British Grand Prix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Brooklands (1926-1927) Silverstone Circuit (1948-2007) Aintree Racecourse (1955-1962) Brands Hatch (1964-1986) |
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| Race information | |
| Laps | 60 |
|---|---|
| Circuit length | 5.141 km (2.741 mi) |
| Race length | 308.355 km (191.755 mi) |
| First held | 1926 |
| Last held | 2007 |
| Most wins (drivers) |  Jim Clark
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| Most wins (constructors) |  Ferrari
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| Last race (2007): | |
| Pole position | Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.997 |
| Podium | 1.  Kimi RäikkönenFerrari 1h 21m 43.074s (222.630 km/h) 2.  Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Mercedes +2.459s 3. Lewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes +39.373s |
| Fastest lap | Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:20.638 |
The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One world championship Grands Prix.
Grand Prix motor racing was first established in Britain by Henry Segrave at the Brooklands course in 1926 after his winning of the French Grand Prix in 1923 and the following year at the Spanish Grand Prix which raised interest in the sport. The first ever British Grand Prix was won by the French team of Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal driving a Delage 155B.
Silverstone has hosted the race regularly since the start of the F1 championship in 1950 (in which it was the first race of the first ever official World Championship) and every year since 1987; it alternated with Brands Hatch between 1964 and 1986, and with Aintree (better known as a horse-racing course) between 1955 and 1962.
Before it was heavily modified in 1991, Silverstone was one of the fastest tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. The drivers loved the challenge of the sweeping and extremely demanding Copse, Stowe and Club corners. 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg held the all-time Formula 1 qualifying lap record for 16 years after posting fastest time for the 1985 British Grand prix with an average speed of 258.983km/h(160.92mph).
In recent times Silverstone has produced some fine race wins by British drivers, such as John Watson (1981), Nigel Mansell (1987, 1991, 1992), Damon Hill (1994) and David Coulthard (1999, 2000).
A dispute between Silverstone's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), and the Formula One authorities in 2003 over the funding of necessary improvements to the track's facilities led to doubts over the future of the race.
In October 2004 the British Grand Prix was left off the preliminary race schedule for 2005 because the BRDC refused to pay the race fee demanded by Bernie Ecclestone. However, after months of negotiation between the BRDC, Ecclestone and the Formula One constructors, a deal was made for the Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone until 2009.
Despite the controversy and political bickering that has surrounded the future of the race in recent years, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone remains one of the world's premier motor racing events.
Contents |
[edit] Sponsors
RAC British Grand Prix 1950-1970, 1995-1999
Hitachi British Grand Prix 1994
RAC Woolmark British Grand Prix 1971
John Player British Grand Prix 1972-1978
Marlboro British Grand Prix 1979-1985
Shell Oils British Grand Prix 1986-1988
Shell British Grand Prix 1989
Fosters British Grand Prix 1990-1993, 2000-2006
Santander British Grand Prix 2007-
[edit] External links
[edit] Winners of the British Grands Prix
[edit] Repeat Winners
| Wins | Driver | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Jim Clark |
1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967 |
 Alain Prost |
1983, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1993 | |
| 4 | Nigel Mansell |
1986, 1987, 1991, 1992 |
| 3 |  Jack Brabham |
1959, 1960, 1966 |
 Niki Lauda |
1976, 1982, 1984 | |
 Michael Schumacher |
1998, 2002, 2004 | |
| 2 | Alberto Ascari |
1952, 1953 |
 José Froilán González |
1951, 1954 | |
| Stirling Moss |
1955, 1957 | |
| Jackie Stewart |
1969, 1971 | |
 Emerson Fittipaldi |
1972, 1975 | |
 Jacques Villeneuve |
1996, 1997 | |
| David Coulthard |
1999, 2000 |
[edit] By Year
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.
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