IT is feted as the most glamorous sport in the world.

And, as millions of fans tune into to watch the glitz and glamour of the new Formula 1 season tomorrow, they will also be watching a showcase for some of Oxfordshire’s finest engineering talent.

A global TV audience of 850 million fans is expected to soak up the sound of screaming engines and the spectacle of pouting pit girls as the world’s 24 fastest drivers go head-to-head in Bahrain.

Japanese team Super Aguri, which was based in Leafield, near Witney, bit the dust after eight races of the 2008 season and other industry workers had been worried about their future.

But things are looking up for the county’s Grand Prix teams after a turbulent two years for the sport.

The months of hard work spent honing these cars to perfection by more than 700 of the country’s brightest engineering brains is often overlooked.

At the Williams factory in Grove, near Wantage, 343 mechanics and designers have worked all winter to put together a new car, which had to be totally re-designed to take account of new F1 regulations.

Williams’ head of advanced development Doug Nevill is in no doubt at the county’s contribution to the sport as he hopes his team can beat last year’s seventh place in the constructors’ championship.

The father-of-one, from Lamarsh Road, Oxford, said: “Oxfordshire has developed into a real centre for motor racing, with six teams currently in or close to the county, all pushing hard to shave tenths of a second off their car’s lap times, and the difference on the grid is so small these tenths, indeed hundredths, all count. In no other industry do you design and develop a product so quickly, designing parts on Monday, making them on Tuesday, testing them on Wednesday and by Thursday they’re on their way to a race.”

Less than 30 miles north, Renault, based near Enstone, have 386 employees from across the county.

In December, the firm was given a huge boost with news the team would compete this season after Luxembourg-based investment firm Genii Capital bought 75 per cent of the team.

Operations director John Mardle, of Burford, said: “We have an aggressive development programme planned for the car and we’d like to be fighting regularly for podiums by the end of the year.

“The biggest strength of this team is the people that work here.

“At Renault every member of staff is a link in the chain and the success of this team is down to all the effort behind the scenes.”

This year Williams will have Brazilian veteran Rubens Barichello and German newcomer Nico Hulkenberg behind the wheel, while Renault have Poland’s Rubert Kubica and Russian Vitaly Petrov.

Other teams in the area include Mercedes at Brackley; Force India at Silverstone, Virgin Racing's technical centre at Bicester and Red Bull at Milton Keynes.

However Mr Nevill, who has worked for Williams for 12 years, will be far from the bright lights of Bahrain tomorrow, watching at home with colleagues.