JA on F1 readers enjoy behind the scenes tour of Mercedes F1 factory

Today 10 lucky JA on F1 readers got the chance to go around the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team headquarters in Brackley and saw where the cars are made.

In the latest initiative aimed at bringing the fans closer to the sport, we were able to show them the "behind the scenes" of how a top F1 team operates and they were able to get a sense of what 2014 holds in store.

The group also got a flavour of the process of making an F1 car, from the drawing office, to the fabrication, composites and testing processes through to assembly in the race bays. They got a chance to handle and pose for photos with Lewis Hamilton's Hungary GP winner's trophy and Nico Rosberg's British GP winners trophy.

We also took the opportunity to survey the group on attitudes to a range of current topics in F1 such as the fast degrading Pirelli tyres, 2014 technology, DRS, the image of Sebastian Vettel. We will publish the results of that mini-survey soon.

And as luck would have it the three Brawn chassis from the title winning season 2009, made at the same Brackley base, were on display prior to two of them being shipped out, one to Jenson Button and one to Ross Brawn. Normally a team builds five chassis a year, but that year with budgets being tight, they built three, of which one was mainly moved around as a spare monocoque, not built up. It is rare to see all three cars together.

The guests all received a Mercedes goody bag and a limited edition JA on F1 T shirt.

Huge thanks to our partners UBS for making it happen and to Mercedes for welcoming the group.

We will have an even more exciting competition soon, so keep an eye on the site for details.