British GP

F1 British Grand Prix 2021

The oldest race on the F1 World Championship calendar, the British GP is one of two events that have been held every season that the championship has been held, with the Italian GP being the other.

First held in 1926, the British GP has been held annually since 1948. Currently held at the Silverstone Circuit, the 2019 event was the 70th time the race has been run as a World Championship event along with it being the 53rd time it's been held at Silverstone.

Between 1950 and 1977, the British GP was designated as the European GP on five occasions when the title was an honorary designation given each year to a race in Europe.

History

The concrete Brookland oval was the first purpose-built motor racing venue built in 1907, playing host to the first British GP in 1926. The event, which came as a result of the successes of Henry Segrave in winning the 1923 French GP and the 1924 San Sebastian GP, was won by Robert Senechal and Louis Wagner driving a Delage. The 1927 event was also won by Delage, this time driven by Robert Benoist.

The best teams in Europe took part in several non-championship races known as the Donington GP, held at Donington Park, in 1937 and 1938. Given they were held by the Derby & District Motor Club rather than the Royal Automobile Club, they are not given the title of British GP.

Silverstone

Brooklands was abandoned after being severely damaged by the onset of World War II. Several new British circuits were being built on disused Royal Air Force airfields, including Silverstone which is located on the Northamptonshire/Buckinhamshire border.

Silverstone hosted its first race, the Royal Automobile Club International Grand Prix, in 1948 and was won by Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati. The track was heavily modified the following year, with the configuration remaining in place for decades.

With F1 introducing the World Championship of Drivers in 1950, the British GP was the first race ever held in the championship. Won by Alfa Romeo driver Giuseppe Farina with King George VI in attendance, while the 1951 event was won by Ferrari's Jose Froilan Gonzalez - the first for the Scuderia and the first race not won by an Alfa Romeo.

F1 alternated between Silverstone and Aintree, which is located on a horse racing course near Liverpool, starting in 1955. Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss were the favourites ahead of the first race at Aintree, with the Briton coming out on top to win his first F1 race on home soil. The final race at Aintree was won by Jim Clark in 1962 before the venue was decommissioned in 1964.

Silverstone and Brands Hatch

With Aintree no longer an option, F1 travelled to Brands Hatch, located just outside of London, in 1964. Silverstone hosted the British GP in odd-numbered years with Brands Hatch getting the even.

The new circuit, like Silverstone, was popular amongst the drivers, with Clark winning the event along with the 1955 British GP. Jo Siffert got the better of Chris Amon in 1968, the first of two F1 wins before losing his life in a non-championship race three years later at the same track.

A huge accident at the start of the 1973 British GP saw 11 cars retire. Thankfully there were no deaths or fires, though Andrea de Adamich suffered career-ending ankle injuries.

Home fans were treated to a win by James Hunt in 1976, however he was later disqualified after Ferrari and other teams protested that the Briton failed to complete the first lap of the race. As a result the win went to second-placed Niki Lauda.

Williams registered their first F1 victory at the 1979 British GP thanks to Clay Regazzoni, while teammate Alan Jones lapped a full six seconds faster than the previous lap record. In 1985 Keke Rosberg set the all-time F1 qualifying lap record that stood for 17 years, finishing with an average speed of 258.983 km/h.

The final race at Brands Hatch took place in 1986 with Nigel Mansell taking the chequered flag, though the race also saw Jacques Laffite break both his legs after slamming into the barriers at the first corner with the injuries ending his F1 career.

With FISA implementing a policy of long-term contracts for one circuit per Grand Prix, Brands Hatch was dropped with Silverstone signing a seven-year contract to host the British GP from 1987 to 1993.

Changes to Silverstone

Modifications were made to Silverstone in 1987, though heavy modifications were made in 1989 given it had become the fastest circuit on the F1 calendar. Those changes were completed in 1991, making the 1990 British Gp the last to be held on the high-speed circuit. Mansell led but gearbox problems forced him to retire, prompting him to throw his gloves into the crowd and announce his retirement - a decision he later went back on.

A chicane was installed at Abbey in response to the tragedy of the 1994 San Marino GP, while Stowe was slowed considerably. Damon Hill took victory in 1994 while fellow British driver Johnny Herbert won the following year.

The 1999 race saw Michael Schumacher break his leg after crashing heavily at Stowe, forcing him to miss several races. Around that time there were attempts to bring the British GP back to Brands Hatch for 2002, but those talks failed to get off the ground.

A defrocked priest, Cornelius Horan, disrupted the 2003 British GP by running onto the Hangar Straight while cars raced at speeds of 260km/h. Marshals were able to get him off the track before anyone got hurt, with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello winning the race.

Silverstone was left off the provisional F1 calendar for 2005 due to questions about the funding needed to upgrade the track's facilities. Those fears were put to rest when a deal to keep the British GP at Silverstone until 2009 was reached. Nevertheless it was announced that Donington Park had signed a 10-year deal to host the race starting in 2010, though the contract was soon terminated after organisers failed to secure the necessary funding.

While Silverstone organisers signed a 17-year contract to host the British GP starting in 2010, the BRDC, which owns the track, activated a clause in 2017 that meant a new contract was needed. While there were fears the 2019 British GP would be the last held at Silverstone, a few days before the event it was confirmed the venue would host the race until 2024.

Most successful F1 drivers and teams

Lewis Hamilton leads the way having won the British GP on eight occasions thanks to seven wins from 2014 to 2021. Behind him is another British driver, Jim Clark, with five wins though he is joined by Alain Prost. After that Nigel Mansell sits on four, one ahead of the trio of Jack Brabham, Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher.

As for Constructors, Ferrari lead the way thanks to 16 wins on British soil, two up on McLaren. Williams are next with 10 wins though their last victory dates back to 1997.

The British Grand Prix 2020

The British Grand Prix was one of two races run at Silverstone in 2020 (the other being the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix). After securing pole position on the Saturday of the weekend, Lewis Hamilton put in an impressive display of driving prowess on Sunday leading from teammate Valtteri Bottas. However, both Mercedes cars would suffer from tire failures which would drop Bottas out of the points once he completed his pitstop.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen would pit in order to safeguard against a tire failure and would go on the claim the fastest lap closing down Hamilton who himself suffered a front-left tire delamination on the last lap. In the end, Hamilton was able to limp home to his seventh British Grand Prix win, six seconds ahead of Verstappen.

When is the 2021 British Grand Prix on the F1 calendar?

The British Grand Prix is scheduled between July 16-18 and is provisionally set to be the 10th race of the 2021 F1 season. There will be a new format with the first ever sprint race on Saturday evening at 17:30 CET with qualifying the day before at 19:00 CET.

What time does the British Grand Prix start?

The British Grand Prix starts on Sunday, July 18 at 15:00 CET. The race can be followed live on RacingNews365’s blog and watched on F1 TV.