Choosing the Right Racing Simulator for Your Event

Every enquiry we take starts with a version of the same question: which simulator, and how many? The answer depends on four things: who your guests are, how many of them there are, how much space you have, and what kind of racing you want the room to watch. This guide walks through each one, with the honest numbers, so you can plan before you ask for a quote.

We run the UK’s largest mobile fleet, 18 simulators based at Silverstone, and every hire comes fully staffed. That means whatever you choose, the crew comes with it.

F1 or GT rigs

Our fleet is 16 full-size F1 simulators and 2 GT sims, and they can all race together on one live leaderboard.

The F1 simulators are the showpiece. Full-size single-seaters that look like the real thing, which matters, because half the job of event entertainment is how it photographs. If your event has a stage, a big room or an audience you want to impress, the F1 rigs are the default choice. Hire starts at £790 a day for one sim.

The GT sims offer a different kind of racing: a cockpit closer to a road car, which some guests find more familiar to climb into. They start at £840 a day. Plenty of events mix the two, running GT rigs alongside the F1 grid on the same circuit and the same timing screen.

If you are unsure, choose F1. It is the one guests ask to sit in first.

How many guests can race in an hour

Here is the rule of thumb we plan events around. With our crew running quick changeovers and short qualifying-style stints, allow roughly 8 to 10 drivers per simulator per hour. Longer race formats are more immersive but roughly halve that number.

So over a four-hour evening, one sim comfortably gets 30 to 40 people through. Two sims double it, and so on. If it is important that every guest drives, work backwards from your guest count and event length before you fix the number of sims.

Hotlap or head-to-head

There are two ways to run the racing, and the right format depends on your crowd.

Hotlap is qualifying. Every driver gets a short stint to set their fastest lap, and the live leaderboard ranks the whole event from first to last. It is the highest-throughput format, it keeps the queue moving, and it turns a room of colleagues into a championship that runs all day. For most corporate events and exhibition stands, hotlap is the answer.

Head-to-head is a live race. Up to 16 simulators on the same circuit at the same time, lights out, everyone on screen. It is the loudest, most watchable thing we do, and it is brilliant as a finale: run hotlaps all evening, then put your eight fastest drivers on the grid for a final. Our event hire page covers how the leaderboard and race formats work in more detail.

Space and power

The numbers your venue will ask for. Each simulator has a footprint of roughly 1.61m long by 0.6m wide by 1.42m tall, and needs a little extra room for drivers to climb in and out. Power is one standard 13A socket per sim, drawing no more than 1kW, so a normal venue supply handles a full grid without drama.

Setup takes around two hours, so the sims are race-ready before your doors open. And because the seats and pedals adjust for drivers from 125cm to 220cm, ages 5 to 99, you do not need to plan around who can and cannot take part. Everyone races.

How many sims for your group

The honest guidance, based on the throughput above and what actually works in the room.

Under 30 guests: one sim works, but two is better, and here is why. One F1 sim is £790 a day and two are £890. For £100 more you double your capacity and unlock side-by-side racing, which is simply a better spectacle. Most small events should take the second sim.

30 to 80 guests: two to four sims. Three (£1,305) or four (£1,655) keeps queues short at a party-sized event and gives the leaderboard real depth.

80 to 150 guests: four to six sims. Six sims (£2,330) is a proper grid, and it looks like one, especially in a wrap.

150 plus, or multi-day exhibitions: think in throughput rather than headcount. Six or more sims running hotlaps will put hundreds of drivers through per day, and extra sims are £375 each beyond six. Multi-day hires get 25 per cent off additional days.

All prices exclude VAT, and the full list, including upgrades like VR and the 43 inch digital leaderboard, is on our prices page.

The part you never have to think about

Whatever combination you choose, it arrives with a crew. We do not drop equipment and leave. Our team delivers, builds, runs the racing, manages the leaderboard and packs down at the end, with delivery included within 100 miles of Silverstone and UK-wide coverage beyond.

Ready to pick your grid

Start with our F1 simulator hire page for the full package details, then tell us your date, venue and guest count. We will confirm what fits your space and send an itemised quote within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.