Silverstone Circuit

Location	Silverstone, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England
Major events	Formula One; GP2; SBK; British Superbikes; BTCC; WTCC; British F3
Circuit length	5.141 kilometres (3.194 miles)
Turns	17
Lap record	1'18.739 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004)

Silverstone Circuit is a racing circuit at Silverstone, England. It is best known as the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948. The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly-created Formula One World Championship. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987.

Half the circuit is in Northamptonshire and half is in Buckinghamshire, roughly equidistant from Milton Keynes, Northampton and Oxford. It is built on the site of a World War II bomber base, RAF Silverstone, which opened in 1943. The airfield's three runways, in classic WWII triangle format, lie within the outline of the present track. During the Grand Prix, the airfield becomes the busiest in the UK, complete with its own air traffic control.

The first two races were held on the runways themselves, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track being demarcated by hay bales. However, for the 1950 event the race was switched to the airfield perimeter road. This layout remained largely unaltered for the following 37 years. For the 1975 meeting, a chicane was introduced to try and tame speeds through the mighty Woodcote Corner, then a deviation to Bridge Corner added for 1987, before the track underwent a major redesign between the 1990 and 1991 races. The reshaped track's first F1 race was perhaps the most memorable of recent years, with Nigel Mansell coming home first in front of his home crowd, prompting mass hysteria in the grandstands. On his victory lap back to the pits Mansell even found time to pick up stranded rival Ayrton Senna and give him a lift on his side-pod, after Senna's McLaren had expired towards the end of the race.

Stowe Corner at Silverstone

In recent years Silverstone has been, some say unfairly, criticised for its deteriorating facilities. Silverstone has, in the past, been attacked due to traffic jams on race day. This problem had been largely eliminated with the completion of a dual-carriageway road just to the north of the circuit which bypasses Silverstone village. When the race was moved to an April date in 2000, rainy conditions turned the fields used for car parking into mud baths, causing chaos for spectators trying to park.

On 2004-09-30, 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 was, would probably not occur at Silverstone ([1] News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=31255) . However on 2004-12-09 an agreement was reached with Bernie Ecclestone that the track would in fact host the British Grand Prix up to 2009 ([2] 4073569.stm) .

Winners of the British Grand Prix

Non-Formula One races are indicated with a pink background.

Year	Driver	Constructor	Location	Report
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Silverstone	Report
2005	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	Silverstone	Report
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
2003	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
2001	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	Silverstone	Report
2000	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Silverstone	Report
1999	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Silverstone	Report
1998	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1997	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1996	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1995	Johnny Herbert	Benetton-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1994	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1993	Alain Prost	Williams-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1992	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1991	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Silverstone	Report
1990	Alain Prost	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1989	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	Silverstone	Report
1988	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Silverstone	Report
1987	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	Silverstone	Report
1986	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Honda	Brands Hatch	Report
1985	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	Silverstone	Report
1984	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	Brands Hatch	Report
1983	Alain Prost	Renault	Silverstone	Report
1982	Niki Lauda	McLaren-Cosworth	Brands Hatch	Report
1981	John Watson	McLaren-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1980	Alan Jones	Williams-Cosworth	Brands Hatch	Report
1979	Clay Regazzoni	Williams-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1978	Carlos Reutemann	Ferrari	Brands Hatch	Report
1977	James Hunt	McLaren-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1976	Niki Lauda	Ferrari	Brands Hatch	Report
1975	Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1974	Jody Scheckter	Tyrrell-Cosworth	Brands Hatch	Report
1973	Peter Revson	McLaren-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Cosworth	Brands Hatch	Report
1971	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1970	Jochen Rindt	Lotus-Cosworth	Brands Hatch	Report
1969	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1968	Jo Siffert	Lotus-Ford	Brands Hatch	Report
1967	Jim Clark	Lotus-Cosworth	Silverstone	Report
1966	Jack Brabham	Brabham	Brands Hatch	Report
1965	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	Silverstone	Report
1964	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	Brands Hatch	Report
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	Silverstone	Report
1962	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	Aintree	Report
1961	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	Aintree	Report
1960	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	Silverstone	Report
1959	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	Aintree	Report
1958	Peter Collins	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1957	Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks	Vanwall	Aintree	Report
1956	Juan-Manuel Fangio	Lancia-Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1955	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	Aintree	Report
1954	Froilan Gonzalez	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1953	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1951	Froilan Gonzalez	Ferrari	Silverstone	Report
1950	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	Silverstone	Report
1949	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Maserati	Silverstone	Report
1948	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	Silverstone	Report