Obviously with only starting this blog recently, I couldn't update about the event in real time but I wanted to talk about my experience as an F1 girlie who visited the McLaren Racing Live Fanzone in Trafalgar Square.
So I started the day off nice and early, leaving to catch the train around 7:20am and getting into Trafalgar Square for around 8:25am. With the start of the event itself being at 11:30am on the Wednesday, I was in the queue for just over 3 hours, facing quite a few down pours of rain (I didn't come prepared). Not long after 11:30 we were let in and all I can say is the McLaren social media/photography team were on it, snapping shots and videos of fans in and around the fanzone and on the orange carpet, one of those videos being of me (which made an apperance on the McLaren Instagram.)
I started off my time at the fanzone by checking out the racing simulators, which were so incredible, however the opposite could be said for my lap times as it was my first time on a racing sim and I barely pushed down on the brakes which left me spinning into the barriers multiple times. Although still not amazing I finished with a final best lap time of 1:57.278.
Following the racing sims, we went to check out the Sonic Racing Challenge which was very cool, with real time commentary on the race involving everyone. However my first race resulted in a DNS I can just remember the commentary of "Car No 4 has a mechanical failure". Gladly I got another go to try and make up for my horrendous first start, my second race ended with a 9th place finish (there were 10 cars in the races). I did manage to get a freebie after the race which was a Sonic x McLaren Racing poster.
Then came the queing to try and get a freebie from the info stand (which sadly they had ran out of) and while in the middle of the queue with not a great viewpoint to the stage we hear "Now please welcome special guest Oscar Piastri" which no one expected as he wasn't meant to be on until 14:45. We missed quite a bit of that but made it back near the stage to hear Martin Brundle and Andrea Stella talking about the teams efforts over the 2025 season which was absolutely incredible.
It was then time for the painting of Ella Lloyds helmut which was done by the amazing Sophie Tea. Being a fan of her art style for a few years it was such an experience to see her on the stage. With a twelve minute timer to make a design on stage she did a wonderful job embracing the papaya colours and even letting people at the fanzone decide what colours should go on the helmut which really brought the event together.
On the smaller stage we saw Oscar getting interviewed and although we couldn't hear anything it was incredible seeing one of my favourite drivers and Oscar Pastry loved seeing him too! Following Oscar's interview on came Zak Brown to the smaller stage which was also just amazing to see.
Around 14:15 we went to go see the amazing More Than Equal panel which displayed the incredible female talent we have in motorsport - this including the wonderful Ella Lloyd, Lauren Forrow, Lou McEwen, Skye Parker and Ivonn Simeonova.
Before Lando and Oscar came on to the main stage we decided to get a photo with the glorious constuctors trophy which is a memory I will definetly treasure for the rest of my life. Then came the best moment of the whole day, the unveiling of the livery for Silverstone which was absolutely gorgeous in chrome.
Although all I can say is that there was definitely one thing that was a shame to see, which was some guys when everyone was cheering for Oscar and Lando making snarky remarks such as "Of course its the fan girls cheering" etc, which in my opinion was really sad to see as normally there is such a great sense of community within the McLaren fanbase.
Overall, this was such a great event to visit and one I would love to visit if done again next year. :)
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