PRIME Minister David Cameron last night hailed the British Formula One industry as a world leader in engineering after visiting the headquarters of the Lotus Renault team.
Mr Cameron, pictured with, left to right, operations manager John Mardle and technical director James Allison, revealed he follows the sport as he dropped into the Whiteways Technical Centre at Enstone to meet some of the 520 staff on the site and learn more about the work involved producing the hi-tech cars.
He said: “We are manufacturing and innovating with the best cars in the world. It is not just about the track, we are creating incredible intellectual property at the very highest end of manufacturing. When the drivers get into these cars, they are something completely made in Britain and we can be really proud of them.”
Mr Cameron was speaking as the Lotus Renault cars practised for the final race of the season in Brazil on Sunday. The team lies fifth in the constructors’ championship with Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld ninth and 10th in the drivers’ rankings.
Lotus Renault operations director John Mardle said Oxfordshire was at the heart of “motor racing valley”.
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