Five Fast Facts about the British Gran Prix

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is the oldest fixture in the Formula 1 world championship, having been the first race of the first season on May 13, 1950. The race was won by an Italian driver in an Italian car on Italian tyres though, with Nino Farina claiming victory in an Alfa Romeo on Pirelli's iconic Stella Bianca. Silverstone has not quite been ever-present since then, though: it alternated hosting the British Grand Prix with Aintree from 1955 to 1962, and then with Brands Hatch all the way to 1986. Since then, the circuit that straddles the English counties of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire has hosted F1 every year. And there have been other races in Britain previously that counted as the European Grand Prix, such as the classic rain-soaked Donington event in 1993: an Ayrton Senna masterclass.

Few circuits have changed as much over their lifetime as Silverstone has. The first layout of 1948 mostly utilised the runways of what was previously a Royal Air Force base, before the track was switched solely to the airfield perimeter the following year. As speeds increased, a tight chicane was added at what was the final corner, Woodcote, in 1975 – replaced 12 years by the creation of the preceding Luffield complex. More widespread changes came during the 1990s, including the formation of the current Maggotts, Becketts, and Chapel section: one of the most exhilarating sequences of racetrack in the world. And there were more changes still to come…

The largest transformation to the F1 layout came more recently, in 2010, with the addition of a technical ‘arena' section, adding 759 metres to the lap length. A new pit lane and paddock complex was opened a year later. But, for a modern venue, the overall character of Silverstone remains similar to the original perimeter layout. Among existing layouts, only Monza and Jeddah have faster lap records than the 243.494 kph average clocked by Max Verstappen during the 2020 British Grand Prix. The many high-speed corners provide a test of car downforce and driver bravery, as well as tyres.

The United Kingdom has produced, by some margin, more Formula 1 world champions than any other nation, with 10 in total: Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. And Hamilton has more wins in a home race than any other driver in history, with eight British GP victories to his name. That's also a shared record for the most wins at any single GP: Hamilton has also won eight Hungarian GPs, a benchmark previously set by Michael Schumacher at the French GP. While Hamilton continues aged 38 to aim for more wins and championships, Britain's F1 future is in good hands too with George Russell (25) and Lando Norris (23) also established as Silverstone fan favourites.

Seven of the 10 Formula 1 teams are based in the UK, even though many are these days owned by multinational companies and race under other flags. And almost all of these are located within an hour's drive of Silverstone (with McLaren the only exception, headquartered around 90 minutes away in Woking). Among the closest to the track are Red Bull, just half an hour away in Milton Keynes, and Mercedes, 20 minutes down the road in Brackley. Pirelli too has its engineering base in Didcot, Oxfordshire, less than an hour away. But no team can call Silverstone home quite like Aston Martin, which has a burgeoning facility just across the road from the circuit entrance. The team, which started life as Jordan, has never won its home race. What are the odds on Fernando Alonso – a two-time Silverstone winner – to roll back the years this time around?