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F1 team pleased with 2.5-year pitstop

( 23/09/2009 )

Williams may be one of the most experienced Formula One teams, but one group of their mechanics always seems to get leaf-ed behind in the pits.

Luckily, the team of 6ft tall mechanics and near-life sized racing car are designed to be stationary in a world of fast moving machinery - they are made entirely out of foliage.

The topiary tableau - which shows tyres being changed during a flying visit to the pits - took two-and-a-half years to mature, after the plants were trained to grow around metal frames.

They stand at the Williams HQ near Didcot in Oxfordshire, though they may have had a different fate entirely - the scene was originally produced by an Italian nursery for the Ferrari team.

Williams' facilities manager Tim Lightfoot said: "We often have people trying to sit in but it's not a very comfortable drive.

"It doesn't go very fast either."

The roots of the current AT&T Williams team go back to the fertile ground of Frank Williams' 1977 partnership with Patrick Head.

Over the years many F1 Legends have driven for the team, including Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, who died while driving a Williams car.

The team is currently in sixth place on the constructors' championship with 30.5 points, while Williams' Nico Rosberg is also in sixth position among the drivers.

 

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