Racing Through Time: The F1 Exhibition

My first weekend in Valencia, I took a day trip to Madrid. I had one reason for taking this trip: to see the F1 Exhibition. I didn’t think I would get to see it while I was studying abroad because it was supposed to close in early June. Thankfully it was popular enough to stay open longer.

The train from Valencia to Madrid is about two hours each way. I bought a ticket for a mid-morning train there so that I could make an afternoon time slot at the Exhibition. I took a cab from the train station to the exhibit hall hoping to grab some food beforehand but that didn’t happen.

All of the restaurants were closed for siesta. One said it would open and serve at one o’clock but that didn’t happen. I was able to get something to drink but real food would have to wait.

My time slot opened for the exhibit so I walked across the street to check and start the experience. When you first walk in they give you headphones so that you can experience a series of audio clips throughout the experience.

The first room is a series of videos detailing the history of F1 starting at the beginning and moving toward the present day. The videos detail stories of great drivers and teams, plus the evolution of the rules and regulations in the sport. It is basically a preview of the rooms that are to come.

The second room is called the Design Lab, here you are able to learn about the different parts of the car. This room is where I used the headphones the most because each display had video and audio to accompany it. You are able to learn so much about the development of the cars and all the little pieces that make these machines what they are. My favorite part of this room was seeing Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri. Being that close to a real F1 car was something I did not think I was going to experience this summer.

The next room you walk into shows you the importance of everything you just learned. The only thing in the room is a screen and a glass case with Romain Grosjean’s Haas from his fiery accident in 2020. The only portion of the car that wasn’t destroyed was where the driver sits. The whole thing is charred and looks nothing like the black and white Haas it once was. If you look closely you can see a few of the sponsor stickers that survived but they are still badly burnt.

The Design Lab spends extensive time showing you all of these life-saving features but to see how they did their job is incredible. That accident could have been very different if the sport didn’t have some of these safety regulations in place.

After reliving Grosjean’s brush with death, you walk into a room all about the drivers. It features race wear through the years, a number of driver helmets line the walls, and many drivers loaned personal items for the exhibition to display. There are baby photos of the current grid, Lewis Hamilton has a kart displayed, and there’s even Carlos Sainz’s trophy from the 2022 British Grand Prix. I loved seeing all the helmets and race suits, especially the ones of my favorite drivers that I’ve seen used on race day.

In between the race helmets, there was another video screen playing a group of videos about drivers. I only stopped to watch one and I picked the saddest one. The video was all about Michael Schumacher’s career and it was narrated by his son Mick. Michael’s story is amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time; to hear his son tell it made me want to cry.

The last wall of the room before you exit details some of the biggest rivalries in the sport and lets you rank some of the sport's greatest drivers. There was also a Wall of Fame made up of busts of some of the drivers. I felt like there were some greats missing but I guess there’s a reason they chose the ones they did.

The second to last room breaks down more of the regulations in the sport while also giving you some history about the teams. The back wall details the teams and their wins from the beginning of the sport. There is also a chart detailing the evolution of the teams and how so many have gone through a number of name changes to get them to where they are today.

The last room room is filled with video screens and you get to watch clips of races throughout the year. There are race wins, championship wins, teams celebrating, driver rivalries, big crashes, and everything in between. It matched the experience at the beginning of the exhibit. It signaled the end of the journey through F1’s history while also making you excited for all the history yet to be made.

I’m so happy I got to experience this exhibition. I am hoping to make it to a race during my time here in Europe but that’s not until later. This was the perfect way to start my trip and it made me excited at the possibility of attending a race.

I caught a five o’clock train back to Valencia and I was able to watch some highlight videos from the AustrianGP Sprint that took place earlier in the day. I can’t stream F1 here so I am learning new ways to watch and keep up to date with what’s happening during race weekends. Who knew traveling in Europe would actually make it harder to watch F1?