British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix has been a flagship race on the Formula 1 calendar since its inaugural season in 1950. Silverstone has held the event since 1987 after sharing it with Brands Hatch.

Silverstone also hosted the very first Formula 1 race with the maiden British GP in 1950. The series has since visited Britain every year in its existence, as well as for the 70th Anniversary GP in 2020. Silverstone held two events that year as F1 marked 70 years as a championship.

Grand Prix racing even resumed in Britain after World War II at Silverstone in 1948, with the Royal Automobile Club leasing the former RAF airfield. While Aintree also hosted four British Grand Prix from 1955 to 1961. Brands Hatch took up Aintree’s slot rotating with Silverstone.

History of the F1 British GP

Formula 1 was born at Silverstone at the inaugural British GP in 1950 as the series became a world championship. Queen Elizabeth even attended the event with George VI and Princess Margaret. While Giuseppe Farina also won the race for an Alfa Romeo one-two-three finish.

The British GP has since become one of just two races to feature on every F1 calendar so far beside the Italian GP. F1 has also visited Britain for a further three European Grand Prix with two races at Brands Hatch and one at Donington. It was an honorary title for the bonus race.

Silverstone was further the site of the first Ferrari win in Formula 1 as Jose Froilan Gonzalez triumphed in 1951. The Scuderia have since enjoyed great success racing in Britain. But the Italian squad are yet to match their run of four wins at Silverstone between 1951 and 1954.

Lewis Hamilton leads the way for home success at the British GP

Lotus also enjoyed four wins in a row in Britain from 1962 to 1965 and so did Williams from 1991 to 1994. But Mercedes usurped the previous record runs from 2013 to 2017, including four on the bounce with Lewis Hamilton. No driver can rival Hamilton’s British GP wins tally.

British drivers like Hamilton have often got atop their home podium, with Jim Clark winning five times and Nigel Mansell four times. Clark was also the first Briton to win the British GP four times in a row from 1962 to 1965. While two Britons even won the British GP in 1957.

Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks both enjoyed home glory in 1957 after sharing driving duties for Vanwall. The pair won the race by more than 25 seconds to Luigi Musso of Ferrari after 90 laps, lasting three hours and six minutes. Briton Mike Hawthorn also made the rostrum.

What made the win even more historic was that it marked the first win in Formula 1 with a British-built car. Moss also started in a different car. But he took over Brooks’ vehicle as the Surrey dentist still felt the effects of cuts sustained at Le Mans, with Moss’ engine misfiring.

Home hero James Hunt was disqualified from the 1976 British GP

Moss and Brooks’ victory came at Aintree but the track near Liverpool was decommissioned in 1964. Brands Hatch then took over sharing the British GP with Silverstone but yielded the same result as Aintree’s final race: a win for Clark. But the circuit was a huge hit with drivers.

Brands Hatch offered F1 drivers and fans what Silverstone or Aintree did not with cambered corners and varying elevations. It was also the scene of Niki Lauda’s controversial win during the Austrian’s title fight with James Hunt in 1976 after the Briton’s McLaren was disqualified.

Hunt was one of four drivers to sustain damage during a crash at the first corner of the 1976 British GP. But rather than complete the Grand Prix loop that runs into the Kent countryside, he took to the escape road to return to the pit lane for repairs with the race under red flags.

The stewards initially ruled that Hunt would not be allowed to resume the race. But amidst protests by the passionate home crowd, they conceded and let the McLaren racer back into the British GP. Hunt would also go on to win the race but rival teams protested his inclusion.

It took the panel two months to rule that the protest would stand and Hunt was stripped of his win. Instead, title-rival Lauda sealed the victory. But Hunt brought himself back into title contention following Lauda’s near-fatal crash at the German GP before securing the crown.

Silverstone delivered peak Mansell Mania at the 1992 British GP

Silverstone ultimately took advantage of motorsport’s governing body ruling that all circuits would require long-term contracts to have F1 Grand Prix in 1986. It also had acres of space to expand, having rarely changed since using the perimeter roads of an RAF airfield in 1950.

Changes eventually came for the layout of Silverstone in 1991 with the addition of the Vale chicane, Bridge, Priory, Brooklands and Luffield. The circuit also tweaked the Maggotts and Becketts sequence into Chapel to create one of the best sequences of corners in Formula 1.

Silverstone made further changes to the layout of its Priory, Brooklands and Luffield bends, as well. But the next major modifications did not come before 2010 when the track added a new inner section. Silverstone removed Bridge and Priory to add in the Wellington Straight.

By then, Silverstone had delivered yet further home success with Hamilton, David Coulthard (twice), Johnny Herbert, Damon Hill and Mansell (twice) all winning around the new-in-1991 layout. The 1992 British GP even also delivered peak Mansell Mania as Red 5 won from pole.

Mansell sealed pole position by more than two seconds to his Williams teammate, Riccardo Patrese. He then stormed clear to win by 39 seconds despite Patrese leading out of the first corner. Silverstone then erupted as fans flooded the track and swarmed Mansell’s Williams.

Lewis Hamilton drove one of his best wins at the 2008 British GP

It was torrential rain, rather than fans, that flooded Silverstone when Hamilton won his first British GP in 2008, though. The Stevenage-born star produced arguably his greatest drive to win for McLaren. He won the race by over a minute, as one of three drivers on the lead lap.

Hamilton even won the 2020 British GP with a puncture after his front-left tyre failed on the final lap. He crawled home to win at Silverstone after Red Bull stopped Max Verstappen as a precaution when Valtteri Bottas got a puncture, leaving an insurmountable gap to Hamilton.

Two rivals then collided in controversial circumstances at the 2021 British GP with Hamilton and Verstappen. The Mercedes driver had gotten the better start but the Red Bull pilot kept coming back. Verstappen then squeezed Hamilton as they went into the high-speed Copse.

Hamilton suffered a slight kick of oversteer as he pinched his Mercedes onto the kerb. But the wobble sent the Briton into Verstappen, who span out before crashing heavily. It was a significant crash in their title fight as Verstappen tried to bully Hamilton in the earlier races.

What is Silverstone like?

Silverstone is a driver’s dream circuit with its high-speed nature and mixture of corners. The sleepy Northamptonshire village roars into life on British GP weekend as fans flock to see F1 cars at their limits. No corners show F1 cars at their limits more than Maggotts and Beckets.

The high-speed left, right, left, right sequence into Chapel pushes F1 machinery to the limits of their downforce. While Copse is one of the fastest corners following an overtaking dream of Brooklands and Luffield, which let drivers continue to fight out of the Wellington Straight.

Winners of the F1 British GP