An appearance from Williams Martini Racing driver Felipe Massa was one of the highlight at the weekends Autosport International show with the Brazilian drawing huge crowds to the Live Action Arena and Autosport Stage.

Driving an historic 1983 Williams-Cosworth FW08C, Massa put on a real spectacle in front of a packed Live Action Arena, sliding the historic racing car out of corners and then burying the throttle on the straights.

The FW08C was provided by Williams Heritage and was campaigned in the 1983 F1 season by Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite. It was also the first F1 car driven by legendary driver Ayrton Senna, who begged Williams team founder Frank Williams for a test and got his chance at Donington in July of that year.

“It was a real honour to drive the FW08C today, especially as it was the first car Ayrton ever tested,” Massa told Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft in the Live Action Arena. “It’s a great car to drive, very easy to control, very easy to go sideways. The engine sounds fantastic.”

Fresh from his drive, Massa hot-footed it to the Autosport Stage for an interview with Henry Hope-Frost. He spoke of his love for the Williams team – “It is a big honour to work for Sir Frank Williams and the rest of the team. We have a great relationship; it is like a family” – and talked of his best memory in F1, winning his home race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, back in 2006.

Williams Heritage was created in 2014 to manage the team’s collection of historic Formula One cars. This includes maintaining and curating the Williams Grand Prix Collection, showcasing, selling and running the fleet of cars dating from the team’s first Formula One season in 1978 to the most recently retired models.

The division is headed by Jonathan Williams and managed by long time Williams mechanic and team manager Dickie Stanford. You can view a selection of cars which are currently for sale through Official Williams Heritage Agents : Cars International :  Williams Heritage Sales