Latest news with #GiuseppeFarina
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
How Silverstone became a year-round destination for F1 fans
When Giuseppe Farina's Alfa Romeo passed the chequered flag after 70 laps of Silverstone track in 1950, watched by 120,000 fans and royalty including King George VI, he marked the beginning of an era for Formula 1 – the first ever race in the world drivers' championship. When Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and the rest of F1 descend on the track – which straddles the border of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire – for the British Grand Prix next month, the sport will be barely recognisable from that first race. The mix of speed and glamour – as well as the popularity of Netflix's Drive to Survive – mean the sport is now worth billions of pounds, with its stars at the centre of a 24/7 media circus. And the track, too, is a world away from the hay bale-lined former RAF airfield that hosted that first race, now the true home of British motorsport – and a destination for petrolheads in its own right. Formula 1 descends on Silverstone for just one weekend a year, bringing with it almost half a million fans and, these days, a music festival to entertain campers away from the track. But developments at Silverstone mean it is a buzz of activity year-round, from a £20m museum to a new hotel, complete with rooms overlooking the track itself. I start the day at the Silverstone Museum, which this summer is marking 75 years of F1. Visitors are held in a 'starting grid' before being let loose on the exhibition, which brings together F1 cars from across the decades, including those of British champions Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, and the Brawn GP in which Jenson Button won the 2009 world drivers' championship. Downstairs, the museum has its own simulator so visitors can try their hand at taking an F1 car around the famous track, feedback vibrating through the seat if you're unfortunate enough to misjudge a corner and end up in the gravel. For those who want a more authentic driving experience, complete with the pit lane and the smell of petrol, the circuit offers a number of driving experiences, from being driven by a professional to trying out a single-seater yourself, and even taking your own car on track. I'm taken around the National Circuit, a 1.6-mile circuit including some of the most famous sections of the full Grand Prix track, leaving the pits to go around the corners of Copse and Maggots before hitting throttle along the Wellington Straight then turning into Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote. While I strain against the G-forces as we turn in an Aston Martin Vantage, I'm reminded that F1 drivers would be doing the same corners at close to 100mph more. On the Wellington Straight, an F1 driver will be almost at 200mph. To unwind from the breakneck speeds of the track, I check in to Escapade Silverstone, a new hotel with 60 residences alongside the track, which have up to four bedrooms. I'm staying in one of the trackside apartments, with entry through its own garage (naturally) with EV charging point. The second-floor rooms have an open-plan kitchen and lounge that open out on to a balcony overlooking Maggots corner. A few minutes' walk down the track (or a fraction of a second in Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari), the hotel's restaurant and bar The Gallery has a rooftop terrace that gives panoramic views across the circuit as the sun sets over the Northamptonshire countryside. There is also a pool and gym, as well as wellness treatments based on those given to professional racing drivers to optimise their performance. I end the day with dinner in the restaurant, decorated with art that has been inspired by motorsport, watching cars from Porsches to Mini Coopers fly past through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the track. In the 75 years since Giuseppe Farina's victory, Silverstone has become one of Britain's truly iconic venues. But unlike Wembley or Twickenham, Wimbledon or Lord's, even in a gilded age of sports stars, fans still have the chance to step out and follow in the footsteps – or tyre marks – of their heroes.
The Drive
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
What's the Best-Looking F1 Car of the Last 75 Years?
The latest car news, reviews, and features. The first-ever Formula 1 World Championship race was held 75 years ago today at Silverstone. The starting grid included some notable characters like a popular jazz musician and a Thai prince, some nobodies, and some names that we now associate with F1's greatest like Fagioli, Farina, and Fangio. The cars of the sport's early days were rudimentary but powerful, and most of all, they could handle Silvertone's 2.8 miles of high-speed corners and sharp bends with relative ease. Or perhaps it was the towering drivers who, unlike today's uber-healthy and uber-fit racers, were simply beefy daredevils with heavy cojones and a huge need for speed. Oh, and the average age among the 21 drivers from that historic day was 39 years old. After 2.5 hours of racing, 120,000 spectators (including King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and Princess Elizabeth) saw Italian legend Giuseppe Farina win the British Grand Prix (also called the Grand Prix d'Europe) at the wheel of his beautiful Alfa Romeo 158, which was over a decade old at the time of the race. This got me thinking, in all 75 years of F1, what's the best-looking car of them all? It's probably impossible to choose just one, but maybe they can be broken up into periods or categories? Without further ado, here are my top three. Raced from 1975 until the end of the 1980 F1 season by heavy-hitting names like Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Clay Regazzoni, Carlos Reutemann, and Jody Scheckter, it's hands-down one of the most special cars of the sport. Not just that, but it's brutish and beautiful. I've waxed poetic about the coolness of the Jordan Grand Prix Buzzin' Hornets livery before, but seriously, look at it. Thanks for such a phenomenal-looking car, Eddie. Perhaps the most iconic F1 car of them all, 'nuff said. What do you think is the best-looking F1 car of them all? And while you're at it, what do you think they'll even look like when the sport's 150th anniversary comes around? Got a tip? Email us at tips@ Jerry Perez is the Deputy Editor at The Drive, overseeing the site's daily and long-term content initiatives in addition to writing his own features and reviews. He's been covering the automotive industry professionally since 2015 and joined The Drive in January 2018.
Top Gear
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Stop what you're doing and watch colourised footage of Silverstone's first F1 race
Formula One F1 celebrates 75 years of… F1, with never-before-seen footage of, well, F1 Skip 3 photos in the image carousel and continue reading The petition to get commentary for the 2025 British Grand Prix in the style of Pathé News begins here. Today (13 May), F1 has commemorated 75 years since the very first race (also 13 May) by releasing this restored footage of Silverstone back in 1950. And it is, quite frankly, excellent. Delivered by British Pathé, the newsreel showcases Giuseppe Farina's triumph in his delightful Alfa 158, ahead of Luigi Fagioli and Reg Parnell. The most famous man on the grid in those days – Juan Manuel Fangio – retired after 62 laps (it was a 70-lap race back then) despite qualifying on pole. Advertisement - Page continues below It's a fascinating look back at Formula One's ground zero. Quite literally, there is zero stuff on the ground, barring the odd hay bale scattered here and there. King George V greets the competitors. Pit stops are lengthy affairs with a man frantically waving his arms around to get racers to stop. Did we mention the hay bales? Hay bales all up in the kitchen. Except there was no kitchen. Formula One's experts used advanced AI, reference imagery, and 'manual painting techniques' to bring the 1950 British GP back to full glory. 'Specific elements such as the sky, grass, cars, and faces are electronically painted manually to truly bring the scene to life,' we're told, 'using images of the cars and subjects, and F1 archive footage, to ensure accuracy.' You might like F1 boss – and former Ferrari team principal – Stefano Domenicali, added: '75 years ago today our sport roared to life, and we are privileged to continue the incredible legacy of the brave drivers who raced for the ultimate prize on this day in 1950.' Check it out here, and don't forget to sign that petition below. Advertisement - Page continues below 3 minutes 8 seconds Images and video courtesy of F1 Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
ITV News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Colour footage shows first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone
Footage of the race, held on 13 May 1950, and won by the Italian Giuseppe Farina, has been colourised with manual painting techniques and advanced AI software
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why F1 cars have really gained hundreds of kilograms over the years
Seventy-five years ago this week, when Giuseppe Farina roared across the finishing line to win the first world championship grand prix at Silverstone, he did so in an Alfa Romeo 158 weighing – depending on fluids and which sources you use – between 650 and 700kg. When Formula 1 adopted a minimum weight for the first time in 1961, the figure was set at 450kg. Under the most recent ruleset, teams have been struggling – note the amount of unpainted carbon fibre on display – to hit the current minimum of 800kg. On the face of it, not a fantastic advert for three-quarters of a century of scientific progress. Advertisement Obviously the figure of 800kg now includes the driver but even when viewed through a more rigorous prism, which involves going back to 1995 when the car and driver weight was first combined, the resulting figure makes for an ugly comparison: 595kg. The difference is 205kg. In the past three decades only the price of Oasis gig tickets has inflated more egregiously. 'We'd all like the cars to be a lot lighter,' FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis told 'Some of the solutions being mooted [in terms of future powertrains] would lead to significantly lighter cars, which is what everyone would like. 'It's a trade-off between financials, technological freedom and how cutting-edge Formula 1 is, environmental considerations, and excitement.' Advertisement Around 100kg of the weight gain came as a result of adopting hybrid powertrains. The current minimum weight for a hybrid power unit is 151kg – compare that with, say, a late 1990s 3-litre V10 which weighed between 90kg and 100kg. Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director Andy Hone / Motorsport Images Andy Hone / Motorsport Images While the PU minimum weight of 151kg includes the hybrid system, it doesn't include the turbocharging mechanism or, more significantly, the cooling system, which is vastly more complex than the plumbing required by a 1990s engine. The days of having two simple radiators handling the majority of heat management are long gone. Advertisement Around 50kg of additional weight can be accounted for by safety features such as stronger side-impact structures and the halo. Clever engineering and design can mitigate the effects of having to resist a stricter crash-testing regime but, to an extent, with additional strength comes weight. Given the growing list of likely injuries averted by modern safety features, this is not an element anyone sensible in F1 would wish to row back on. The remaining 55kg or so of bloat is accounted for by a mix of elements, some of which it could be possible to reset. When former F1 'ringmaster' Bernie Ecclestone rolled out of the wrong side of bed early in 2015 and declared the cars should be wider and more aggressive-looking, he did this sporting category a great disservice because the inevitable result was additional weight and made greater difficulty in overtaking. Wider, bigger-diameter wheels have also had an effect – one being mitigated slightly for next year since the front wheels will be 25mm narrower, the rears 30mm. Not a massive amount but, again, there are performance considerations. Advertisement One change which would be politically difficult to execute, but could reduce car weight, is to reduce aerodynamic and mechanical complexity. 'We can go towards negating some of the dimensional aspects of cars, but it has to be possible to come back to a car that is simpler than it is now,' said Tombazis. Race start Race start Fadel Senna - AFP - Getty Images Fadel Senna - AFP - Getty Images 'And that is an interesting philosophical issue: why cars nowadays are a lot more complicated. The reason people design more complicated cars is because they have 'near-perfect' simulation capability. 'Take the cooling system, for example: cars in the past used to have an entry duct and a radiator. And then the air after the radiator would find its way out through the bodywork and eventually go out of the back. Nowadays, there's an entry duct, a radiator, and an exit duct, all fully profiled with little winglets and turning vanes. Advertisement 'As another example, the front floor now has a damper and a full system to operate at exactly the regulatory limits of deflection. 'So, there are many performance-increasing features on cars, all incremental, that make the car much more complicated – and heavier.' It is famously difficult to return a genie to the bottle. No F1 team would give up an area of performance gain without a fight. And this is where the battle lines are forming ahead of the 2026 season, as senior engineers have been openly questioning whether the relatively modest 30kg weight cut planned for the new ruleset is even possible. It might – or should – be. And more would be better. Advertisement But if the trend towards weight gain is to be meaningfully reversed, teams are going to have to give up some long-cherished performance features. Read Also: F1 teams braced for battle to hit 'very aggressive' 2026 weight limit To read more articles visit our website.
