Silverstone is the birthplace of Formula 1. The very first World Championship Grand Prix was held at the circuit in May 1950. The 2025 British Grand Prix is set to take place on July 6.
1137th F1 GRAND PRIX | 80th BRITISH GRAND PRIX | 60th GRAND PRIX AT SILVERSTONE
2024 POLESITTER: GEORGE RUSSELL | 2024 WINNER: LEWIS HAMILTON
2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX: WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday July 4
Free Practice 1 – 12:30pm Local Time
Free Practice 2 – 4:00pm Local Time
Saturday July 5
Free Practice 3 – 11:30am Local Time
Qualifying – 3:00pm Local Time
Sunday July 6
The 2025 British Grand Prix – 3:00pm Local Time
2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX: WEEKEND MILESTONES
The 2025 British Grand Prix will be the 60th Grand Prix held at Silverstone. 59 of the previous races at the track have been British Grands Prix. The circuit also hosted the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020.
If a British driver wins the 2025 British Grand Prix, it will be the 25th time that a British driver has won at Silverstone in its history on the F1 calendar.
Lewis Hamilton is currently tied with Nigel Mansell for the most fastest laps at Silverstone, each driver having set the Sunday pace here on six occasions. Hamilton will set a new outright record if he secures the fastest lap in the 2025 British Grand Prix. Mansell would still hold the record for most fastest laps at the British Grand Prix however, as he achieved the feat seven times in total, including once at Brands Hatch.
If Lewis Hamilton leads 33 laps of the 2025 British Grand Prix, he will become the first driver to have led 400 laps at Silverstone. He is already way ahead of anyone else on this list. Hamilton has led 367 laps at the track to date, while Jim Clark – second on the list – led 210 laps here in his career.
Ferrari hold the record for most pole positions at Silverstone, with 12. They could extend their record to 13 at the 2025 British Grand Prix, or their existing record could be equalled by either Williams or Mercedes.
READ MORE IN MILESTONES AND RECORDS TO BREAK
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX
WHAT HAS CHANGED AT THE CIRCUIT SINCE LAST YEAR?
Changes to the circuit since last year’s race will be posted here.
HOW MANY DRS ZONES WILL THERE BE AT THE 2025 BRTISH GRAND PRIX?
It’s yet to be announced how many DRS zones there will be at the 2025 British Grand Prix. There are usually two activation zones – on the Wellington and Hangar Straights.
SILVERSTONE TRACK GUIDE
Other circuits have all played their part in British motorsport history but none more so than Silverstone, the home of British Motor Racing. The much-loved track delivers high excitement year on year to a passionate and knowledgeable crowd.
Silverstone’s story begins in 1943. RAF Silverstone was built at a cost of over £1 million, with 5 hangars and three intersecting runways. The area of land is situated in the village of Silverstone, near Towcester, and straddles two counties – Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.
The runways were surrounded by a 3 mile perimeter track which would later serve as part of the race track. The base operated for two years as a training establishment during World War II and was home to a range of Halifax, Lancaster and Wellington bombers. It fell into inactivity in 1946.
Despite the hard times faced by Britons post-war, enthusiasm among certain groups for motorsport didn’t die. There was, however, no major race track in Britain. Brooklands had been handed over to the war’s aviation, as had Donington Park which now acted as a dumping ground for military vehicles.
It was in 1947 that the first race was held at the former RAF aerodrome. The first attempt didn’t go entirely to plan, however. An impromptu race meeting had to be abandoned as sheep invaded the track in what became known as the ‘Mutton Grand Prix’. Maurice Geoghegan ran over a sheep which was killed upon impact and the car was written off.
Silverstone’s central location was seen as an ideal location for international motor racing. In 1948, Silverstone held its first official Grand Prix – the RAC International Grand Prix. James Wilson Brown, a farmer, was employed by the RAC and in August 1948 he was given two months to transform the airfield into a fully-fledged race track.
100,000 fans witnessed Silverstone’s inaugural offering, as crops and piggery were bundled into the centre of the circuit and shielded by hay bales. As would become the custom at Silverstone, traffic jams plagued the weekend as fans made their way to the circuit. Luigi Villoresi was the victor of this race. The 1949 race at Silverstone was the first to be titled the ‘British Grand Prix’. It was run on a different track configuration, which was the full three mile perimeter road of the former airfield. It promoted flat out, high speed racing and can perhaps be considered as the birthplace of modern motorsport. It was run over 300 miles, with Toulo de Graffenreid taking the win after 100 laps.
READ MORE IN OUR ULTIMATE TRACK GUIDE
WHO WILL BE IN THE 2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX PRESS CONFERENCES?
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers ahead of the on-track action. The drivers appearing in the press conference for this race are yet to be announced.
The media will also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams in a separate press conference over the race weekend. The team members appearing in the press conference are yet to be announced.
WHO WILL BE THE RACE DIRECTOR AT THE 2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX?
Rui Marques will be the race director at the 2025 British Grand Prix.
WHO WILL BE THE DRIVER STEWARD AT THE 2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX?
Each weekend a former Formula 1 driver, or a driver from another prominent series of motorsport, joins the stewards to help judge any incidents from a drivers’ perspective. The Driver Steward this weekend is yet to be announced.
WHICH TYRE COMPOUNDS WILL BE USED AT THE 2025 BRITISH GRAND PRIX?
Pirelli have not yet announced which tyre compounds will be used at the 2025 British Grand Prix. The C1, C2 and C3 compounds were used in 2024.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX?
A classic 2024 British Grand Prix, held in changeable conditions, saw Hamilton end his win drought and secure a record-breaking ninth Silverstone victory.
On Saturday morning at Silverstone, George Russell was fastest in a wet final hour of practice. The track was drying as qualifying began but, as drivers switched from intermediate to dry tyres, Sergio Perez slithered off the track and out of qualifying in the first stage. Max Verstappen had a similar moment to his team-mate as the rain began to fall again towards the end of the Q1 session but was able to continue on his way.
Charles Leclerc was a surprise exit in Q2 but there was a battle of the Brits at the top of the field in Q3. Lewis Hamilton took provisional pole but Russell topped the timesheet just as he had done in practice. Lando Norris secured third on the grid, making it an all British 1-2-3 on the grid.
Pierre Gasly’s race was over before it had begun, with him encountering gearbox issues on a tricky weekend for Alpine. As the race got going, Russell maintained his lead as Verstappen secured third place from Norris in the opening turns.
The threat of rain was present over Silverstone on race day, with the track having dried out after a heavy downpour on Sunday morning. On Lap 15, Norris re-took third place from Verstappen and two laps later Oscar Piastri followed his team-mate through at Stowe. By this point, rain had begun to fall around the circuit.
In the slippery conditions, Hamilton exploited his wet weather skills to take the lead of the race from his Mercedes team-mate. At the start of Lap 19, both Hamilton and Russell ran off track at Turn 1, proving the difficult nature of the damp circuit. Norris – who stayed on track – closed in on the back of Russell and took second place.
On Lap 20, Norris took the lead from Hamilton, as Piastri joined the fight up front and took third place from Russsell. Later around the lap, Piastri made it a McLaren 1-2 as the rain continued to fall.
As the race reached its halfway point, Verstappen and Sainz became first of the frontrunners to pit, opting to switch to the intermediate tyre. At the end of the following lap, all of the top four runners except Piastri pitted. Verstappen’s earlier stop allowed him to get between the two Mercedes drivers. Piastri lost pace on his dry tyres and re-emerged in sixth place after his stop.
After an action-packed stint of the race, Russell was forced into retirement on Lap 34 with a water leak. Five laps later, on a drying track, Hamilton and Verstappen pitted while Norris stayed out on track. Norris pitted one lap later but it was too late – Hamilton claimed the lead of the race by little under a second.
As the race neared its conclusion, Verstappen closed in on Norris and secured second place with five laps to go. The Dutchman continued to be the fastest man on track but he could not stop Hamilton from securing a record-breaking ninth British Grand Prix victory, taking his first win in well over two years.
WHAT’S THE FASTEST EVER LAP TIME AT THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX?
Attending the 2025 British Grand Prix? Learn more about visiting Silverstone in the F1Destinations Travel Guide.