Silverstone Circuit has come a long way since it was turned from a wartime airfield into a motor racing circuit. It is now one of the world's most famous motor sport venues.

FAMOUS NAMES

• Silverstone – named after the early English word for “wooded” area
• Maggots – named after Maggots Moor
• Becketts Corner & Chapel Curve – gave their names to the ruins of the Chapel of Thomas à Beckett
• Hangar Straight - named after two aircraft hangars that originally stood next to the straight
• Stowe Corner - derives from the famous Stowe School to the south of the circuit
• Club Corner - named after the RAC club in Pall Mall
• Abbey Curve - near the site of the ancient Luffield Abbey
• Woodcote - named after the location of the RAC club in Surrey

• Alberto Ascari leads Luigi Villoresi in the 1948 RAC Grand Prix

• Villoresi and Ascari take 1st and 2nd in the inaugural race at Silverstone

Silverstone was opened as a World War Two airfield in 1943, near the leafy village of the same name. Once the war had ended in 1945 Britain was left with a number of redundant airfields but without a major race track Donington Park was still a military vehicle storage depot, Brooklands had been sold off, Crystal Palace was in a state of disrepair and Brands Hatch was still under-developed.

The Royal Automobile Club was interested in Silverstone as a potential site and approached the Air Ministry in 1948 and a lease was arranged. At this time the centre of Silverstone Circuit was a farm producing cereal crops and also a piggery so the RAC employed farmer James Wilson Brown to create the first Grand Prix circuit at the site and gave him just two months to build it.

On October 2nd, 1948, amid straw bales and ropes, Silverstone's first event took place, the RAC Grand Prix. The crowds came in there thousands, thrilled to see the return of Grand Prix racing after so many years of war austerity.The 3.67 mile course sent the 23 competing cars racing round part of the perimeter track, up the two former runways and back to the perimeter. This layout meant cars were racing towards each other head-on until they turned sharp left and returned to the perimeter. For this reason canvas screens were erected across the centre of the circuit to stop the drivers being distracted whilst the spectators were not allowed in the centre of the circuit because of the potential damage to growing crops.

The winner of the inaugural race at the Silverstone circuit was Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati, who recorded an average speed of 72 mph to claim the first prize of £500. A year later, after the hazardous runways were eliminated and a chicane was inserted at Club on the full perimeter road, Silverstone hosted a second major event in May 1949 – the Formula One Daily Express International Trophy – virtually a second Grand Prix, won by Alberto Ascari.

Another of Silverstone's most famous classics also began in August 1949, the Daily Express International Trophy for Formula One cars and for this meeting the Club chicane was dispensed with and the circuit took up a shape that was to last for a quarter of a century.

In 1950 the World Drivers' Championship was created and the very first World Championship event was held at Silverstone on May 13.
It was a significant occasion for motor sport and the event was awarded the title of the European Grand Prix. It was attended by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – the first and only time a Monarch has attended a British motor race.

• Alberto Ascari leads the rest of the field in the 1952 Grand Prix

• Fangio in his beaten up W196 Mercedes, after connecting with one too many oil drums

The first ever World Championship Grand Prix was won by Guiseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo-dominated event in which the Italian manufacturer cruised to a 1-2-3 finish. Luigi Fagioli and British driver Reg Parnell filled the remaining podium positions.
The Following year the British Grand Prix at Silverstone was won by the popular Argentinian driver, Froilan Gonzalez. Nicknamed the 'Pampas Bull', Gonzalez beat off the challenge of his fellow countryman Juan Manuel Fangio to win what was to become another significant moment in the history of Grand Prix racing. Alfa Romeo had dominated the sport until Gonzalez scored Ferrari's first victory in the World Championship in a 4.5-litre un-supercharged Ferrari which defeated the previously invincible 1.5-litre supercharged Alfa Romeos.

In 1951, the British Racing Drivers' Club took over the lease from the RAC and set about turning the temporary airfield track into something more permanent. The BRDC also established the British Grand Prix date for July, swapping places with the Daily Express International Trophy. During the winter, raised earth banks were built up to give spectators a better, safer view as the straw bales and oil drums were packed away. The pits and start-finish line were moved from the Farm to their present position on the exit of Woodcote Corner and other corners were slightly modified to create a 2.927mile circuit ready in time for the 1952 season.

There were no major circuit changes in 1953 but the Grand Prix meeting saw Farina set the first 100mph lap during the Fomule Libre support race in the Thinwall Special Ferrari. Fangio, in the 1954 Grand Prix, spent much of his time connecting with the weighted oil drums used to mark the corners. He couldn't see the edge of the circuit or the drums due to the all-enveloping streamlined bodywork of his W196 Mercedes. The tin cans, in all their glory, were somewhat different to the current run-off areas and gravel traps. Timekeeping was a trifle speculative in those days and the first five drivers were given the fastest laps as nobody was quite sure of their exact times but it seemed that they were all quite quick! Since there was an extra World Championship point for fastest lap, they all had one-fifth of a point each! From 1955, the Grand Prix alternated between Silverstone and Aintree until 1964 when Brands Hatch took over as the alternative venue. The British Grand Prix had now become a major part of the British sporting calendar – one of those “must see” events alongside the FA Cup Final, The Grand National and Wimbledon.

Apart from regular maintenance, the face of Silverstone changed little during the Sixties and the circuit was the stage for some remarkable track performances. The 1960 Grand Prix was to be remembered as the race that Graham Hill lost, rather than the one that Jack Brabham won.

• Graham Hill with a young Damon before the 1967 Grand Prix

• Jim Clark leads Graham Hill in his new V8 powered Lotus

Hill stalled his BRM on the starting grid, set off in last place and proceeded to carve through the whole field, taking the lead from Brabham on lap 55 only to spin off at Copse five laps from the end when his brakes faded. It was to be another two years before Graham won a Grand Prix for BRM.

In 1961 the BRDC acquired the lease for he agricultural land within and around the circuit.
Graham Hill was also involved in what we believe to be the first “Silverstone type finish” – in the 1962 Daily Express International Trophy when Jim Clark in his Lotus 24 seemed certain of a win over Hill's BRM.
The 'old' Woodcote corner was just before the finish and overtaking could go on to the very last second. Carving his way through a couple of back markers, Clark came through Abbey to what he thought was victory. But Hill had been hurtling through from behind and arrived almost sideways in what looked like a photo-finish across the line in a last massive effort to beat the astonished Clark.

Clark was to win the 1963 event, but needed to cruise the last few laps in top gear in a desperate – and, of course, successful – attempt prevent his Lotus 25 running out of fuel.

Much work was done at circuits all round the country to improve safety during the 1960s, although Silverstone had long since abandoned rope, oil drum markers and straw bales in favour of concrete walls and earth banks. However, after two accidents in the then 'open-face' pit area along the start-finish straight, a ramp and elevated pit road were constructed in time for the 1964 season.

In 1965, two significant newcomers joined Clark on the front row of the gird – a Honda V12 racer and a young Scot by the name of Jackie Stewart in a BRM V8.

Finding itself with a thriving business on its hands, the BRDC formed Silverstone Circuits Limited in 1966, to look after the circuit's commercial activities. Five years later, the Club purchased the freehold of the entire 720-acre estate from the Ministry of Defence. Thus, the BRDC became the only motor racing club to operate a circuit on a full ownership basis.

Clark dominated the 1967 event with the new trend-setting Ford V8-powered Lotus 49 and while Stewart won the 1969 race for Matra, there was a memorable 5th place finish for Brabham in a privately prepared car entered by one Frank Williams.

Stewart, meanwhile, would go on to become a three-times Formula One World Champion – in 1969, 1971 and 1973 – and also a two-times winner of the British Grand Prix...

1971 saw Jackie Stewart win his second British Grand Prix, at Silverstone on his way to the second of his three world titles. The winter of 1974/75 saw extensive work at the circuit. In addition to the construction of a new pits complex with 44 garages – opened by the Duke of Edinburgh – the famous Woodcote Corner underwent major changes.

• Jody Scheckter spins off at Woodocte causing a multiple car pile up at the 1973 British GP.

• The crashed cars of Wilson Fittipaldi, James Hunt and Brian Henton after heavy rain in 1975.

Over the previous two decades, with the ever increasing speed of Formula One cars, Woodcote had become the high-speed corner in motor racing, the ultimate challenge to drivers of outstanding talent – taken by the bravest and most skilled quite literally flat-out in top gear at speeds above 160mph.

“It was without doubt one of the most important corners in the F1 world,” said Stewart. “In the early '70s, you could come into Woodcote and – if there was no wind, track conditions were perfect and the car was really well set up – it was suggested you could take it absolutely 'flat'.

For the third British F1 GP in succession, 1981 celebrated another home victory – four years on from his disappointment of 1977, John Watson, having been badly delayed by the crashing Gilles Villeneuve and Alan Jones, survived a race of attrition to come through for an emotional win.

• 1987; Mansell breaks clear of Nelson Piquet after having made up 16.8 seconds in 17 laps

• Ayrton Senna takes the chequered flag at Silverstone in his first ever championship year

1983 saw Alain Prost and the Renault team achieve the first win with a turbo-charged car in British GP – a fitting result as it had been at Silverstone six years earlier that the pioneering French manufacturer had made its F1 using turbo power, a technology that back then many had said would never work... Finishing fourth, also using Renault turbo power, was the Lotus of future British hero Nigel Mansell.

In 1985, the turbo era had reached its zenith and in qualifying the crowds watched in astonishment as F1's first ever 160mph lap was achieved by Keke Rosberg in a Williams-Honda – amazingly with a slow puncture! Three other drivers recorded laps at more than 159mph and the cars were now going faster through Woodcote with the chicane than when it wasn't there!

Rosberg's 160mph lap obviously set a few pulses racing and some drastic changes were deemed necessary before the 1987 event to cut speeds. The early months of 1987 witnessed the first substantial change of the circuit's layout since 1949 and, once again, Woodcote was singled out for attention. The S-bend chicane was removed and replaced by a new sharp left-right bend on the approach to Woodcote. In addition, more than £1 million was spent that winter, replacing the 1975 pits with 40 much larger garages, topped by an all-new Press Centre that would be completed by the 1988 Grand Prix.

1987 will always be remembered by F1 fans as the year that Nigel Mansell beat Williams team-mate Nelson Piquet to win arguably the most exciting British Grand Prix in history. Mansell by now was an established British motor sport hero and the inter-team rivalry between him and Piquet was intense. Piquet started the race from pole position led the race from the off with Mansell following closely behind. But on lap 35 Mansell dived into the pit lane for a tyre change in a bid to cure a worrying vibration in his car.

Mansell assumed Piquet would also have to pit, but the Brazilian had other ideas and decided to stay out and try to conserve his tyres and lead now was sizeable. Mansell had no option but to charge like never before… With 17 laps to go 16.8 seconds separated the two Williams-Hondas, but Mansell proceeded to take large chunks out of Piquet's lead – more than a second per lap – until with five laps remaining the gap was only 1.6 seconds.

The crowd went wild as Mansell, slipstreaming Piquet down Hangar Straight with two laps to go, jinked left and then dived right to pass Piquet into Stowe Corner. To a tumultuous reception, Mansell went on to win the race by 1.9 seconds and then ran out of fuel on his slowing down lap, setting off a massive track invasion by delirious British fans.

1988 will be remembered for the monsoon-like conditions that enabled Ayrton Senna, in his first Championship year, the opportunity to show his extraordinary skills in such appalling conditions. He dominated to win the race, while Mansell again caused considerable excitement with his drive to second in his now normally-aspirated Williams.

1989 saw Prost for McLaren after team-mate Senna span out with a gearbox problem at Becketts. Mansell – now driving for Ferrari – chased home in second after pitting to replace a punctured tyre.

The famous Silverstone Grand Prix track underwent major revisions in time for the 1991 staging of the British Grand Prix. Though average speeds were reduced, the revised layout remained one of the fastest on the F1 calendar.

• Damon Hill in the Williams Renault leads David Coulthard on his way to victory in 1994

• Herbert leads the field in the Benetton Renault en route to victory.

The all-new Becketts sequence, the Vale link between Stowe and Club, the plunging Bridge Bend and in-field loop at Priory, were all given the universal 'thumbs up' by both drivers and spectators.

Nigel Mansell certainly enjoyed the new circuit – he took back-to-back victories for Williams in 1991 and 1992. Sadly 'Our Nige' didn't return to complete a what could have been a famous hat-trick in 1993 as he was racing in the States but, in his place, Alain Prost upheld Williams honour. Damon Hill had been on target to give the Hill family its first-ever British Grand Prix win but his engine expired handing the spoils on a plate to team-mate Prost.

Further track revisions to reduce speeds – notably at Abbey – came in June 1994 in the aftermath of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenburger at Imola. One month later Damon Hill made up for the previous year's disappointments with an emotional home win and Johnny Herbert produced an equally stirring victory in 1995 but only after Hill and Michael Schumacher had collided when dicing for the lead.

Jacques Villeneuve maintained Williams' enviable record of Silverstone success in 1996 and 1997 before Michael Schumacher finally broke his British Grand Prix duck in 1998 but, 12 months later, broke his leg when suffering brake failure at Stowe. Despite Schumacher's accident, what had been a decade of significant change at Silverstone concluded on a high note for the local fans when David Coulthard triumphed for McLaren in 1999.

The 21st century started as the previous one had ended with David Coulthard mastering Silverstone to win back-to-back British Grand Prix. Unusually the 2000 race was staged at Easter and predictably the British weather lived down to its reputation causing widespread disruption over the weekend.

• Hakinnen braves the tempestuous UK weather to finish 2nd at the Grand Prix in 2000.

• Alonso leads Kimi Raikonnen and Michael Scumacher on his way to victory at 2006 British GP.

The race returned to its traditional July date in 2001 when Mika Hakkinen gave McLaren an all too rare win over a dominant Michael Schumacher. The German maestro, however, wasn't to be beaten in 2002 giving Ferrari the first of three consecutive victories.

Rubens Barrichello won an extraordinary race in 2003 after an Irish priest invaded the circuit.
Schumacher returned to the top of the podium in 2004 before McLaren bounced back to break Ferrari's winning streak – Juan Pablo Montoya savouring his first-ever Silverstone success. While most eyes were firmly focused on the track, Silverstone continued to evolve as a state-of-the-art F1 facility throughout the period.

By 2003 Silverstone had opened its gates to a vastly improved road infrastructure. The government's development plan to link the M1 with the M40 was completed in June 2002 and incorporated a new four-lane entrance road into the venue.

Back in 1950 Silverstone was the birthplace of today's FIA Formula One World Championship and, to this day, remains one of the world's most historic and challenging tracks.