British GP

Following the war, the major racing circuits in Britain, such as Donington Park and Brooklands, were still recuperating from the military changes introduced during the war. Taking this into account, the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) decided to convert Silverstone into a racing track and a lease was arranged with the Air Ministry in 1948.

Post-war the Silverstone airfield was being used as a farm to produce cereal crops. Hence, the responsibility of constructing the track was handed to the local farmer, James Wilson Brown. The 1948 RAC Grand Prix was the first racing event to take place on the new Silverstone circuit, which was simple a 5.90km course built using ropes and straw bales. Luigi Villoresi took the spoils at this race in his Maserati, recording an average of speed of 116kph.

In 1949, the dangerous runways and the new Club chicane of the track were dropped and the circuit finally took shape, which has been the basis of the Silverstone circuit till present day. The circuit then went on to host the first ever Formula One (F1) World Championship Event after its inception on May 13th 1950. Awarded the title of European Grand Prix, the first F1 race at Silverstone marked a momentous occasion for international auto racing. Guiseppe Farina, in the invincible Alfa Romeo, carved his name in record books by becoming the first driver to win the first ever World Championship Grand Prix. He took this historic win in front of Luigi Fagioli and British driver Reg Parnell.

After its grand inauguration, the Silverstone circuit was completely modified in 1951 when the lease of the track was passed on to the British Racing Driver’s Club (BRDC). These changes included the pits and start-finish line being moved from the Farm to the exit of Woodcote Corner and minor changes to the other corners to create an impressive 2.927mile track ahead of the 1952 Grand Prix (GP).

The GP, renamed as the British GP after the first F1 racing event, alternated between Silverstone and Aintree circuits until 1964. There after, the Aintree track was replaced by the Brands Hatch circuit, due to the deteriorating condition of the former track.

The present Silverstone circuit is the result of numerous renovations seen by the race track over the years. When Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Honda reached 160mph mark in 1985 GP, this called for some drastic changes to increase the overall safety measures of the circuit.

Accordingly, in early 1987, the S-bend chicane before the Woodcote corner was replaced by a sharp left-right bend. Similarly 40 large garages were installed in place of the pits along with the introduction of a large Press centre on the track. These modifications marked the first extensive changes in the layout of Silverstone circuit since 1949.

Further upgrades in recent years have transformed the Silverstone circuit into one of the safest yet exhilaratingly fast tracks in the world. Hence the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone continues to be one of the most exciting destinations in the F1 Championship calendar.

Recent Results:

2009: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2008: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes)
2007: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2006: Fernando Alonso (Renault)
2005: Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes)