Silverstone

Silverstone is the historic home of Formula 1: the venue of the first race of the first Formula 1 World Championship, in May 1950. The circuit sits on the wartime runways of RAF Silverstone in Northamptonshire, England, and its character remains unmistakably fast, flowing and unforgiving. The Maggots-Becketts-Chapel sequence in particular is one of the defining sections in all of motorsport, a multi-apex transition that asks more of an F1 car than almost any other on the calendar.

Modern Silverstone is the Arena layout adopted in 2010, which moved the pit complex to between Club and Abbey. Overtaking has always been possible here — at Brooklands, Stowe, into Copse — and the high speed of almost every corner makes tyre degradation a recurring theme. The weather is another defining feature: classic British summers and rain-shortened races are a regular part of the event's history.

Silverstone hosted the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship race in May 1950, won by Giuseppe Farina. It has been part of the championship continuously since, initially alternating the British Grand Prix with Aintree and Brands Hatch. The circuit has undergone several reprofilings — most significantly the addition of the Arena layout in 2010 and the pit complex move — without losing its high-speed character.