At Silverstone, it takes a lot to stand out but throughout the British Grand Prix weekend, one of the biggest crowd-pullers wasn't on the track.

The vehicle drawing attention looked every bit like a Ferrari Formula 1 car but instead of Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton, it was being driven by Simon Tutte, a Grimsby-based Ferrari fan who had painstakingly transformed his mobility scooter into a replica of the SF-26. 

The vehicle comes complete with glowing brake effects, safety lights, sponsor decals and active aero front and rear wings, including Ferrari's distinctive 'macarena' rear wing. It currently tops out at 8mph, although Tutte said upgrades are already planned.

What started as a few Ferrari-inspired modifications several years ago has evolved into a full-scale passion project that now attracts attention everywhere it goes.

"I've always had a passion for Ferraris," Tutte told The Race Extra. "I'll probably never own my own one, so that's as close as I'm going to get to it."

Tutte uses a mobility scooter after a serious back injury forced him out of work a couple of years ago.

"I can get about without it but I can't walk distances, hence having the scooter for distances."

That makes a venue the size of Silverstone particularly challenging. While many fans rack up tens of thousands of steps over a race weekend, Tutte relies on his scooter to get around the sprawling 5.891km circuit.

It all started a few years ago when Tutte added some Ferrari-themed touches to an earlier scooter and was surprised by the reaction.

"Everybody loved it," he said. "It was just a few bits to start with. So I went further and further."

This year's version is his most ambitious creation yet.

Starting with a brand-new scooter, Tutte rebuilt it from the ground up.

"Basically, you take the mobility scooter and strip it down to its bare essentials," he said.

"Once I've designed what I wanted, cut the frame, re-weld it so that it's all lowered and then changed the batteries to lithium.

"Then it's a process of sketching out the body shape, building a mould for that, making that in fibreglass and aluminium, spraying it and getting the labels printed up for me."

Apart from a 3D-printed front wing, virtually every part of the project was completed by Tutte himself. Despite the complexity of the build, Tutte has no formal engineering background.

Instead, he credits a lifetime of picking up practical skills through a variety of jobs, including car bodywork.

"I'm sort of a jack of all trades, master of none," he laughed.

The build took around four months, although physical limitations meant progress often came in short bursts.

"Normally a couple of hours a day," he said. "Some days I just can't do anything."

The finished product is packed with details that F1 fans will instantly recognise.

"The rear of the car, it sparks as well," Tutte said. "When a car pulls into the pits and the brakes are hot and they smoke, the same happens on the scooter."

The active rear wing proved to be the most challenging aspect of the entire build.

"It was getting the right motors and then getting the programme just to get the wing to flip the right amount," he explained.

Tutte estimates the project cost around £1300, a figure that surprised many people who saw it over the weekend.

"A lot of people were saying, 'You want to make them and sell them'," he laughed.

He even sold last year's version to a man who bought it for his son.

Despite the attention his creations receive, Tutte insisted the real enjoyment comes from building them.

Yet the reaction from fans has become an unexpected bonus.

"I'm not normally one for attention," he admitted. "But then when you go to the race and everybody's commenting on the car, it just sort of blows me away that people think it's that good."

Throughout the weekend, crowds gathered around the scooter, stopping for photographs and conversations.

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For a lifelong Ferrari supporter, there was another reason to celebrate too.

Tutte follows Ferrari above all else and counts Charles Leclerc as his favourite driver.

So seeing Leclerc win at Silverstone capped off a great weekend. But there was one moment that almost made the weekend even more special.

After spotting the scooter at Silverstone, Ferrari got in touch.

"Ferrari contacted me on Saturday," Tutte said.

The team attempted to arrange a meeting with Leclerc and invited Tutte to the circuit's inner area, but access restrictions ultimately prevented it from happening.

"They wanted me to go to the inner track, but you have to have a pass to get there," Tutte explained. "Silverstone said there wasn't a pass available."

The opportunity slipped away. "I was absolutely gutted," he admitted.

But Ferrari promised to stay in touch and hoped to arrange something special for the 2027 British GP.

For a fan who has spent months painstakingly recreating his favourite team's F1 car, that recognition alone felt like a victory.

And with plans already forming for next year's upgrade, there's every chance Ferrari won't be the only ones keeping an eye out for Simon Tutte when Silverstone returns.