the car.

The giant blue machines are twice the height of a human and make any talk under the volume of shouting inaudible.

As we head out of the machine room and our ears readjust, we go towards the more peaceful side of the factory.

The reception is on the ground floor of a spiral staircase and as well as also housing many pieces of memorabilia, Hamilton’s car from the infamous 2021 Abu Dhabi race is there with dust and medium tyres still attached.

Upstairs, you will find Toto Wolff’s office and another floor is the design centre of the team – with a wide-open office plan and dozens of people with several computer screens in front of them working hard on either parts for this year or next year’s car.

To the side is the race support room where 30 engineers gather during a race weekend to assist the on-track team in departments such as strategy and car management.

Each is hooked up with a radio and while this usually remains secret to the team our tour guide informed us that during one season, Renault accidentally broadcast all of their secret info to every other team in the paddock. This being F1, no one told them.

One of the final stops on the tour is one of the newer departments which is the Esports room. With black walls and purple neon strips, the room is every teenager’s dream with six rigs set-up for an optimal gaming experience.

In recent years, Mercedes has expanded their ventures into Esports and now has a driver line-up complete with engineers to assist them.

As we head back to the comfortable surroundings of the lounge, there is just time to stop in one of the most sci-fi rooms there.

Almost hidden away, is a long narrow room that houses a row of printers but there are not the standard ones we all have at home. They use lasers to mould this yellow substance into pieces such as the wheel gun.

It is truly a sight to see something tangible being made from this off-yellow sludge and if T-1000s ever appear, we will know where they came from.

As we head back out into the imperfect world, the whole factory puts more meaning into whenever a driver has an early crash and immediately apologies to the team back at base.

They will know more than any of us just how much work goes into getting a car ready for a race and how devastating it can be to see that cut short.

The Mercedes factory is nothing short of a work of art. A purpose built centre aimed at towards building perfection, an objective they achieved for eight years running.

The 2022 season may not have panned out as they may have liked but even an afternoon’s glimpse behind-the-scenes gives you the impression that they will not be caught on their heels for long.

The trip was made by Eight Sleep, who have teamed up with Mercedes to provide the team with an optimal sleeping performance. You can find more details on their website https://www.eightsleep.com .

Pictures provided by Chris Smith-Langridge/Eight Sleep.

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• Factory Tours

The world of Formula 1™ is extremely secretive, this is your chance to see behind the curtain of Red Bull Racing's home in Milton Keynes.

Tour Red Bull Racing's home

Being able to visit the home of Red Bull Racing is a truly incredible opportunity that will allow you, and your guests, to peek behind the curtain into the extremely secretive world of F1™. Our tour is designed to present the inner workings of the machine, taking in the various developmental stages, all the way to the point where thousands of components are brought together in our race bays to create the latest Red Bull Racing car.

The cost is £300 Per Person, our Factory Tour experience includes refreshments in our MK-7 events space where you can get up close to our fleet of Red Bull Racing Formula 1™ cars followed by 1.5 hour guided factory tour. All guests will also receive a Red Bull Racing gift bag to take home, as well as 10% discount in our onsite shop.

Please allow 2 hours for this experience.

‘It exceeded our expectations, as we didn't expect a personal tour guide, or to be given so much access’

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Please note:  Children under the age of 12 are not permitted. Any person under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

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Please get in touch if you would like a private tour of the factory on any other date. Minimum numbers of six apply for private tours.

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The roots of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) stretch back to 1984 and the foundation of Ilmor Engineering Ltd by Paul Morgan and Mario Illien, with funding from Roger Penske.

Since 1995, the team in Brixworth has been responsible for the design and development of every single Formula One engine to wear the Mercedes-Benz badge.

Renamed Mercedes-Ilmor Ltd in 2002, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG in 2005, operating under the name of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines Ltd.

Today, Brixworth is a state-of-the-art technology campus where more than 700 talented people work on engines and powertrains for Formula One and high-performance hybrid road cars. For the Formula One project, the team at Brixworth designs, manufactures, and tests the Hybrid Power Units for the Mercedes works team as well as customer teams Williams Racing, Aston Martin Formula One Team and McLaren F1 Team.

The first victory of the modern era for Mercedes-Benz occurred at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, after which V10 and V8 engines from Brixworth powered World Championship victories in 1998 (Drivers’ and Constructors’), 1999 (Drivers’), 2008 (Drivers’) and 2009 (Drivers’ and Constructors’).

The company was also awarded the prestigious Dewar Trophy for Technical Excellence in 2009 for its Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), the first ever Hybrid system to win a Grand Prix at the 2009 Hungarian GP.

In the new, Hybrid F1 era, Mercedes-Benz V6 Power Units have powered the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team to eight consecutive Constructors’ titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021) and seven consecutive Drivers’ Championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).

Today’s F1 Power Unit from Brixworth is one of the most efficient internal combustion engines ever built, reaching more than 50% thermal efficiency. Each season, HPP are pushing to evolve, improve and develop the Power Unit to get the most power and performance from the regulations.

The technology centre in Brixworth has been fully operational since late 2009, providing the team at HPP with cutting-edge and continuously upgraded facilities. The site covers a total area of over 75,000m2.

The technology centre holds the international environmental management system certification ISO 14001 and has a 1-megawatt Solar PV system located on its roof as well a 1.5-megawatt energy efficient CCHP plant, combined producing on-site approximately 52% of the electricity used in operations.

The site gained a 3* FIA Sustainability Accreditation in 2021.