About Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is 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 World Championship of Drivers. The circuit is built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone.
Silverstone is revered as one of the fastest and most flowing circuits on the calendar. The Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence is legendary, subjecting drivers to immense lateral G-forces as they change direction at incredibly high speeds. It is a supreme test of a car's aerodynamic efficiency and a driver's physical fitness.
The circuit has undergone several layout changes, with the current "Arena" layout introduced in 2010 adding a new infield section. Despite modernization, it retains its high-speed character. The British Grand Prix consistently attracts some of the largest crowds of the year, with fans known for their knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport.
Silverstone Circuit is owned by the British Racing Drivers' Club, a members-only motorsport association founded in 1928 whose current membership stands at approximately 850 elected participants including nearly every living British F1 driver. The BRDC purchased the site from the Air Ministry in 1971 for the symbolic sum of 190,000 pounds and has managed it continuously since; the current F1 hosting agreement runs until 2034 after a 10-year renewal signed in July 2024 between the BRDC and Formula One Management. The circuit's estimated 122-million-pound annual economic impact for Northamptonshire and surrounding counties makes it one of the UK's largest single sporting events, and 2,300 permanent staff work at the venue year-round on activities including race hosting, corporate track days, engineering testing and the on-site Silverstone Museum which opened in 2019.