Silverstone : the numbers to know
Present since the creation of the premier category of motor racing. The Silverstone circuit is a track with a rich and dense history. This history is accompanied by some notable figures.
1 : A few weeks ago, you could hear Olympique Marseille fans chanting : “Forever the first.” A chant that the Silverstone circuit could easily identify with. It was on this former airfield that the very first Formula 1 Grand Prix in history took place. It was notably in front of King George VI that Giuseppe Farina secured the inaugural victory of this sport, which has seen many other great champions since.
8 : Winning your home race is the dream of every driver. While some, like Charles Leclerc, are cursed at home, that’s not the case for Lewis Hamilton. The British driver has lifted the legendary British Grand Prix trophy on 8 occasions. His victory in 2017 notably led to a crowd bath. A moment of euphoric celebration that made Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen wait in the press conference room.
15 : If the most victorious driver at Silverstone is a local pilot, it’s not the same for teams. It is Ferrari that has won the most races on the circuit located near Northampshire. José-Froilan Gonzalez was the first driver to achieve this in 1951. It was Ferrari’s first victory in F1 after a year spent in the shadow of the Alfettes. Carlos Sainz is the most recent winner to date at Silverstone, and it is, to this day, his only victory. Ferrari and Silverstone, a story of first times.
300 : It’s approximately the speed (in km/h) at which drivers should enter the Maggots, Becketts, and Chapel complex this weekend in qualifying. The exit should be done at around 240 km/h. An ultra-fast sequence that illustrates the speed of the fastest machines in the world. A section of the circuit that requires drivers to have great physical endurance. In fact, they experience over 4G of force with every turn of the steering wheel.
10: Like Monza, Silverstone is one of those historic Formula 1 circuits that haven’t hesitated to have cosmetic surgery to stay young. Thus, the former military base has undergone 10 more or less significant changes. Between 1950 and 2010, no less than 10 corners were added, and some corners changed shape to better accommodate the technological advances of the cars. Today, despite its age, the British Grand Prix is a race full of action every year.
5: The 2022 edition had all the ingredients of a blockbuster : an impressive crash, drama between teammates, fierce battles on the track, and the arrival of surprise antagonists. After the race was interrupted following the accident of Guanyu Zhou, five environmental activists infiltrated the circuit. Sitting on the straight between turns 5 and 6, these five protesters were part of the Just Stop Oil Ecologist Group, demanding an end to the exploitation of fossil fuels. This is not the first time intruders have managed to infiltrate. In 2003, a man named Neil Horan also made his way onto the track. He advocated for the reading of the Bible. Regardless of the nature of the message, unauthorized individuals should not set foot on an asphalt racing circuit. It can endanger not only those individuals and the drivers, but also the marshals.
7 : If, in the 1950s, it was not uncommon to see drivers change cars during the same race, sharing reached another level during the 1954 British Grand Prix. In fact, 7 different drivers set an equal fastest lap time in the race. Jose Froilan-Gonzalez, Mike Hawthorn, Onofre Marimon, Jean Behra, Stirling Moss, Alberto Ascari, and Juan Manuel Fangio all clocked a 1’50. Today, with more precise timing methods, such a statistic would be difficult to replicate.
