The 70-lap race was won by Nino Farina for the Alfa Romeo team, after starting from pole position, with a race time of 2:13:23.6 and an average speed of 146.378 km/h (90.955 mph). Luigi Fagioli finished second in another Alfa Romeo, and Reg Parnell third in a third Alfa Romeo.
In 1946, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's Commission Sportive Internationale first defined the "International Formula", a premier single-seater racing series to start in 1947. While the first Formula One race was the 1947 Pau Grand Prix, the 1950 British Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix of the new World Championship of Drivers.
Four non-championship races were held across Europe in 1950 prior to the Grand Prix: Juan Manuel Fangio won in Pau and San Remo, Reg Parnell won in Douglas, and Georges Grignard won in Paris.
The 1950 edition of the British Grand Prix was the fifth held since 1926 and the third held at Silverstone Circuit since its first use in 1948. It was also the designated European Grand Prix for the year, making it the 11th time a circuit had held that title since the first race in 1923.
The race was supported by an international 500cc Formula Three race the same weekend, won by Stirling Moss driving a Cooper-JAP. There was also a demonstration run for the BRM P15, which was due to enter the sport later in the year. The race was attended by George VI, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and the Earl & Countess Mountbatten of Burma, making it the only Formula One Grand Prix in Britain attended by a reigning British monarch.
24 drivers were entered, competing in 22 different cars; the numbers 7 and 13 were not assigned. The biggest absence was Scuderia Ferrari: Enzo Ferrari did not send any cars to Britain due to the small amount of appearance money the organisers were willing to pay, with the team debuting at the next round in Monaco.
Alfa Romeo were favourites with their four drivers Farina, Fangio, Fagioli, and Parnell; their main competition came from the Maseratis of the Scuderia Ambrosiana and Enrico Platé teams. Felice Bonetto also entered a Maserati but did not arrive for the race.
Talbot-Lago sent two factory cars in the traditional French pale blue colour, driven by Yves Giraud-Cabantous and Eugène Martin. Other private Talbots were entered by Louis Rosier, Philippe Étancelin, and Belgian Johnny Claes in a car painted in Belgium's national yellow colour. The rest of the field was made up of local machinery including four ERAs and two Altas in British racing green.
Qualifying took place on Friday. Farina claimed the first pole position in Formula One history with a time of 1:50.8. Fagioli, Fangio, and Parnell filled the remaining spots on the front row. Prince Bira was the fastest non-Alfa Romeo driver, 1.8 seconds back, with the two Talbot cars on the second row.
On 13 May, 21 drivers from nine countries took the start at the old Silverstone airport, drawing 200,000 spectators. The cars lined up in a 4-3-4 formation. Farina took the lead at the start, with Fagioli and Fangio in pursuit, while Cabantous got a poor start and lost four positions. In the early laps, the Alfa Romeo drivers swapped positions among themselves several times. Fangio retired with engine troubles caused by a broken oil pipe, possibly after clipping a straw bale. Farina led Fagioli home by 2.5 seconds, with Parnell a distant third despite hitting a hare during the race that caused a significant dent in the cowling of his car. The nearest challenger was Giraud-Cabantous, two laps down.
Farina led for 63 laps (laps 1–9, 16–37, and 39–70). Fagioli led for 6 laps (10–15). Fangio led for 1 lap (38). Farina also achieved the fastest lap of the race, a 1:50.6 on lap 2.
Two cars were shared during the race: Peter Walker drove car No. 9 (ERA) for 2 laps before Tony Rolt took over for 3 laps; Joe Fry drove car No. 10 (Maserati) for 45 laps before Brian Shawe-Taylor completed 19 laps. Luigi Fagioli drove all 70 laps in the No. 3 Alfa Romeo; named substitute driver Gianbattista Guidotti was not used.
Only the best four results from the seven rounds counted towards the 1950 World Championship of Drivers. Farina's victory gave him the championship lead after the opening round.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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