Key Takeaways:
- Before the F1 Silverstone track ever became a racetrack, the land was used as a WWII RAF airfield.
- Faster engines and safety issues were the catalysts for several major track changes over the past several decades.
- Today, only about 28% of the original track is still in existence.
The F1 Silverstone track calls itself the home of British motor racing, and it’s hard to argue with that. It hosted the first race of the Formula One World Championship and started life as something completely different. Before the grandstands, garages, and packed British Grand Prix weekends, it was an RAF airfield.
Before Silverstone Was a Racetrack
The history of Silverstone F1 goes much further back than the F1 British Grand Prix. In the Middle Ages, the land was home to a monastery called Luffield Priory. You can still see traces of history around the circuit, including Becketts and Chapel turns. Somehow, over the course of history, we went from medieval monks to Formula One.
During World War II, RAF Silverstone was built as a training base for bomber crews flying Vickers Wellingtons. When the war ended, Britain had plenty of disused airfields and not nearly enough places to race cars. One problem was about to solve the other.
1946 to 1948
SILVERSTONE, UNITED KINGDOM - OCTOBER 02: Luigi Villoresi, Maserati 4CLT/48, takes the chequered flag for victory during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on October 02, 1948 in Silverstone, United Kingdom. (Photo by Autocar/LAT Images)
Local resident Maurice Geoghegan reportedly realized the empty airfield near his home would be a good place to exercise his Frazer-Nash. In 1947, he and 11 other Frazer-Nash Club members staged an unofficial race there. They had permission from the security guard, though the authorities were apparently another matter.
Geoghegan reportedly struck a sheep that wandered onto the course, giving the day its wonderfully unfortunate nickname, the Mutton Grand Prix. Things became a bit more organized by 1948.
The Royal Automobile Club leased the airfield and gave former RAF pilot Jimmy Brown only a couple of months to prepare it for professional racing. On October 2, an estimated 100,000 spectators arrived for the first British Grand Prix at Silverstone, won by Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati.
Silverstone F1 1950
SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 13: Earl Howe introduces the drivers to King George VI during the British GP at Silverstone Circuit on Saturday May 13, 1950 in Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Tee/LAT Images)
Two years later, Silverstone’s place in racing history became permanent. Formula One regulations already existed, but 1950 brought the first World Championship for Drivers. The opening round was held at Silverstone with Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo as the race winner. The event was also attended by King George VI, which was the only time that a reigning British monarch attended a British motor race.
By that time, the circuit had largely abandoned its original runway sections for the airfield perimeter roads. That fast, flowing shape would define Silverstone F1 for decades.
1951 to 1987
By 1951, the British Racing Drivers’ Club took over, working to slowly transform the old airfield into a permanent circuit. That included better facilities for spectators. The base looked less and less like a repurposed military base and more like a legitimate racing venue.
SILVERSTONE, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 14: A multi-car pile-up, triggered after Jody Scheckter spun his McLaren M23. Jean-Pierre Beltoise, BRM P160E, is sideways in the middle of the pack with his rear wheels in the air. Wilson Fittipaldi, Brabham BT42 Ford, is to the left of him. On the far left, Carlos Pace crashes his Surtees TS14A Ford during the British GP at Silverstone on July 14, 1973 in Silverstone, United Kingdom. (Photo by LAT Images)
The cars also started getting much faster throughout the 1960s and ‘70s. That meant much higher cornering speeds, which eventually kickstarted the need for better safety standards after the infamous 1973 nine-car pileup caused by 23-year-old rookie Jody Scheckter’s spinout at the wildly fast Woodcote right-hand turn. Silverstone added a chicane by 1975 to slow cars down and make the track safer.
Naturally, racing engineers eventually made the cars fast enough to make that new chicane nothing more than a temporary solution.
On July 20, 1985, Keke Rosberg broke a record at Silverstone F1 with an average lap of 160.92 mph, prompting changes to smooth out the Woodcote chicane with an even slower Luffield corner.
1991 to 1997
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 10: An aerial view of Maggots, Becketts, Chapel complex at Silverstone Circuit on February 10, 2023 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
By 1991, the F1 Silverstone track began to resemble its present form. Maggots and Becketts became the sweeping sequence still used today. Vale was added between Stowe and Club, while Bridge, Priory, Brooklands, and Luffield created a much more varied final part of the lap.
More changes followed after the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994. Like circuits across Formula One, Silverstone slowed several sections and increased runoff. By 1996 and 1997, Copse and Stowe had been opened back up into faster corners with more room around them.
The track was changing again, but speed remained part of its character.
2010 to Today
Silverstone’s next major transformation took place in 2010. The new Arena section sent cars into the infield after Abbey before joining the Wellington Straight and returning to Brooklands and Luffield. Vale and Club were revised too.
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 10: An aerial view of the Silverstone Wing on the Hamilton Straight at Silverstone Circuit on February 10, 2023 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
A year later, the new Wing pit and paddock complex opened, moving the F1 British Grand Prix start-finish line to the stretch between Club and Abbey. The old wartime airfield had become a modern international racing facility.
Today, only about 28% of the F1 British Grand Prix circuit follows the route used for Silverstone’s first official race in 1948, and much of that is straight-line running. The exits of Chapel and Woodcote are among the few corner sections that reach all the way back to the beginning.
The constant change is a big part of the Silverstone F1 track’s story, and here at CMC Motorsports, we keep up with the changes in real time. If you’re planning on heading to the Grand Prix or watching from home, check out CMC Motorsports® British Grand Prix merchandise to match.
0 comments