FORMULA 1 elder statesman Sir Frank Williams revealed his favourite movie quote to an unusual and intimate audience.

The motor racing mogul also revealed to his guests from Oxford University Royal Naval Unit that he once considered the military himself.

The Williams F1 founder made his frank disclosures when the students visited his company's headquarters in Grove on Monday this week.

The RNU, joined by officer cadets from London University RNU and members of the Oxford University Officer Training Corps, started the visit with a guided tour.

After seeing the Williams Heritage Collection – the largest private collection of Grand Prix cars in the world, with more than 40 on display charting 30 years of the team's history – the visitors were shown an exhibition of Williams technology, the trophy room and the champions' gallery.

After the tour, the group said they were delighted to meet Sir Frank, who talked about some of the highlights from his long career.

The 75-year-old, whose daughter Claire is now team principal, revealed that his favourite movie was Top Gun, with his favourite quote from the film being 'I feel the need, the need for speed!'.

He then offered the visitors the 'extraordinarily rare' opportunity of a personally-led tour of the production factory where new Formula 1 cars are assembled.

CPO Gary Maskell, coxswain and 2I/C of the Oxford URNU said: "As a huge Formula 1 fan, the visit was fantastic, everyone we met was hugely engaging and genuinely proud of what they do, and it was an honour to meet and chat to Sir Frank.

"Although I was taken aback when he explained that he wanted to join the military when he was younger, he was amused when I said I thought his current career choice hadn’t turned out too bad."

Lieutenant Will Jones RN, commanding officer of the Oxford URNU said: "The visit was absolutely amazing: we saw scores of world famous cars, a huge amount of ground breaking technology, met a motor racing legend and were given an extremely rare tour of the production factory which, as an engineer, was genuinely fascinating."

The trip on Monday was paid for by The Guy Hudson Memorial Trust, which supports the Oxford University RNU throughout the year.