How every corner at Silverstone got its name including iconic Copse, Maggotts and Becketts

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If you listen to the team radio messages to the Formula 1 drivers at the British Grand Prix, you will hear their engineers call each corner at Silverstone by a specific name.

The iconic circuit in Northamptonshire has been part of the F1 calendar since the series’ very inception in 1950, with Silverstone not only hosting the first British GP but also the very first Formula 1 race.

Silverstone, along with Aintree and Brands Hatch when those circuits staged the race, has also seen plenty of success for home drivers with the list of British drivers to win the British Grand Prix regularly expanding.

Formula 1 also breaks slightly from what is now the norm when it visits Silverstone, with each corner at the home of the British Grand Prix referred to by a specific name instead of simply Turn 1, 2 and so on.

There are a total of 18 corners, each with its own specific name, on the Grand Prix track at Silverstone. The 5.8km (3.6m) circuit can be split into two halves or run in full, with the north part of the track the National Circuit and the southern segment the International Circuit.

But how did the corners at Silverstone get their names? F1 Oversteer runs through all you need to know…

Turn 1 – Abbey

The first corner of Silverstone is named Abbey after the ancient Luffield Abbey, the remains of which were found near the corner.

Turn 2 – Farm

The origins of Farm corner at Silverstone are pretty simple as the slight left-hand kick, which is effectively a straight for Formula 1 cars, used to pass a nearby farm. Farm also serves as the merge point between the Grand Prix pit exit and the live track.

Turn 3 – Village

The corner of Village at Silverstone was new to the circuit when renovations to improve the track were made in 2010. The right-hander is named after the nearby Silverstone Village, which has just under 2,000 residents but bursts into life on British Grand Prix week.

Turn 4 – The Loop

Simply named after its shape, the left-hand hairpin of The Loop at Turn 4 is taken at just 55 mph – making it one of the slowest corners of the high-speed Silverstone track.

Turn 5 – Aintree

Aintree alternated hosting the British Grand Prix with Silverstone during the 1950s and early 1960s, before Brands Hatch took over the alternate spot. So, when it came to extending the circuit in 2010, Silverstone adopted Aintree for the name of Turn 5.

Today, the Aintree name is more widely associated with hosting another type of horsepower, however, with the famous Grand National steeple chase.

Wellington Straight

Silverstone reconfigured its Grand Prix circuit ahead of the 2010 British GP with Abbey converted from a left-hander into what is now Turn 1, whilst trading the Farm Straight, Bridge and Priory section before Brooklands for Farm, Village, The Loop and Aintree.

The changes also saw Silverstone add a second, long straight to connect Aintree with Brooklands, which adopted the name of the Wellington Straight.

It is named after the Wellington bombers that were stationed at Silverstone whilst it served as an RAF base during World War II.

Turn 6 – Brooklands

Brooklands was one of the first motorsport venues in the UK but its peak came during the pre-war days and before the Formula 1 World Championship. But the Brooklands name remains a huge part of the British Grand Prix with Silverstone’s Turn 6 named after the venue.

The open left-hander of Brooklands is one of the major overtaking spots on Silverstone’s Grand Prix and National Circuit configurations.

Turn 7 – Luffield

Like Abbey, Silverstone named Turn 7 of its Grand Prix circuit Luffield after the Luffield Chapel.

Luffield first featured at a British Grand Prix in 1991 as two 90-degree right-hand corners before Silverstone smoothed the bend into one corner in 1994.

Turn 8 – Woodcote

Silverstone named what is now Turn 8 of its Grand Prix circuit Woodcote after Woodcote Park, a Royal Automobile Club-owned club in Surrey.

From 1950 until 2009, Woodcote served as the final corner for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix when held at Silverstone.

Turn 9 – Copse

Copse is not only a staple of Silverstone but the corner is one of the fastest turns on the Formula 1 calendar with drivers turning right at around 180mph. Silverstone named this corner as Copse as it passes close to Chapel Copse and Cheese Copse.

Turns 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 – Maggotts, Becketts, Chapel

Silverstone boasts one of the most iconic sequences of corners in all of motorsport with its Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sector from Turn 10 to T14.

Drivers pass through a sweeping left-right-left-right flow of bends which test Formula 1 cars like few corners can.

Maggotts is named after the nearby Maggot Moor, while Silverstone gave Becketts and Chapel Curve their names from the medieval chapel of St Thomas a Beckett – the 12th Century Archbishop of Canterbury.

Hangar Straight

Once drivers flick left out of Chapel, they hit Hangar Straight which Silverstone named as such after the large aircraft hangars that were located on the site during its time as an RAF airfield.

Turn 15 – Stowe

Another of Silverstone’s major overtaking opportunities arrives at Stowe thanks to the run down the Hangar Straight from Chapel. Silverstone named the corner as such after the nearby Stowe School.

Turn 16, 17 – Vale Chicane

A lap of the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone reaches its conclusion when Formula 1 drivers slam on the brakes for the left-hand Turn 16 before accelerating out of the right-hand T17 after the Vale Chicane. It is simply named as such as Vale is another word for a valley.

Turn 18 – Club

Silverstone named the final corner of its Grand Prix circuit Club after the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London.

The Royal Automobile Club is the founding father of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone after taking out a lease on the RAF airfield in the years before F1’s maiden visit.