75 years of F1 at Silverstone: Drives of a generation
20 September 2024As Silverstone prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Formula 1’s very first race in 2025, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the greatest-ever F1 drives at the home of British motor racing.
Giuseppe Farina (1950)
Silverstone hosted the first Formula 1 championship race on May 13, 1950. On that historic day, it was the Alfa Romeo cars that were the class of the field, and perhaps rather fittingly, it was the 1950 Drivers’ champion Giuseppe Farina who vied for victory with team-mate and five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
Fangio was forced to bow out of the thrilling battle with damage just eight laps from home, so Farina had a clear run to the flag with Fagioli and Reg Parnell making it an all-Alfa podium.
Jim Clark (1967)
Jim Clark’s final visit to Silverstone proved to be a rather special one, as the Scot sealed a fifth British Grand Prix win, and his third at Silverstone.
Qualifying seven-tenths clear of nearest rival and team-mate Graham Hill, Clark launched from pole and led for much of the 80-lap contest. Although Hill looked set to make it a popular Lotus 1-2, he was forced to retire with mechanical trouble.
It was down to Clark then, to fend off eventual 1967 champion Denny Hulme in his rapid Brabham. He did just that, taking the win by over 12 seconds in a race that ran for almost exactly two hours.
James Hunt (1977)
The season after their rivalry reached its apex, James Hunt and Nicki Lauda battled it out for glory at the 1977 British Grand Prix along with John Watson and Jody Scheckter.
The Ferrari was the dominant car in 1977, and the British contingent – James Hunt included – had not had the results they had enjoyed the previous season, making it all the sweeter when Hunt put it on pole in front of an adoring home crowd.
He didn’t get the ideal start, however, and slipped back behind Watson, Lauda and Scheckter. It wasn’t long before Hunt made his way past his old rival and back up into second behind Watson.
Although Watson retired with eight laps to go denying fans an all-British fight for the top step, they were still treated to a spectacular home victory for reigning champion, Hunt.
Nigel Mansell (1987)
Having trailed Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet in qualifying and much of the race, Nigel Mansell opted to pit for a set of fresh tyres and go chasing after the Brazilian.
With 28 laps remaining and a 29-second gap, the task seemed insurmountable. But this was Nigel Mansell at Silverstone. The British driver carved chunks out of Piquet’s advantage in the laps that followed, smashing the lap record eight times in the process.
With two laps to spare, Mansell caught and passed his team-mate with one of the most memorable overtakes in F1 history. On the cool-down lap, his Williams was surrounded by a jubilant Silverstone crowd.
Nigel Mansell (1992)
The Williams-Renault of 1992 went down as one of the most dominant cars in the sport’s history, and Mansell used that pace to stamp his authority on his home circuit, more so than either of his other three British Grand Prix and two Silverstone victories.
In qualifying, he went 1.9 seconds faster than team-mate Riccardo Patrese and 2.7s faster than third-placed Ayrton Senna.
The race was more of the same, with Mansell winning by an astonishing 39-second margin to Patrese before fans once again invaded the track to celebrate.
Lewis Hamilton (2008)
In one of F1’s greatest-ever drives, Lewis Hamilton claimed his first of nine Silverstone victories on a rainy Sunday in 2008.
Although his McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen led the first five laps, Hamilton made a decisive move into Stowe and duly pulled away from the pack.
Hamilton’s pace was other-worldly, and after 60 laps he was 68 seconds clear of nearest competitor Nick Heidfeld and had lapped everyone who wasn’t on the podium.
Lewis Hamilton (2024)
A race that has already gone down as one of the most memorable Silverstone moments is Lewis Hamilton’s incredible ninth Silverstone win at the 2024 British Grand Prix.
After qualifying, Hamilton was in the middle of an all-British top three, having been pipped to pole by Mercedes stablemate George Russell.
In a rain-affected race, each of the three Brits – Lando Norris, Russel and Hamilton – all had their turn to lead the race, as well as Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen also looking to stake their claim on the victory at certain stages of the race.
In the end, it was Hamilton who mastered the conditions, and a late switch to slick tyres allowed him to leapfrog race leader Norris to secure his first win since 2021.
