The first official FIA World Championship Formula 1 Grand Prix took place on Saturday May 13, 1950, at the UK’s Silverstone Circuit – but at the time the ‘Championship’ aspect seemed to have gone virtually unremarked upon, despite a visitor attendance of more than 150,000.
This article first appeared in Magneto issue 26.
The programme made no mention of the new points system, although it described the race as “the greatest occasion in the history of motor racing in this Country”. This was also the first (and so far last) time that a reigning sovereign “graciously consented” to attend a motor race.
Now, 75 years on, we can look back on the significance of this race. The new World Championship introduced the points-scoring system for the very first time, with seven prominent Formula 1 races selected in Britain (Silverstone), Monte Carlo, America (the Indianapolis 500), Switzerland, Belgium, France and Italy.
Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with eight going to the winner, six to the runner-up, four for third, three for fourth and two for fifth, with an extra point being awarded for setting the fastest lap. A driver’s four best results were then totalled up – and the one with the most points would be crowned as the World Champion.
At the time, though, the focus was on the attendance of His Royal Highness King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma. The royal party was introduced to the drivers, and a special Royal Box was constructed for them to watch the action from.
Among the 21 drivers taking part were Prince Bira of Siam – a member of the Thai royal family – and Baron Emmanuel ‘Toulo’ de Graffenried, a Swiss nobleman who had won the previous year’s non-Championship British Grand Prix in a Maserati.
Ferrari had chosen not to attend the Silverstone event, and so the race was dominated by the all-conquering Alfa Romeo factory team, which dispatched four of its supercharged 158s to Silverstone. Juan Manuel Fangio, Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli would race three of these, while the fourth car was kindly ‘loaned’ to local ace Reg Parnell. One such ‘Alfetta’ is featured further on in issue 26 of Magneto.
Fangio subsequently retired with engine problems, but the other three Alfas took the podium, with Farina earning the maximum nine points and £500 of prize money. Later that year he became the very first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion.
This year, the Silverstone Circuit will celebrate 75 years of the Formula 1 World Championship with an unprecedented display of title-winning machinery driven by all 34 of the sport’s World Champions, at the Silverstone Festival on August 22-24, 2025. It will showcase cars used by Fangio, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, all the way through to Max Verstappen’s title- winning 2024 Red Bull RB20.
More details at www.silverstone.co.uk.
