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Well, Happy 75th Birthday to F1! 
Sky Sports F1 said:
75 years ago today, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret watched Giuseppe Farina win the first ever Grand Prix of the F1 drivers' championship, at Silverstone
F1 said:
10 fascinating facts about the very first F1 race – held at Silverstone on this day 75 years ago.
1. The race had two different names
Believe it or not, the first World Championship race had two titles. Officially it was the Grand Prix d’Europe – the first time that title had ever gone to a race outside Italy or France – but as the race was held on UK soil it incorporated the British Grand Prix. Unlike today, when the season-opening event is traditionally held in March, the race took place on May 13.
Only seven World Championship season openers have been held later in the year. They were: 1951 (May 27), 1952 (May 18), 1961 (May 14), 1962 (May 20), 1963 (May 26), 1966 (May 22) and 2020 (July 5).
2. Woodcote was the first corner the drivers tackled
From 1952 until 2011, Woodcote was Silverstone’s final bend, but for the inaugural World Championship event, the sweeping right hander was the 4.6km circuit’s first corner – and thus the first corner tackled in the history of F1 racing.
From there the drivers would take on six other turns – Copse, Maggots, Becketts, Chapel, Stowe and Club – before arriving at the final corner, Abbey. The pit lane and starting grid were situated between Abbey and Woodcote, with the cars lining up for the start in 4-3-4 formation.
3. A very regal guest was in attendance
It was estimated that up to 120,000 spectators lined the track on race day, though by far the most prestigious was His Royal Highness King George VI, who attended the race with Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and guests Lord and Lady Mountbatten. It remains the only time a reigning monarch has attended a British motor race.
4. A Thai prince and a Swiss baron took part
Rather fittingly for a race attended by royalty, the entry list had a distinctly aristocratic flavour.
among the 21 drivers that took the start were Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh (better known as Prince Bira or B. Bira), a notable racer and member of the Thai royal family, and Baron Emmanuel ‘Toulo’ de Graffenried, a Swiss driver who’d won the 1949 edition of the British Grand Prix in the pre-World Championship era.
Bira, the only Thai driver to race in F1 competition until Alexander Albon made his debut in 2019, qualified his Maserati fifth at Silverstone but retired in the race when he ran out of fuel.
Similarly, De Graffenried failed to make the flag after his identical 4CLT-48 developed engine problems.
5. The surnames of the three pre-race favourites all began with ‘Fa’
Alfa Romeo’s 158 may have been 13 years old by the time of the first World Championship race, but the 1.5-litre supercharged machine was still the car to beat, and that helped the Italian manufacturer sign three of the era’s biggest names: Guiseppe ‘Nino’ Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio, affectionately known as the ‘Three Fs’.
The trio duly qualified their scarlet cars in the top three grid slots, with British driver Reg Parnell a second down the road in fourth in the final Alfa Romeo entry. In the race Farina, Fagioli and Fangio predictably ran away from the rest of the field, which was otherwise made up of a mixture of ageing Maseratis, ERAs, Talbots and Altas.
After 70 laps and nearly two and a quarter hours of racing – during which the leading trio had traded places several times – it was Farina who triumphed, leading fellow Italian Fagioli across the line by 2.6s. But it was Parnell and not Fangio who completed Alfa’s clean sweep of the podium places after the Argentinian had been forced into retirement with a broken oil pipe – possibly as a result of clipping a straw bale at Stowe.
6. The local wildlife got a little too close to the action
Despite their obvious speed advantage, Alfa Romeo were lucky to get three of their four cars to the finish after Parnell’s Alfetta came into contact with an unlucky member of Silverstone’s hare population. According to reports from the time, the animal caused a significant dent in the cowling of the British driver’s car.
7. The average age of the field was 39
The average age of the drivers who lined up on the grid for this year’s season opener in Australia was around 27 years, but for the very first World Championship race it was a much more mature 39.
Three of the 21-driver field at Silverstone were in their fifties (pre-war aces Luigi Fagioli, 51, Louis Chiron, 50, and Philippe Etancelin, 53), while five more were 40 or over, including race winner Giuseppe Farina (43).
The ‘baby’ of field, if you could call him that, was British racer Geoffrey Crossley, who at 29 came in 12 years older than Max Verstappen was on his World Championship debut...
8. A jazz musician finished in 11th place
No, it’s not a joke – a well-known jazz musician did indeed take part in the inaugural round of the World Championship, though it’s fair to say that Johnny Claes enjoyed considerably more success with his splendidly named combo ‘Johnny Claes and the Clay Pigeons’ than he did in F1.
The Belgian driver (who was born in London) qualified his Talbot dead last at Silverstone, a full 18 seconds back from Farina’s pole-sitting Alfa, but he did at least reach the chequered flag in the race, coming home six laps down on the Italian in 11th.
9. BRM debuted their fledgling F1 challenger before the race
Up-and-coming British constructor BRM had hoped to debut their V16 Type 15 at Silverstone, but after experiencing a litany of technical problems, the pale green car was only able to complete a handful of pre-race demonstration laps with team founder Raymond Mays at the wheel.
The car would eventually make its long-awaited World Championship debut at the following year’s Silverstone round.
10. Stirling Moss came second in the support race
Stirling Moss would go on to win the British Grand Prix in both 1955 and 1957, but at the inaugural World Championship Grand Prix in his homeland, the then 20-year-old only appeared in the 500cc support races, not in the main event.
Moss won his heat and was involved in a barnstorming battle for the lead in the final, but in the end had to settle for second place after his Cooper-JAP suffered a piston failure at the final corner.
Still, at least he got to meet the King…
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/10-fasc...
1. The race had two different names
Believe it or not, the first World Championship race had two titles. Officially it was the Grand Prix d’Europe – the first time that title had ever gone to a race outside Italy or France – but as the race was held on UK soil it incorporated the British Grand Prix. Unlike today, when the season-opening event is traditionally held in March, the race took place on May 13.
Only seven World Championship season openers have been held later in the year. They were: 1951 (May 27), 1952 (May 18), 1961 (May 14), 1962 (May 20), 1963 (May 26), 1966 (May 22) and 2020 (July 5).
2. Woodcote was the first corner the drivers tackled
From 1952 until 2011, Woodcote was Silverstone’s final bend, but for the inaugural World Championship event, the sweeping right hander was the 4.6km circuit’s first corner – and thus the first corner tackled in the history of F1 racing.
From there the drivers would take on six other turns – Copse, Maggots, Becketts, Chapel, Stowe and Club – before arriving at the final corner, Abbey. The pit lane and starting grid were situated between Abbey and Woodcote, with the cars lining up for the start in 4-3-4 formation.
3. A very regal guest was in attendance
It was estimated that up to 120,000 spectators lined the track on race day, though by far the most prestigious was His Royal Highness King George VI, who attended the race with Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and guests Lord and Lady Mountbatten. It remains the only time a reigning monarch has attended a British motor race.
4. A Thai prince and a Swiss baron took part
Rather fittingly for a race attended by royalty, the entry list had a distinctly aristocratic flavour.
among the 21 drivers that took the start were Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh (better known as Prince Bira or B. Bira), a notable racer and member of the Thai royal family, and Baron Emmanuel ‘Toulo’ de Graffenried, a Swiss driver who’d won the 1949 edition of the British Grand Prix in the pre-World Championship era.
Bira, the only Thai driver to race in F1 competition until Alexander Albon made his debut in 2019, qualified his Maserati fifth at Silverstone but retired in the race when he ran out of fuel.
Similarly, De Graffenried failed to make the flag after his identical 4CLT-48 developed engine problems.
5. The surnames of the three pre-race favourites all began with ‘Fa’
Alfa Romeo’s 158 may have been 13 years old by the time of the first World Championship race, but the 1.5-litre supercharged machine was still the car to beat, and that helped the Italian manufacturer sign three of the era’s biggest names: Guiseppe ‘Nino’ Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio, affectionately known as the ‘Three Fs’.
The trio duly qualified their scarlet cars in the top three grid slots, with British driver Reg Parnell a second down the road in fourth in the final Alfa Romeo entry. In the race Farina, Fagioli and Fangio predictably ran away from the rest of the field, which was otherwise made up of a mixture of ageing Maseratis, ERAs, Talbots and Altas.
After 70 laps and nearly two and a quarter hours of racing – during which the leading trio had traded places several times – it was Farina who triumphed, leading fellow Italian Fagioli across the line by 2.6s. But it was Parnell and not Fangio who completed Alfa’s clean sweep of the podium places after the Argentinian had been forced into retirement with a broken oil pipe – possibly as a result of clipping a straw bale at Stowe.
6. The local wildlife got a little too close to the action
Despite their obvious speed advantage, Alfa Romeo were lucky to get three of their four cars to the finish after Parnell’s Alfetta came into contact with an unlucky member of Silverstone’s hare population. According to reports from the time, the animal caused a significant dent in the cowling of the British driver’s car.
7. The average age of the field was 39
The average age of the drivers who lined up on the grid for this year’s season opener in Australia was around 27 years, but for the very first World Championship race it was a much more mature 39.
Three of the 21-driver field at Silverstone were in their fifties (pre-war aces Luigi Fagioli, 51, Louis Chiron, 50, and Philippe Etancelin, 53), while five more were 40 or over, including race winner Giuseppe Farina (43).
The ‘baby’ of field, if you could call him that, was British racer Geoffrey Crossley, who at 29 came in 12 years older than Max Verstappen was on his World Championship debut...
8. A jazz musician finished in 11th place
No, it’s not a joke – a well-known jazz musician did indeed take part in the inaugural round of the World Championship, though it’s fair to say that Johnny Claes enjoyed considerably more success with his splendidly named combo ‘Johnny Claes and the Clay Pigeons’ than he did in F1.
The Belgian driver (who was born in London) qualified his Talbot dead last at Silverstone, a full 18 seconds back from Farina’s pole-sitting Alfa, but he did at least reach the chequered flag in the race, coming home six laps down on the Italian in 11th.
9. BRM debuted their fledgling F1 challenger before the race
Up-and-coming British constructor BRM had hoped to debut their V16 Type 15 at Silverstone, but after experiencing a litany of technical problems, the pale green car was only able to complete a handful of pre-race demonstration laps with team founder Raymond Mays at the wheel.
The car would eventually make its long-awaited World Championship debut at the following year’s Silverstone round.
10. Stirling Moss came second in the support race
Stirling Moss would go on to win the British Grand Prix in both 1955 and 1957, but at the inaugural World Championship Grand Prix in his homeland, the then 20-year-old only appeared in the 500cc support races, not in the main event.
Moss won his heat and was involved in a barnstorming battle for the lead in the final, but in the end had to settle for second place after his Cooper-JAP suffered a piston failure at the final corner.
Still, at least he got to meet the King…
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/10-fasc...
It was the first world championship event in what has since become the F1 world championship, but not the first F1 race. The Turin GP of 1946 was the first race run to F1 regulations, although 1947 was the first full year run as F1. There were nearly 90 F1 races held before the 1950 British GP.
The world championship wasn't even an F1 championship then. It was the World Championship For Drivers, which included six F1 GPs (out of more than 20 races run) and the Indy 500. It also wasn't the first Grand Prix championship either, as there had been a world championship from 1925-1930, and a European championship from 1931-1939.
Post-war F1 was just a continuation of pre-war Voiturette (effectively F2) with a new name. Obviously nobody had designed and developed anything new during the war years, so they just dug out the old Voiturette cars and took up racing again where they left off.
So what they're really celebrating is the first time that a race to F1 rules had been included in a championship.
The world championship wasn't even an F1 championship then. It was the World Championship For Drivers, which included six F1 GPs (out of more than 20 races run) and the Indy 500. It also wasn't the first Grand Prix championship either, as there had been a world championship from 1925-1930, and a European championship from 1931-1939.
Post-war F1 was just a continuation of pre-war Voiturette (effectively F2) with a new name. Obviously nobody had designed and developed anything new during the war years, so they just dug out the old Voiturette cars and took up racing again where they left off.
So what they're really celebrating is the first time that a race to F1 rules had been included in a championship.
F1 are celebrating 75 years of F1 with a 24 hour Live Stream on Youtube with F1’s most iconic moments
https://www.youtube.com/live/KS0r7_7cFDI?si=CFf5Uo...
https://www.youtube.com/live/KS0r7_7cFDI?si=CFf5Uo...
Showing the Full race German GP 2019 right now.
https://www.youtube.com/live/KS0r7_7cFDI?si=2jonLG...
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