Trip to Honda F1 Operations Centre-some words from the team

Our visit to the Honda Formula 1 centre- Koni Kats

The team arrived sleepily at Dublin Airport after a very early start! We met up with Gillian, Neil, Michael and Sarah at the check in desk where we were given our boarding passes for our flights.
We were then picked up in two of Honda’s courtesy cars and driven to the Honda centre in Brackley, an hour outside London City.

When we arrived at Honda, we were given a lovely complementary breakfast in the breathtaking surroundings of their brand new Formula 1 museum. Formula 1 cars, Racing Suits and Engines surrounded us! After breakfast we were given an insight into Honda’s international marketing exploits by Paul Nowers. We were also given a simple guide to the world of Formula 1 and what’s involved week in week out to make a successful team and car.

We were then greeted by our tour guide, Donna, who took us on a tour of the top secret Honda Factory. We were given a first hand view of the different steps involved in designing, testing and manufacturing a Formula 1 car. Our Tour included seeing the manufacture of car parts including the amazing carbon fibre lab where we were given samples of carbon fibre to hold and stretch! We were also lucky enough to see both Destructive and Non-Destructive Testing of car parts.

After lunch, Peter Hodgkinson, Honda’s chief of operations, talked us through the breakdown of a Formula 1 car. We were then given the opportunity to ask him questions on the car itself.
We were then lucky enough to see Honda’s brand new wind tunnel as the technicians tested a scale formula 1 car at 180 miles per hour!

For the last half hour we had the privilege of talking to an aerodynamicist about our F1 in Schools car and how to improve its design. He gave us lots of ideas and we have been working on these ideas ever since!

We flew home at 7.30 and arrived home in Dublin at 9. It was a long day but a great experience overall which we a lot learned from. This trip will definitely help our World Title Bid!