1940s With the termination of
hostilities in Europe in 1945, the first motorsport event in the British Isles was held at
Gransden Lodge in 1946 and the next on the
Isle of Man, but there was nowhere permanent on the mainland which was suitable. In 1948,
Royal Automobile Club (RAC), under the chairmanship of
Wilfred Andrews, set its mind upon running a Grand Prix and started to cast around public roads on the mainland. There was no possibility of closing the public highway as could happen on the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands; it was a time of austerity and there was no question of building a new circuit from scratch, so some viable alternative had to be found. Nearly 40 years later, Brown died while still employed by the circuit. The
second Grand Prix at Silverstone was scheduled for May 1949 and was officially designated the British Grand Prix. It was to use the full perimeter track with a chicane inserted at
Club. The length of the second circuit was exactly three miles and the race run over 100 laps, making it the longest post-war Grand Prix held in England. There were again 25 starters and victory went to a
'San Remo' Maserati 4CLT/48, this time in the hands of
Toulo de Graffenried, from Bob Gerard in his familiar ERA and Louis Rosier in a 4½-litre Talbot-Lago. The race average speed had risen to . The attendance was estimated at anything up to 120,000. Also in 1949, the first running took place of what was to become an institution at Silverstone, the
International Trophy sponsored by the Daily Express and which become virtually a second Grand Prix. The
first International Trophy was run on 20 August in two heats and a final. Victory in heat one went to Bira and the second to
Giuseppe Farina – both driving Maserati 4CLT/48s, but the final went to a
Ferrari Tipo 125 driven by Ascari from Farina, with Villoresi third in another Ferrari. For this meeting, the chicane at
Club was dispensed with and the circuit took up a shape that was to last for 25 years.
1950s The
1950 British Grand Prix was a significant occasion for three reasons: it was the first ever World Championship Grand Prix, carrying the title of the European Grand Prix; it was the first race in the newly created
World Championship of Drivers; and the event was held in the presence of
King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth – the first and only time a reigning monarch has attended a motor race in Britain. The year was the institution of the World Championship for Driver, and Silverstone witnessed the first time that
Alfa Romeo 158 'Alfettas' had been seen in England, and they took the first three places in the hands of
Giuseppe Farina,
Luigi Fagioli and
Reg Parnell, with the race average having increased to ; however the race distance had been reduced to . 1961 was the year of the new 1.5 litre Formula One introduced by the governing body on safety grounds – it met with strong opposition in Britain which gave birth to the short-lived
Intercontinental Formula, which extended the life of the now-obsolete Formula One cars. The International Trophy was run to this Formula and produced a notable first and last – the first and only appearance of the American
Scarab and the last appearance of the Vanwall, in the hands of Surtees. The race was wet and Moss demonstrated his supreme prowess in
Rob Walker's Cooper by lapping all but Brabham twice. The International Trophy attracted World Championship contenders for the last time in 1978 but the race witnessed the début of the epoch-making
Lotus 79 in the hands of
Mario Andretti. Such events as this gave the Formula One also-rans a chance to start, which they were normally denied in Grands Prix; two such were the
Theodore and
Fittipaldi.
Keke Rosberg won the former in atrocious conditions from Fittipaldi in his namesake car. Come the 1979 Grand Prix and the passage of two years had made a great difference to the performance of the turbocharged Renaults; the car which qualified on the last row in 1977 was now on the front row beside
Alan Jones in the
Williams FW07. When Jones's Cosworth expired, his teammate
Clay Regazzoni moved into the lead, going on to win from
René Arnoux in the
Renault RS10 with
Jean-Pierre Jarier third in the Tyrrell 009. The winner's average speed was .
1980s 1981 British Grand Prix race winning McLaren, during the 2011 Silverstone Classic meeting In May 1980, sports cars returned in the form of the Silverstone Six-Hours, which was won by
Alain de Cadenet driving a car bearing his own name, partnered by
Desiré Wilson; the 235 laps (687 miles) being completed at . The only other to complete the full race distance was the
Siegfried Brunn/
Jürgen Barth (Porsche 908/3), with a Porsche 935K Turbo driven by
John Paul and
Brian Redman third, a lap down. 1981 saw the arrival of the one-one-one grid, staggered in two rows. The turbocharged era saw Renault occupying the front row of the grid, and turbo-engined Ferraris fourth and eighth. The Renaults dominated the race, but total reliability was still lacking and the victory went to
John Watson in a
McLaren MP4/1. Second place went to
Carlos Reutemann in the
Williams FW07C from the Talbot-Ligier JS17 of
Jacques Laffite, a lap down; the race speed was down a little at . May 1983 saw the running of the Silverstone 1000 kilometres, which was a round of the newly instigated World Endurance Championship. Porsche dominated the event, taking the first five places, with Derek Bell and
Stefan Bellof bringing their 956 home ahead of Wollek and
Stefan Johansson in an identical car. The 1985 International Trophy, run on 24 March, was the inaugural event under the regulations for the new
International Formula 3000. New Zealand driver
Mike Thackwell won the International Trophy for the third time, and the first F3000 race in the process, driving a
Ralt RT20 from
John Nielsen in a similar car. Third place went a March 85B driven by
Michel Ferté. The 1988 race was won at , the dramatic reduction in race speed being due to heavy rain. Senna took victory in his McLaren from Mansell (Williams) and Nannini (Benetton). The sports car race was a sad affair, with but a handful of cars coming to the grid. There were 11 starters and just five finishers. The race was won by the Peugeot 905 of Warwick and
Yannick Dalmas at , two laps ahead of the
Maurizio Sandro Sala/
Johnny Herbert Mazda MXR-01 which was four laps ahead of the Lola-Judd T92/10 driven by
Jésus Pareja and
Stefan Johansson. At the end of the season, the World Sports Car Championship was no more. A year later, the Grand Prix was a race of controversy which rumbled on for most of the season: Hill was barely ahead of Schumacher on the grid and on the formation lap the young German sprinted ahead of him, which was not allowed under the rules (cars were required to maintain station during the formation lap). The race authorities informed Benetton that their man had been penalised 5 seconds for his transgression but they did not realise that it was a stop/go penalty and did not call Schumacher in, so he was black-flagged. Schumacher ignored the black flag for six laps, and for failing to respond to the black flag Schumacher was disqualified, having finished second on the road. Hill won the race from Jean Alesi in the Ferrari and Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren. On 14 May, the FIA GT Championship came to Northants, in slightly more clement conditions and victory went to
Julian Bailey and
Jamie Campbell-Walter driving a
Lister Storm GT from no fewer than four
Chrysler Viper GTS-Rs. Formula One returned for the 2001 British Grand Prix in July to see Häkkinen triumph having managing to overtake the driver in pole, Schumacher. Schumacher, driving for Ferrari finished second while teammate Barrichello gained the final spot in the podium. The 2002 British Grand Prix saw Ferrari return to the top two steps of the podium with Schumacher beating Barrichello, while pole-sitter and Williams driver
Juan Pablo Montoya finished in third. These three drivers, as well as gaining the top three qualifying places, were the only drivers to finish on the lead lap. This year marked the first year of British Grand Prix being promoted by American sports agency
Octagon pursuant to lease agreement with BRDC signed in December 2000. Octagon also assumed the management of the circuit and acquired the assets and liabilities of Silverstone Circuits Limited from BRDC. BRDC kept the ownership of the circuit. winning the 2003 British Grand Prix Although the 2003 Grand Prix was won by pole-sitter Barrichello for Ferrari, the race is probably most remembered for a track invasion by the defrocked priest,
Neil Horan, who ran along Hangar Straight, head-on to the train of cars, wearing a saffron kilt and waving religious banners.
Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren) was pressured by Barrichello into losing the lead and an unforced error later on allowed Montoya to seize second.
Neil Hodgson had a brilliant World Superbike meeting in 2003. The Fila Ducati rider withstood the attention of
James Toseland in the first race and then fellow Ducati pilot,
Gregorio Lavilla in the second, just 0.493secs ahead of the Spaniard.
Rubén Xaus claimed two third-place finishes. On 30 September 2004,
British Racing Drivers' Club president
Jackie Stewart announced that the British Grand Prix would not be included on the 2005 provisional race calendar and, if it were, would probably not occur at Silverstone. However, on 9 December an agreement was reached with former Formula One rights holder
Bernie Ecclestone ensuring that the track would host the British Grand Prix until 2009 after which
Donington Park would become the new host. However, the Donington Park leaseholders, Donington Ventures Leisure, ran into severe financial problems and went into administration, resulting in the BRDC signing a 17-year deal with Ecclestone to hold the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In an unrelated case, due to financial problems affecting parent company
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Octagon terminated its lease of Silverstone Circuit and ceased promoting British Grand Prix after 2004. BRDC reassumed the management of the circuit and acquired assets and liabilities of Octagon subsidiary Silverstone Motorsport Limited and merged them back into reactivated Silverstone Circuits Limited, this reverted the 2000 transaction. Schumacher celebrated his 80th Grand Prix victory of his career at the 2004 event after taking the lead from Räikkönen during the first round of pit stops. Barrichello completed the podium in third, and coming home in fourth was BAR's
Jenson Button. A crowd of 68,000 saw Renegade Ducati's
Noriyuki Haga and Ten Kate Honda's
Chris Vermeulen take a win each in the 2004 World Superbike event. Haga pulled off a close finish in race one, just beating Vermeulen. In race two, the roles were reversed with the Honda beating the Ducati. When the Le Mans Prototypes returned in 2004, they raced for the Le Mans Series over a distance of 1000 km. It was a straight battle between the pair of Audi R8's of Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx and Team Goh's singleton R8, with victory going to the Veloqx pair of Allan McNish and
Pierre Kaffer. In second place, one lap behind was
Rinaldo Capello and
Seiji Ara for Team Goh, followed by the all British pair of Johnny Herbert and
Jamie Davies for Veloqx. A crowd of 27,000 welcomed back the World Touring Car Championship. The Alfa Romeo drivers dominated the first race, on a sunny 15 May 2005.
Gabriele Tarquini scored a lights to flag victory, leading home an Alfa quartet. Behind the Italian, a tough fight for second between
James Thompson and
Fabrizio Giovanardi, with a number of overtaking and paint swapping moves, also involving the BMW 320i of
Andy Priaulx.
Augusto Farfus completed the quartet, with Priaulx dropping back to fifth. After a superb start, Priaulx led most of race two, until side-lined with a puncture. This enabled the SEAT duo of
Rickard Rydell and
Jason Plato to take the win for the Spanish manufacturer, with Tarquini in third. Ducati took both legs of the 2005 World Superbike double-header.
Régis Laconi scored the first win and Toseland doubled Ducati's pleasure. Laconi beat
Troy Corser to the finishing line by 0.096secs. Toseland claimed third on the podium. Toseland turn came to Race 2, when he passed Croser and Haga. Montoya won the 2005 British Grand Prix. In the 2005 Le Mans Series race, Team ORECA Audi R8 scored a victory, with McNish, this time paired with
Stéphane Ortelli, winning after a race-long battle with the
Creation Autosportif's DBA 03S of
Nicolas Minassian and Campbell-Walter, a car that provided much of the season's excitement.
Troy Bayliss gained a pair of wins in the 2006 World Superbike, aboard his Xerox Ducati. Haga (Yamaha) and Toseland (Honda) joined Bayliss on the podium in both races. piloting his Ferrari to victory in the 2007 British Grand Prix Following
Hamilton's victory in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, Silverstone reported that ticket sales had "gone through the roof"; circuit director Ian Phillips added, "we haven't seen this level of interest since Mansell-mania in the late 80s and early 90s". Hamilton qualified his McLaren on pole. However, race day saw Räikkönen move ahead during the first round of pit stops. The other McLaren driver, Alonso, finished second. Bayliss (Ducati) took the chequered flag in a solitary 2007 World Superbike race, with a heavy downpour causing the first race to be run in the wet, with Race 2 cancelled altogether. Naga and Corser completed the podium line-up. After a one-year hiatus, the Le Mans Series returned to Silverstone. At the head of the field, the Team Peugeot 908 HDi's lead was unchallenged and Minassian achieved his goal to do one better, partnered by
Marc Gené.
Emmanuel Collard/
Jean-Christophe Boullion finished two laps down in second. Third place on the podium was for the Rollcentre Pescarolo, piloted by
Stuart Hall and
Joao Barbosa. Hamilton won the
2008 British Grand Prix, when he crossed the line to win by 68 seconds. The margin of victory was the largest in Formula One since 1995. Once again, Barrichello finished on the podium, this time in a Honda. driving the Audi R10 during the 2008 Le Mans Series race A spirited drive from the 2008 Le Mans winners
Rinaldo Capello and McNish saw their Audi R10 TDI progress through the field after a trip in the gravel early in the race, all the way up to second behind their sister car. When the leading Audi came in for an unplanned pit stop and was pulled into the pit for some rear suspension repairs, this handed the lead to McNish and Capello, who took a well deserved win. The
Charouz Lola-Aston Martin B08/60 was second, driven by
Jan Charouz and
Stefan Mücke. The
Pescarolo of
Romain Dumas and Boullion got a well deserved podium finish. The 2009 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was due to be the last in Northamptonshire, as the event was moving to Donington Park from the 2010 season. The race was won by
Sebastian Vettel for
Red Bull Racing, 15.1secs ahead of his teammate
Mark Webber. A further 25.9secs behind was Barrichello, in his
Brawn. However, due to Donington Park funding issues, the Grand Prix would remain at Silverstone. The 2009 1000 km of Silverstone saw
Oreca take the chequered flag with the aid of their drivers
Olivier Panis and
Nicolas Lapierre. The next three cars home were also on the lead lap after 195 laps of racing, with second place going to Speedy Racing's Lola-Aston Martin B08/60 of
Marcel Fässler,
Andrea Belicchi and
Nicolas Prost. The newer Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 of
Aston Martin Racing took the next two places, with the partnership of
Tomáš Enge, Charouz and Mücke claiming the final step on the podium.
2010s 's Ferrari F150 Italia in the pit lane, in the Formula One
2011 British Grand Prix Mark Webber (Red Bull) won the 2010 British Grand Prix, just over a second ahead of McLaren's Hamilton.
Nico Rosberg claimed third place for Mercedes. The FIM World Superbike Championship round at Silverstone in 2010 was dominated by British riders. In both races, Yamaha Sterilgarda's
Cal Crutchlow won with
Jonathan Rea second. Alstare Suzuki's
Leon Haslam and Aprilla's
Leon Camier made appearances in the top three, giving Britain a complete podium sweep of the event. on his way to a double win, in the 2010 World Superbike event The 2010 British motorcycle Grand Prix returned to Silverstone for the first time since 1986, although the category had evolved into MotoGP.
Jorge Lorenzo dominated the event for Fiat Yamaha, finishing nearly seven seconds clear of a battle for second place.
Andrea Dovizioso won the battle for second for Repsol Honda, with the Tech 3 Yamaha of
Ben Spies third, after passing fellow American
Nicky Hayden on the last lap.
Anthony Davidson and Minassian won for Peugeot in the
2010 1000 km of Silverstone. Second place was enough for the Oreca team to be crowned as the 2010 champions, using a Peugeot instead their own race winning chassis from the 2009 event. This time Lapierre was co-driven by
Stéphane Sarrazin. Audi were third with the R15 TDI of Capello and
Timo Bernhard. The 2011 British Grand Prix saw Fernando Alonso win for Ferrari, sixteen seconds ahead of the Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber. The Althea Racing Ducati of
Carlos Checa won ahead of Yamaha's
Eugene Laverty with Laverty's teammate
Marco Melandri finishing third in both races of the 2011 World Superbike meeting. MotoGP returned in June 2011, with the Repsol Hondas dominating the race in rainy conditions.
Casey Stoner took pole position and beat his teammate Dovizioso by more than 15 seconds. The Tech 3 Yamaha of Colin Edwards completed the podium. The 2011 6 Hours of Silverstone witnessed a nose-to-tail fight between the Audi R18 of Bernhard and Fässler and the Peugeot 908 of
Sébastien Bourdais and
Simon Pagenaud, but was temporarily finished after a spin by Bernhard. A conservative drive from Pagenaud saw him caught and then overtaken by Fässler. Pagenaud picked up the pace and the two cars were on each other's tails until the end of the fourth hour when damaged rear bodywork needed replacing on the Audi. This gave the Peugeot a one-minute advantage that it did not give up. Third was the
OAK Racing's Pescarolo 01 piloted by
Olivier Pla and
Alexandre Prémat. The
2012 British Grand Prix was won for the second time by Webber, with pole-sitter Alonso second for Ferrari, finishing three seconds behind. Webber's teammate Vettel rounded off the podium. Silverstone is often the site of unpredictable weather, and the 2012 World Superbike event took place in mixed wet and dry conditions. Kawasaki Racing's
Loris Baz won from the BMWs of
Michel Fabrizio and
Ayrton Badovini. Baz then took second behind PATA Racing's Ducati, piloted by
Sylvain Guintoli in a shortened second race.
Jakub Smrz took third, as nine riders went down before the official called an early end after eight laps. The 2012 British MotoGP was won by the Yamaha factory rider, Lorenzo. He crossed the line 3.313 seconds ahead of the Respol Honda of Stoner, with
Dani Pedrosa third on the other Honda. The 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours winners
Benoît Tréluyer,
André Lotterer and Fässler steered their Audi R18 e-tron Quattro hybrid car to victory in the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 26 August 2012. The second Audi of Allan McNish, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, finished third, with the Toyota TS030 hybrid of
Alex Wurz,
Kazuki Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre splitting the two in second, having led early on. on its way to the third place in the
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship race The opening round of the 2013 World Endurance Championship saw Audi Sport Team Joest dominating. The race soon developed into a pattern of two Audi R18 e-tron quattros followed by two Toyota TS030 Hybrids and backed up by two Rebellion Lola B12/60s. Audis had a better early stage of the race when the Toyota's tyres did not work well, and by the middle of the race they were securely leading the race by one lap. McNish was behind Tréluyer by more than 20 seconds with some 15 laps to go. But McNish (partnered by Kristensen and
Loïc Duval), and motivated to win the
RAC Tourist Trophy award for the race, closed the gap and overtook Tréluyer (supported by Lotterer and Fässler) two laps before the finish. The podium was completed the Toyota of Davidson/Sarrazin/
Sébastien Buemi. Mercedes's Rosberg held off Red Bull's Webber to win the 2013 British Grand Prix. In a race featuring two safety car interventions and tyre failures on five cars (four of which blew the rear-right tyre), Ferrari's Alonso finished third from ninth on the grid. Rosberg's teammate, Hamilton, dropped to last with tyre failure, but recovered to finish fourth ahead of Lotus's
Räikkönen. Pata Honda's
Jonathan Rea took advantage of the fluctuating weather conditions to take the lead mid-distance during the 2013 World Superbike Race 1, which he held until the end. Aprilia Racing's
Eugene Laverty followed home for second place, with Crescent Suzuki's
Leon Camier third. Race 2 started dry but deteriorated to treacherously damp by mid-race. This saw Baz prevailing, replicating his victory from 2012, in similar conditions.
Jules Cluzel took his Crescent Suzuki up to second place, followed home by Laverty in third. Reigning World MotoGP Champion, Lorenzo, ended
Marc Márquez's four-race winning streak to take victory in the
2013 British MotoGP. Yamaha factory-rider, Lorenzo swapped the lead three times with Márquez through the last few corners, but Lorenzo managed to make the crucial pass and win. Márquez's Repsol Honda teammate, Pedrosa finished third, while Crutchlow was seventh. Meanwhile, in the supporting Moto2 race,
Scott Redding won. Easter Sunday 2014 saw the return of
Porsche to top-level sportscar racing in the
World Endurance Championship event.
Toyota dominated the event, as the
Toyota TS040 Hybrid of
Sébastien Buemi,
Anthony Davidson and
Nicolas Lapierre took victory by a clear lap over their teammates,
Alex Wurz,
Kazuki Nakajima and
Stéphane Sarrazin, at the end of a race that was red-flagged before its scheduled finish courtesy of heavy rain. Porsche claimed a podium on its return with the
919 Hybrid. The partnership of
Mark Webber,
Timo Bernhard and
Brendon Hartley took third, finishing two laps down on the winner and one down on the second-placed Toyota. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the
2014 British Grand Prix. He was catching his teammate and championship rival, Nico Rosberg, at the half-way stage of the race when Rosberg suffered a gearbox failure and was forced to retire, with Williams's
Valtteri Bottas coming from 14th on the grid to finish second. Red Bull's
Daniel Ricciardo took third. The race had to be red flagged following a high-speed crash on the opening lap of Kimi Räikkönen. The reigning world champion Marc Márquez won the
Hertz British MotoGP for his 11th win in 12 starts. The Honda rider overtook the previous year's winner Jorge Lorenzo on a Yamaha with three laps to go to cross the line 0.732 seconds in front. The second works Yamaha of Valentino Rossi completed the podium, after fending off Honda's Dani Pedrosa. The escalating costs of the British Grand Prix led to the BRDC triggering a
break clause in their contract, meaning that the 2019 British Grand Prix would be the last at the Silverstone Circuit. Although there was speculation of a street race in London, lengthy negotiations with Liberty Media led to a new agreement for Silverstone to continue to host the British Grand Prix for a further five years after 2019. World Champion Lewis Hamilton's win at the
2019 British Grand Prix was his sixth win at the Silverstone circuit, and with it, he broke a 52-year-old record for most wins in the British Grand Prix by a Formula One driver. The previous record of five wins was set and held by
Jim Clark in 1967. This record was then matched by
Alain Prost in 1993, and Hamilton in 2017.
2020s The
2020 British motorcycle Grand Prix, scheduled to be held at Silverstone, was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The Silverstone Circuit held two Formula One World Championship races in one season in
2020 (behind closed doors due to the
COVID-19 pandemic) on consecutive weekends with the races on 2 and 9 August; the second race was referred to as the
70th Anniversary Grand Prix to commemorate the 70 years since the inception of the Formula One World Championship in
1950. In December 2020 the BRDC named the pit straight after Lewis Hamilton in recognition of his achievements. This is the first time in the circuit's history that an area of the track has been named after an individual. Leading up to the Sunday race of the
2022 British motorcycle Grand Prix, it was confirmed that the 2023 race would start on the Hamilton Straight, with Abbey becoming the new turn 1, which is the same configuration as in F1. This was the first time that the MotoGP, 2 and 3 class started at the Hamilton straight since the
2012 event. at the
2024 British Grand Prix where he won a
record ninth British Grand Prix In February 2024, Silverstone and Formula One agreed a ten-year contract extension to host the British Grand Prix, with the new deal lasting until the 2034 event. Before the Moto3 race in
2024, the
2025 dates were confirmed to be 23–25 May 2025, this would be the earliest a British motorcycle Grand Prix has ever been hosted in Silverstone and its former track
Donington Park. In the Moto2 Race, British rider
Jake Dixon won his first home race in his career, making him the first British rider to win his home race since Danny Kent won the
2015 Moto3 race. After 945 days without a victory in Formula 1,
Lewis Hamilton won his ninth
British Grand Prix breaking the record for most wins at a single circuit or Grand Prix and extending his consecutive Silverstone podium record to 12. On 6 July 2025, Google commemorated the 75th anniversary of Formula 1 and its origination at Silverstone in 1950 with a dedicated Google Doodle on their homepage, showcasing the iconic Silverstone track, Wing building and red car with the number 75 emblazoned upon it.
Lando Norris won his first British Grand Prix becoming the 13th British driver to win on home soil. ==Other competitions==