Friday 2^nd June was a day I was looking forward to for a long time.

After moving to London in February 2015, I made my first visit to a race track since I left. After working in sponsorship in V8 Supercars for 6 years and working with people like Will Davison, John Bowe, Frosty and Chaz, I really have missed the buzz of a race track.

The Williams 40^th anniversary celebration was a fantastic day. Silverstone, around 90 mins by car from central London was a buzz with race fans from all ages.

The punters loved it, wearing Damon Hill caps from 1996, Nigel Mansell red 5 t-shirts from 1992 and my favourite, a yellow and blue Canon and Mobil 1 button up pit shirt from 1987.

Amazingly for Formula 1 standards, the day was free for the public. All you had to was register and rock up on the day. Is this Liberty Media already showing their influence on the sport? Giving fans more access than previous, and really engaging with the public? I hope so!

The cars on display were unbelievable. First ran the 1977 March 761/7. White with a dash of red, the high revving sound cut through the English countryside on a typical dour summer’s day.

Then came something that all Aussies remember, the 1980 championship winning car driven by our very own Alan Jones, A.J wasn’t there on the day, but it was great to see some Aussie history involved on the day.

Then the big moment, in 1992 Williams dominated F1 with Nigel Mansell winning 9 races and taking 14 poles on his way to a crushing championship victory. The Williams FW14B had not turned a wheel since 1992, 25 years in the making and after a rain delay out it rolled in the hands of official Williams’s heritage driver Karun Chandhok.

The crowd had been waiting for this moment, standing to applaud as Chandhok sped past at 200kmh, the Renault V10 was a sweet sound in this area of quiet F1 cars.

I was lucky enough to get to the pits and see the cars close up, these beasts have changed a lot in 40 years and the detail in an F1 car needs to be seen to be believe.

My favourite car is no doubt the 1986 FW11. The simplistic lines, minimalist wings and big tyres combined with a turbo engine makes me wish I was old enough to attend race in that era.

This was a simply brilliant day, the Williams team should be congratulated for giving back to the fans and allowing access which some fans would only dream of.

I love F1 and days like today make you hope for the future that it can return to the pinnacle of motorsport with more teams, better racing and less politics.

WORDS & IMAGES: Tom Arciuli

Tom Arciuli worked in V8 Supercars for 5 years as Marketing and Sponsorship Manager for Doric Australia. He lives in London but follows Supercar racing as close as ever.