Silverstone circuit: the home of Formula 1 racing
The inaugural race of the first ever World Championship was run at the Silverstone circuit in May 1950. Up to 2009 a total of 43 Formula 1 Grand Prix races have been raced here, and the 2009 race will no longer be the last. This lens charts the history of one of drivers' favourite circuits.
Early History of Silverstone: 1943-1949
Silverstone Circuit has come a long way since it was turned from a wartime airfield into a motor racing circuit.
- Silverstone was opened as a World War Two airfield in 1943, near the leafy village of the same name. Once the war had ended in 1945 Britain was left with a number of redundant airfields but without a major race track Donington Park was still a military vehicle storage depot, Brooklands had been sold off, Crystal Palace was in a state of disrepair and Brands Hatch was still under-developed.
- The Royal Automobile Club was interested in Silverstone as a potential site and approached the Air Ministry in 1948 and a lease was arranged. At this time the centre of Silverstone Circuit was a farm producing cereal crops and also a piggery so the RAC employed farmer James Wilson Brown to create the first Grand Prix circuit at the site and gave him just two months to build it.
- On October 2nd, 1948, amid straw bales and ropes, Silverstone's first event took place, the RAC Grand Prix. The crowds came in there thousands, thrilled to see the return of Grand Prix racing after so many years of war austerity.The 3.67 mile course sent the 23 competing cars racing round part of the perimeter track, up the two former runways and back to the perimeter. This layout meant cars were racing towards each other head-on until they turned sharp left and returned to the perimeter. For this reason canvas screens were erected across the centre of the circuit to stop the drivers being distracted whilst the spectators were not allowed in the centre of the circuit because of the potential damage to growing crops.
- The winner of the inaugural race at the Silverstone circuit was Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati, who recorded an average speed of 72 mph to claim the first prize of £500. A year later, after the hazardous runways were eliminated and a chicane was inserted at Club on the full perimeter road, Silverstone hosted a second major event in May 1949 - the Formula One Daily Express International Trophy - virtually a second Grand Prix, won by Alberto Ascari.
- Another of Silverstone's most famous classics also began in August 1949, the Daily Express International Trophy for Formula One cars and for this meeting the Club chicane was dispensed with and the circuit took up a shape that was to last for a quarter of a century.
Silverstone FIA Grand Prix Winners
British Grand Prix races also held at: Aintree (1955, 1957, 1959, 1961-2) and Brands Hatch (1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986).
- 1950 - Guiseppe 'Nino' Farina (Italy), Alfa Romeo
- 1951 - Frolian Gonzales (Argentina), Ferrari
- 1952 - Alberto Ascari (Italy), Ferrari
- 1953 - Alberto Ascari (Italy), Ferrari
- 1954 - Frolian Gonzales (Argentina), Ferrari
- 1956 - Juan Manuel Fangio (Argentina), Ferrari
- 1958 - Peter Collins (England), Ferrari
- 1960 - Jack Brabham (Australia), Cooper
- 1963 - Jim Clark (Scotland), Lotus
- 1965 - Jim Clark (Scotland), Lotus
- 1967 - Jim Clark (Scotland), Lotus
- 1969 - Jackie Stewart (Scotland), Matra
- 1971 - Jackie Stewart (Scotland), Tyrrell
- 1973 - Peter Revson (USA), McLaren
- 1975 - Emerson Fittipaldi (Brazil), McLaren
- 1977 - James Hunt (England), McLaren
- 1979 - Clay Regazzoni (Switzerland), Williams
- 1981 - John Watson (Northern Ireland), McLaren
- 1983 - Alain Prost (France), Renault
- 1985 - Alain Prost (France), McLaren
- 1987 - Nigel Mansell (England), Williams
- 1988 - Ayrton Senna (Brazil), McLaren
- 1989 - Alain Prost (France), McLaren
- 1990 - Alain Prost (France), Ferrari
- 1991 - Nigel Mansell (England), Williams
- 1992 - Nigel Mansell (England), Williams
- 1993 - Alain Prost (France), Williams
- 1994 - Damon Hill (England), Williams
- 1995 - Johnny Herbert (England), Benetton
- 1996 - Jacques Villeneuve (Canada), Williams
- 1997 - Jacques Villeneuve (Canada), Williams
- 1998 - Michael Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari
- 1999 - David Coulthard (Scotland), McLaren
- 2000 - David Coulthard (Scotland), McLaren
- 2001 - Mika Häkkinen (Finland), McLaren
- 2002 - Michael Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari
- 2003 - Rubens Barrichello (Brazil), Ferrari
- 2004 - Michael Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari
- 2005 - Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), McLaren
- 2006 - Fernando Alonso (Spain), Renault
- 2007 - Kimi Räikkönen (Finland), Ferrari
- 2008 - Lewis Hamilton (England), McLaren
- 2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Germany), Red Bull Racing
Silverstone Links
Official Silverstone Circuit web site
Race meetings - the best in World and UK racing.1 point
2009 British Grand Prix | post-race press conference
2009 British Grand Prix: post-race press conference - 21 June 2009, with Sebastien Vettel, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello.1 point
BBC Northamptonshire | Silverstone
BBC Northamptonshire web pages about the Silverstone circuit.1 point
BBC | Silverstone signs 17-year deal for British Grand Prix
Silverstone has agreed a 17-year deal to host the British Grand Prix from 2010, ensuring the race is not axed. The Northamptonshire circuit stepped i...1 point
Blog Posts about Silverstone
- autosport.com - F1 News: 'Fresh' Silverstone a boost for fans
- "It will be a whole new life for the track, and maybe move it back to how Silverstone used to be - a really, really fast circuit," John Rhodes, senior associate of architecture company Populous, told AUTOSPORT. ...
- 'Fresh' Silverstone a boost for fans - -=Dirty Planet=-
- That is the view of one of the main architects behind the circuit upgrades ? who thinks that new facilities and the revised Arena layout will bring a 'freshness' to Silverstone that has not existed for years. ...
- 2010 F1 testing dates confirmed | F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog
- Boon- testing at Silverstone, Nurburgring or any other European circuit this winter would be more akin to ice skating I imagine. Reply. Stealthman says: January 5, 2010 at 1:28 pm. Plus Valencia and Barcelona have a good variety of ...
- Brazil With Lasers: BWL – Troféu Kolachinski 2 – Silverstone e ...
- Broggio Silva seems fine on the circuit. Marinello (P14) makes a driver error at the first corner. Marinello appears to be lapping slower. Lap 7 of 25. Rak Zanchetta (P12) is concerned with the gearbox. Moments later Rak Zanchetta has ...
News about Silverstone
- Free Driving Courses For Young People In South Northants
- Rightracks Drive16, for 16-year-olds to experience their first taste of driving, will take place on Sunday 21 February at Silverstone Circuit.
- California Superbike School Dates 2010
- UK courses commence at Silverstone on 22nd April, with a further 19 dates at either Silverstone or Brands Hatch, until the last day of term on 12th ...
- No Buyer For Donington Park Lease
- By REUTERS LONDON (Reuters) - Donington Park administrators have handed the motor racing circuit back to the owning Wheatcroft family after failing to find ...
- New Mettet circuit in Belgium gets its own 'Corkscrew'
- By Chris Newbigging - This is the stunning new Corkscrew-alike chicane that will be the main feature of Belgium's nearly-completed Mettet circuit. ...
Silverstone on Amazon
Silverstone : Circuit Soundtrack (Soup Disk Racing League Production) [Import]
Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010) 
SILVERSTONE: THE STORY OF BRITAIN'S FASTEST CIRCUIT.
Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010)
Circuit '72
Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010)
BRITISH GRAND PRIX 10-12 JULY 1992.: OFFICIAL PROGRAMME.
Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010)
Silverstone on Wikipedia
Category: File - :Kimi Raikkonen 2006 test.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Kimi Räikkönen testing for McLaren at Silverstone in April 2006.
The Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, named after the village in the former. It is best known as the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948 and which has been held on the circuit every year since 1987. The circuit is also home to the BRDC International Trophy, formerly one of the premier non-Championship F1 races in the calendar, today awarded to the winner of a race for historic F1 cars at the annual Silverstone Classic meeting.
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