Inside F1’s most exclusive hospitality offering at the British Grand Prix

The thrilling international race circuit has always attracted a glamorous crowd, from celebrity fans to royalty to billionaires, but thanks to Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive (2019 onwards) and movies like Ferrari (2023), one look at the sheer sea of people at every Grand Prix is a testament to the motorsport’s resurgence in popularity all over the world. The Paddock Club in China was one of the most successful last year, according to Charlene Nyanteki, Head of F1 Hospitality, and the team is planning to launch its first Asian Garage Experience at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2025.

“You buy a ticket and we curate a bespoke experience over the three days,” says Nyanteki. “There’s no set programme, we tailor-make it based on the person’s interests, whether that’s meeting the drivers or seeing the engineering behind the cars. If it’s your first race ever, I doubt you’d want to be taken to Pirelli to see the tyres, you’d want to be in the action, in the pit lane.” 

Understanding that ultimately luxury today means a highly-curated, personalised experience, F1 Garage ticket-holders (the quantity of which varies by city depending on the size of the Garage; there are 35 in Silverstone) have an all-access pass—which means anything from getting to duck behind a team’s control room to getting sprayed by champagne under the podium as the winners don their medals. 

Of course, the food needs to match the luxurious experience, so Garage asked two-Michelin-starred chef Tom Sellers to craft a menu worthy of the setting. Everything from scallop crudo to a juicy lamb rack is on offer, as well as dishes local to the particular Grand Prix city. “I wanted to create a menu with foods indigenous to the place, so for Silverstone, for example, we have crumpets and an afternoon tea for the grazing menu,” Sellers tells Tatler. Sellers, a proud Brit, is a fan of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (who also happens to share his love of bulldogs) but is equally proud of all the drivers like George Russell who regularly visit his restaurant Story in London. “Running a kitchen is like running a sports team, and working with F1 has made me a fan not only of the sport but of the level of detail that goes into the operations behind it,” says Sellers.

Just then, 2016 championship winner Nico Rosberg stepped in for an intimate with an expert host as one of the Garage experiences. Rosberg shares stories from his days competing against Lewis Hamilton and a few words of encouragement for the drivers whipping around Silverstone’s challenging track today. Next, Tatler Gen T awardee and F1 Academy driver Bianca Bustamante took over the stage. The young Filipina protégé under McLaren inherited a love of driving from her father who shipped a go-kart from the US to the Philippines as there wasn’t an established programme for her to practice when she was growing up. “I’ve seen a big boom in interest around F1 not just in the Philippines but in Asia as young people are starting to follow the sport,” Bustamante tells Tatler. “My dream is to one day have our very own Philippines Grand Prix.” 

Read more: Bianca Bustamante gears up for F4 British Championship debut with Hitech

Indeed, the sport has gained widespread popularity not just with fans but with those who want to join in the race. Historically reserved for the western elite—the first F1 race was held in Silverstone in 1915 and celebrates its 75th anniversary next year—the configuration of the F1 grid is the most diverse since its inception. Thai driver Alex Albon races for Williams, Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda for VCARB and Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu races for Stake, formerly Sauber. It was Zhou’s gloves that I held during my behind-the-scenes tour of the Stake team garage. They explained how the seams are on the outside to minimise any discomfort inside the gloves when the driver is gripping the wheel because he’s going a cool 350 km/h. 

A dizzying hour spent watching the tyres being heated to precise temperatures, a pit lane where we saw pit crews practice changing the tyres at an average of 2.5 seconds, and a lap around the track later, it was time for the actual race to start. From deafening sounds of cars zipping by and Michael Douglas and Emilia Clarke papped on the screens to fighter jets performing acrobatic stunts above and Lewis Hamilton spraying his fellow competitors just metres away, it’s not hard to see why F1 is one of the most thrilling sports to watch live today. And once you’ve experienced it with F1 Garage, the rest is just playing for second. 

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