Silverstone a history of the British Grand Prix circuit

The British Grand Prix is back in this July and the whole of the nation will be on the edge of their seats praying wonder-boy-racer Lewis Hamilton wins again at his home circuit of Silverstone.
During the Second World War, in 1943 Silverstone was opened as a military airfield. When the war ended, Britain had a number of redundant air fields but no race track. The Automobile Association picked Silverstone and by 1948 the lease was signed and the site was developed into a race track. In just two months, a farmer, James Wilson Brown was commissioned to design and build a race track in working order.

Mission accomplished and in October of 1948 the first race took place at Silverstone. After years of no Grand Prix races, the crowds were eager to see the race take place and flocked in their thousands to see the drivers battle it out. The winner of the maiden race at Silverstone was Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati. An average speed of 72mph was recorded and Luigi scooped the first place prize of £500.

By 1950, the drivers championship was created and the first World Champion event occurred at Silverstone in may of that year. Attended by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, this is the first and last Grand Prix that was attended by a monarch.

An Alfa Romeo was the winning car in this first World Championship race. Guiseppe Farina was the driver and in third place was a British driver – Reg Parnell.

By 1951, and under new ownership, Silverstone underwent changes and renovations were made to make the track a permanent feature – out went the haystacks and in came the crash barriers and spectator stands. The circuit was altered to a 2.927 mile course and the start and finish lines moved to Woodcote Corner.

The first 100mph lap was set in 1953 and the Grand Prix moved itself into one of the top events on the sporting calendar.

In the seventies, Jackie Stewart made a name for himself, winning the drivers championship three times in total. Woodcote Corner became legendary – “it was without a doubt one of the most legendary corners in the F1 world”. Speeds in excess of 160mph were set by the bravest drivers tackling this corner.

In the 1980s names in F1 included Mansell, Prost, Senna and Piquet. Major changes were made to Woodcote Corner in an attempt to reduce speeds which were spiralling out of control. Great wins for Mansell in the late 1980s made races that have gone down in history as being the most exciting.

Still one of the fastest courses on the Grand Prix calendar, Silverstone saw Damon Hill take to the Podium and following the deaths of the legendary Ayrton Senna and Roland Razenburger at Imola great lengths were taken again to reduce speeds on the track. Other winners at Silverstone in the 90s included Villeneuve, Schumacher and Coulthard bringing it home in 1999.

The last few years have seen great changes to Silverstone both to the track and the surrounding infrastructure. The most exciting change however is the emergence of young British stars Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Bringing F1 back to Britain in a big way and hopefully bring the title for British Grand Prix back to Britains!

Lou Stevens write for Bookie Alerts is an ardent fan of the British Grand Prix.