Back to where it all began

Silverstone, venue of the British Grand Prix, hosted the first ever F1 race in 1950

Few things in life lose their shine quite so easily as sports events. Aside from the highs of record-setting moments, sporting contests tend to be quickly overtaken by the next big event.

But 65 years after the inaugural British Grand Prix, the race still holds a special place in the history of Formula One and the hearts of its fans. Although it could not have been imagined at the time, it was the first race of what through the ensuing decades would become one of the major global sports. By the end of the 20th century, Formula One’s popularity and breadth of television audience was surpassed by only World Cup soccer and the Olympics.

In retrospect, though, there was perhaps a foreshadowing of something special at the debut race. Run on the site of a former World War II airfield near Silverstone, England, the Grand Prix was attended by several prominent personalities. Not least among them was King George VI, who remains the only British sovereign to have attended a Formula One race. Princess Margaret, daughter of the king and younger sister of the future Queen Elizabeth II, and her mother were also present, as were the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma.

There were also more than 100,000 spectators in attendance. The drivers included such future greats as Stirling Moss, participating in a support race; Juan Manuel Fangio, who would go on to become a legend in the elite racing series; and Giuseppe Farina, who would become the first world champion, in the main Formula One race.

There was also an unknown 19-year-old driver with vision in only one eye participating in the support race. His name was Bernie Ecclestone, and he would go on to become Formula One’s commercial promoter, turning the series into the worldwide sporting event that it is today and making a personal fortune of $4.5 billion along the way.

The most conspicuous absence from that first Grand Prix of the Formula One championship was the already legendary Ferrari team. The Italian team did not take part because of a disagreement over payment for the race. But Ferrari made its debut in the series the following weekend, at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Today, Ferrari remains the only team to have taken part in every season in the Formula One championship since 1950. The Italian team is now as synonymous with Formula One as is the British Grand Prix itself.

But 1950 would prove to be the year of the Alfa Romeo cars and Farina, who won the race and eventually the championship. There were four Alfa Romeo cars in the race, and they were the main attraction. Alfa Romeos finished in first, second and third positions.

There were 21 drivers from nine countries, including nine Britons. Three Alfa Romeos started on the front row, and the quickest of them, that of Farina, immediately took the lead ahead of Fangio and Luigi Fagioli. Engine problems forced Fangio to retire, and Farina beat Fagioli by 2.5 seconds, with Reg Parnell finishing third.

Since then, Formula One cars have evolved far more than the Silverstone circuit. In footage of that first race, the site looks remarkably familiar to anyone who has attended a race at this home of British motor sport. In fact, of all the races on the calendar, Silverstone — along with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal and the Brazilian Grand Prix at São Paulo — was for long the site with the least-developed facilities.

As recently as 2000, the race became a muddy, rainy disaster, when large numbers of spectators had to be turned away because it was impossible to get their cars in or out of the mud on the site’s roads. Ecclestone had once described the race as “a country fair masquerading as a world-class event.”

It was only in 2011 that, after years of battling to improve the facilities for the teams, their guests and the news media, he succeeded in having a new pit and paddock building constructed. And despite those changes, not as much was done for the public’s comfort around the track.

Still, in a country that loves tradition, that race on May 13, 1950, is warmly recalled as the beginning of the world championship and its indelible connection with Silverstone.

The British have great affection for this site in the middle of the countryside, straddling the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border. The track has hosted 50 British Grands Prix and practically the entire industry of Formula One — with the exception of a Swiss team and two Italian teams, including Ferrari — is now based around Silverstone and London.

The attachment is even stronger this year, as the series arrives this weekend with the British driver Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, in the lead. Last year, Hamilton won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for the second time. He had also triumphed there in 2008, the year in which he went on to win his first world title.
“I want to see Silverstone absolutely rocking at the checkered flag,” Hamilton said about the race this year.