The first ever British Grand Prix, officially known as the Grand Prix of the Royal Automobile Club, was held at Brooklands on 7 August 1926. This followed the successes of Henry Segrave in winning the 1923 French Grand Prix and the San Sebastián Grand Prix the following year. The first British Grand Prix was won by Robert Sénéchal and Louis Wagner driving a Delage 15 S 8. The second Grand Prix of the RAC was also held at Brooklands, on 1 October 1927, and was again won by a Delage 15 S 8, this time driven by Robert Benoist.
Brooklands was severely damaged by World War II and the circuit was abandoned. Most new British circuits were built on disused Royal Air Force airfields, and Silverstone was one of those circuits. It staged its first race, the Royal Automobile Club International Grand Prix on 2 October 1948, which was won by Italian Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati. In 1950, the World Championship of Drivers was introduced, and the 1950 British Grand Prix was the first World Championship Formula One race ever held. This race was won by Alfa Romeo driver Giuseppe "Nino" Farina.
In 1955, the Formula One circus began to alternate between Silverstone and the Aintree circuit. Mercedes drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss arrived at Aintree expecting to win. Moss won his first Formula One race on home soil at Aintree. The last race at Aintree was in 1962 when Briton Jim Clark won his first of 5 British Grands Prix.
1964 saw the first Formula One race at the southern English circuit known as Brands Hatch. Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix in odd-numbered years and Brands Hatch in even-numbered years. Jim Clark won the 1964 race and the next year's race. The 1975 race saw a chicane added to Woodcote to slow cars. The 1976 race at Brands Hatch proved to be very controversial, with James Hunt winning but later disqualified. The last F1 race at Brands Hatch was in 1986.
In 1987 Silverstone was modified. Nigel Mansell broke the lap record 11 times, caught and passed Nelson Piquet and took victory. In 1989, it was decided that Silverstone was to be heavily modified, with the project completed for 1991. After Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna were killed in Imola in 1994, a chicane was installed at the Abbey corner and Stowe corner was slowed considerably. Damon Hill won the event. The 2003 event was disrupted by Cornelius Horan who ran onto the Hangar Straight. Rubens Barrichello won the race for Ferrari. In 2008, Lewis Hamilton won in pouring rain for McLaren. On 7 December 2009, Silverstone signed a 17-year contract to host the British Grand Prix from 2010 onwards. The 2010 race saw a new circuit configuration being used, the "Arena" layout. For 2011 a new pit complex was built between Club and Abbey Corners.
In 2020, Hamilton brought the car home with a punctured tyre for a seventh British Grand Prix victory. The 2021 instalment saw Hamilton collide with Max Verstappen at Copse corner. The 2022 race saw Carlos Sainz Jr. win his first race in his Formula One career. On 8 February 2024, Silverstone and Formula One extended its contract to host the British Grand Prix until 2034. At the 2024 British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton won the race for the ninth time. Over the course of the 2025 British Grand Prix, Silverstone hit an overall attendance of 500,000. The race itself saw the victory of McLaren's Lando Norris.
The British Grand Prix has been held at Brooklands (1926–1927), Silverstone (1948–1954, and alternating with Aintree and Brands Hatch thereafter, and exclusively since 1987), Aintree (1955–1962), and Brands Hatch (1963–1986).
Since 1950, the winner of the race is awarded the official RAC British Grand Prix Trophy, a perpetual trophy awarded each year and then returned to the Royal Automobile Club. From 1950 until 1972, the official trophy was the Mervyn O'Gorman Trophy, but this was replaced from 1973 by the present gold cup.
In addition to the official winner's trophy, in 1950 the RAC also awarded the Fred G. Craner Memorial Car Trophy, for the highest-placed British competitor driving a British car. The first winner of this trophy was F R "Bob" Gerard driving an ERA. From 1948 until at least 1953, the chief mechanic of the winning car was awarded a prize, initially the RAC Plaque and later a cash prize. For the first British Grand Prix in 1926, Sir Arthur Stanley presented a cup for the fastest lap of the race, which was won outright by Henry Segrave.
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