With all the delays the team found themselves well behind as the new World Championship began at the
British Grand Prix in May. Not being in a position to enter the race itself, Mays gave the car a demonstration run in front of the very large Silverstone crowd and donations from the public flooded in. A second car was completed later in 1950 and the team set the
International Trophy as the car's first full race meeting, in part due to pressure from the team's backers and also the
Daily Express who in addition to sponsoring the event had prepared a brochure about the car which was to be distributed amongst the spectators. The much anticipated début by the new machines could not have gone much worse. Of the two cars, only
Raymond Sommer's car was fit to start at the back of the qualifying race after the car had been flown down overnight, and at the start the car lurched forward only a few inches before being stranded by a
drive shaft failure, putting it out of both that race and the final. Loud boos rang out from the crowd and as the car was wheeled away some even mockingly threw pennies at the car. The car's second race meeting at
Goodwood a month later was considerably more encouraging despite very wet conditions, with
Reg Parnell winning not only the minor Woodcote Cup but also the full Formula One
Goodwood Trophy later that same day. "All we need now is a little longer time to develop it and then we hope to show the continent what we really can do" said Parnell after the race, but in truth the cold conditions had masked overheating problems that would later come back to haunt the team. The final outing for 1950 came with a two car entry at the
Penya Rhin Grand Prix, but after qualifying fourth and fifth Parnell was out early when his supercharger's drive shaft snapped before
Peter Walker retired at two-thirds distance because of an oil leak in his gearbox.
1951 For 1951 two new cars were built with improvements to the brakes, steering and fuel tanks, and were entered into the team's first full Championship Grand Prix at
Silverstone. Problems with the cars prevented them from setting qualifying times, but both cars were ready to start from the back of the grid. The exhausts of the cars had been designed to run within the bodywork, but this was the first race the cars had run to a full Grand Prix length and the drivers found themselves dealing with almost unbearable heat within the cockpit, to the point that they had to have burns dressings applied during pitstops to act as insulation and protect their arms from the hot exhaust piping. With the thought of all the effort that had gone into the project Parnell and Walker steeled themselves to struggle on to the finish and came home in fifth and seventh, albeit several laps down on the winning
Ferrari of
José Froilán González. The car's next race was deep within "enemy territory", at
Monza for the
Italian Grand Prix. BRM turned up with two cars and a very impressive transporter. Parnell was now partnered by BRM mechanic and test driver
Ken Richardson. In practice the pair were unable to run their cars to the full but set the eighth and tenth fastest times, but then Richardson's entry was cancelled on the grounds that he had insufficient racing experience. Mays turned down the organisers' requests that he step in, but 50-year-old
Hans Stuck agreed to drive and did a few practice laps. However an inspection of the gearboxes showed they were not too far from seizure, and both cars were withdrawn before the race on safety grounds. There were to be no further races in 1951. A car entered for Parnell in the
Goodwood Trophy failed to arrive. Parnell still managed to finish second in a Ferrari entered by
Tony Vandervell, who by now had grown tired of the BRM project and left to conquer Formula One in his own way, becoming a bitter rival to the BRMs. ==Change of regulations 1952==