F1's first grand prix revisited on landmark 75th birthday

Believe it or not, but the first-ever Formula 1 race was not the 1950 British Grand Prix. 

That honour actually goes to the 1946 Turin Grand Prix, the first event held to F1 regulations, and won by Achille Varzi in an Alfa Romeo 158. 

By 1950, the old pre-war European Drivers' Championship of 1931-1938 had been given a reboot, and the FIA Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship was inaugurated, with seven races in that year's F1 calendar selected to count for the drivers' title. 

In reality, only six of these would count as the Indianapolis 500 was included as a world championship grand prix to firmly put the 'world' in a world championship, otherwise run on mainly European circuits in these early years - and which, 75 years later, still wreaks havoc with the official F1 statistics. 

But by May 13th, 1950, all was set for Round 1 of the 1950 World Drivers' Championship, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. 

Article continues below. 

The build-up

Silverstone, in the heart of the English countryside on the Northants-Bucks border, was an old RAF base for Wellington bombers (hence the modern Wellington Straight), and the circuit back then looked very different to today. 

The start/finish line was located on a straight between Abbey (Turn 1 today) and Woodcote with Copse, Chapel, the Hanger Straight, Stowe, all taking on their familiar look, whilst Maggots and Becketts did not. The high-speed sweepers would not come into being until the 1980s, with Becketts in particular being a long curved right-hander.

A total of 24 drivers were entered for the race, although not one was driving a Ferrari. Enzo had felt the meagre prize money on offer was not befitting the Cavalino Rampante, and so promptly stayed at home. 

As expected, those Alfa 158s dominated with its class-leading driver line-up of Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli and an Argentine by the name of Juan Manuel Fangio took a 1-2-3 on the grid, with a fourth entry of Briton Reg Parnell in fourth. 

With the Italians in their red cars, the French in the blues and the British, of course, in racing green, 21 drivers took to the start on 13th May.

There were nine Britons, four French, two Italians, one Belgian, an Irishman, a Monegasque, an Argentine, a Thai and a Swiss on the grid. Of course, as they formed up on the grid, none of those 21 knew just what they were about to start.

In the presence of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret - (Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II had just returned from Malta where husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was stationed as a Royal Navy officer), the world championship began.

Article continues below - and check out footage from the race below. (You may have to scroll down on the video to bring it into vision).

The race itself

It was a relatively straightforward afternoon for Farina, who won easily from pole position in an Alfa 1-2-3. 

He led for 63 of the 70 laps, setting fastest lap on the way to pick up the full nine points on offer - eight for the win, and one for fastest lap. 

In what today what might be termed a thrashing, the three Alfas who finished were an incredible TWO LAPS ahead of anything else, with Fangio dropping out with engine trouble leading to Farina winning from Fagioli and Parnell. 

The best-placed British entry was that of Bob Gerard's ERA in sixth - which earned nil poi, as only the top five scored.

Farina would go on to become the first World Drivers' Champion later that year, whilst Fangio won the 1951 and 1954-1957 titles to be a five-time world champion. His record would not be beaten until Michael Schumacher won his sixth crown in 2003. He broke his own record with a seventh in 2004, since matched by Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

Fast forward 27,385 days to May 4th, 2025 and Miami 1,130 world championship grands prix later, McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris handed out another thumping to the field and look set to continue that through the season, just as Farina and Fangio did all those years ago. 

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. C'est la vie.