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Brabham BT54

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149-636: The Brabham BT54 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team for the 1985 Formula One season. The car was powered by the BMW M12 4cyl turbo engine (generally agreed to be the most powerful engine in Formula One at the time) and used Pirelli tyres. Like its immediate predecessors, the BT54 had most of its weight towards the rear of the car to help improve traction. With FISA 's ban on

298-483: A rev limiter . The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a 'two-tier' championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. But talks broke down and FOTA teams announced, with the exception of Williams and Force India , that 'they had no choice' but to form a breakaway championship series . On 24 June, Formula One's governing body and

447-504: A 3.8-litre Jaguar Mk II ; the German pairing of Peter Lindner and Peter Nöcker in another Jaguar from a Mini-Cooper driven by John Alvy and Denny Hulme , a New Zealand mechanic employed by Jack Brabham. The Club Circuit had six meeting during 1962, and witnessed the coming of Formula Junior. At the Easter Monday meeting, a Formula Junior race saw the lap record tumble to 55.6secs and

596-572: A 3.9-litre Oldsmobile -powered sports car. During the Lombank Trophy Race of 27 December 1965, held at Brands Hatch, driver George Reid Crossman was killed during the last race of the Formula 3 season. [race day program] With the Grand Prix not due back at Brands until 1966, they promoted a non-championship Formula One race to be known as Race of Champions sponsored by Daily Mail . The race

745-619: A ban on ground-effect aerodynamics during 1983 . But by then, turbocharged engines, which Renault had pioneered in 1977 , were producing over 520 kW (700 bhp) and were essential to be competitive. By 1986 , a BMW turbocharged engine achieved a flash reading of 5.5 bar (80 psi) pressure, estimated to be over 970 kW (1,300 bhp) in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix . The next year, power in race trim reached around 820 kW (1,100 bhp), with boost pressure limited to only 4.0 bar. These cars were

894-426: A circuit by a group of Gravesend cyclists led by Ron Argent, with the permission of the local farmer and landowner, Harry White. Using the natural contours of the land, many cyclists from around London practised, raced and ran time trials on the dirt roads carved out by farm machinery. The first actual race on the circuit was held in 1926, over 4 mi (6.4 km) between cyclists and cross-country runners . Within

1043-468: A continued diversification at BRSCC meetings with fewer 500cc events and more sport-racing machinery. The Kentish 100 was the biggest event yet run at the circuit for Formula Two with two 42-lap heats and attracted a truly International field. Formula Two featured at other meetings but at the August Bank Holiday meeting, Formula 3 proved that it was not yet dead as it was run as the feature event for

1192-469: A driver's fastest lap in that period (barring infractions) counts. Any timed lap started before the end of that period may be completed and will count toward that driver's placement. The number of cars eliminated in each period is dependent on the total number of cars entered into the championship. Currently, with 20 cars, Q1 runs for 18 minutes, and eliminates the slowest five drivers. During this period, any driver whose best lap takes longer than 107% of

1341-487: A few weeks later when the circuit saw Formula Two cars performing in the Kentish 100 with a hard-fought win over Dan Gurney ; both were driving Lotus-Climaxes, Clark's was a works car and Gurney's a private entry. Soon after, the track was sold to Grovewood Securities Ltd. , and John Webb put in charge of Motor Circuit Developments to manage the circuit. This was the year of the new 1.5-litre Formula One and on 3 June 1961,

1490-450: A few years, motorcyclists were using the circuit, laying out a three-quarter-mile anti-clockwise track in the valley. They also saw the advantage of competing in a natural arena just a few hundred yards from the A20 , and with the passage of time, a kidney-shaped circuit came into use. The first motorcycle races were "very informal" with much of the organisation being done on the spot. Initially,

1639-580: A gamble and instead of signing with Goodyear for their proven rubber, signed with the Italian company Pirelli instead. The car proved to be competitive, but somewhat unsuccessful even in the hands of two time world champion Nelson Piquet . The reason for this turned out to be the Pirelli tyres which proved to be nowhere near as good as the Goodyear tyres used by rivals McLaren , Lotus, Ferrari and Williams . Part of

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1788-559: A great deal of criticism, and it was agreed that a three-year programme of major safety modifications around the track would be commenced before the start of the 1972 season. The 1972 season was a particularly busy one, with Formula One visiting twice for the Race of Champions on 19 March sponsored by Daily Mail and the John Player-sponsored British Grand Prix on 15 July (bearing the title European Grand Prix), while

1937-479: A guerrilla war with a very long-term aim in view". FOCA threatened to establish a rival series and boycotted a Grand Prix, and FISA withdrew its sanction from races. The result was the 1981 Concorde Agreement , which guaranteed technical stability, as teams were to be given reasonable notice of new regulations. Although FISA asserted its right to the TV revenues, it gave FOCA the administration of those rights. FISA imposed

2086-573: A lap down in a similar car. The first Alfa home completed the podium, was the 33TT3 of Rolf Stommelen and Peter Revson . And so to July, 76-laps of the Grand Prix Circuit adds up to just a few hundred yards over 200 miles which Emerson Fittipaldi completed in 1hr 47:50.2secs (108.67 mph (174.89 km/h)), driving the John Player Special Lotus-Cosworth 72D , from Jackie Stewart ( Tyrrell-Cosworth 003 ), Peter Revson in

2235-404: A management buyout to become Brawn GP , with Ross Brawn and Nick Fry running and owning the majority of the organisation. Brawn GP laid off hundreds of employees, but won the year's world championships. BMW F1 was bought out by the original founder of the team, Peter Sauber . The Lotus F1 Team was another, formerly manufacturer-owned team that reverted to "privateer" ownership, together with

2384-539: A mixture of races, including, for the first time at Brands, saloon cars. This was also the year the Brands grew up, running Formula One cars for the first time on 14 October. Initially, a long-distance race was planned, but in the end a 15-lap race was run which attracted four work entries from Connaught (B-Types for Archie Scott Brown, Les Leston, Jack Fairman and Stuart Lewis-Evans) opposed by privately entered Maserati 250Fs driven by Roy Salvadori and Bruce Halford and

2533-468: A new Concorde Agreement committing them to the sport until 2025, including a $ 145 million budget cap for car development to support equal competition and sustainable development. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport to adapt to budgetary and logistical limitations. A significant overhaul of the technical regulations intended to be introduced in the 2021 season was pushed back to 2022, with constructors instead using their 2020 chassis for two seasons and

2682-403: A new outright lap record of 54.8secs at an average speed of 82.06 mph (132.06 km/h). The severe winter of 1962/63 caused the cancellation of most sports, which resulted in empty television screens on occasions. The lack of sport to show virtually created Rallycross , for on 9 February a rallycross-type event was staged on the slushy Brands Hatch car parks in front of the TV cameras (not

2831-521: A number of Grand Prix racing organisations made suggestions for a new championship to replace the European Championship, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the new International Formula for cars did not become formalised until 1946, to become effective in 1947. The new World Championship was instituted to commence in 1950 . The first world championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix , took place at Silverstone Circuit in

2980-595: A number of sports car drivers to test the circuit on 5 November, this being the first time that any car other than a 500cc had used it, and they ran clockwise. In 1951, season included seven car meetings, all for Formula 3 and they were again organised the Half-Litre Car Club to which the 500 Club had changed its name since becoming a Limited Company . In February, the Aston Martin Owners Club tested some 1.5-litre sports cars at Brands Hatch preparatory to

3129-404: A partnership with Lego , with the first new sets releasing in 2025. The regulations governing Formula One are set to be revised for the 2026 season, with big changes planned to help encourage closer and more competitive racing. Changes include: In November 2024, General Motors reached an agreement to enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand. A Formula One Grand Prix event spans

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3278-466: A press release stating it had been informed it was not entered for the 2010 season, and an FIA press release said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting. On 1 August, it was announced FIA and FOTA had signed a new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012. To compensate for the loss of manufacturer teams, four new teams were accepted entry into

3427-508: A reason to impose rule changes that otherwise, under the Concorde Agreement, would have had to be agreed upon by all the teams—most notably the changes introduced for 1998 . This so-called 'narrow track' era resulted in cars with smaller rear tyres, a narrower track overall, and the introduction of grooved tyres to reduce mechanical grip. The objective was to reduce cornering speeds and produce racing similar to rainy conditions by enforcing

3576-786: A round of the ETCC), with victory going to the Alan Mann -entered Lotus-Cortinas of Sir John Whitmore / Peter Proctor and Henry Taylor / Peter Harper . The 1964 season was the busiest so far for Brands Hatch, with 14 car race meeting alone; the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) organised its first meeting in Kent, while the London Motor Car Club organised one in June. The year's Guards Trophy went to Bruce McLaren driving for Cooper in

3725-434: A season (13, since beaten by Max Verstappen ), and most Drivers' Championships (seven, tied with Lewis Hamilton as of 2021). Schumacher's championship streak ended on 25 September 2005, when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One's youngest champion at that time (until Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and followed by Sebastian Vettel in 2010 ). During 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at

3874-575: A selection of independents. Archie won from Lewis-Evans, setting a new lap record in the process at a speed of 75.66 mph (121.76 km/h). Politics caused the cancellation of the Boxing Day meeting that year due to the Suez Crisis . As a result of Suez affair, forecasts for 1957 season were gloomy, but the programme ran as planned, the two feature meeting of the year being run for the new Formula Two on Whit Sunday and August Bank Holiday. The year saw

4023-467: A series of mid-speed corners, most notably the dip at Westfield and Dingle Dell and the blind Sheene curve. From there the track then emerges from the left hand and cambered Stirlings Bend onto the short straight to Clearways and rejoins the Indy Circuit for Clark Curve with its uphill off-camber approach to the pit straight and the start/finish line. The British Rallycross Circuit at Brands Hatch

4172-756: A situation was not helped by the unseasonably cool European summer or the lack of weight at the front of the car. The only track and conditions on the 1985 calendar that suited the tyres was the Paul Ricard Circuit used for the French Grand Prix , run in very hot weather that year and, combined with the BMW engine that was very effective on the Ricard circuit's long Mistral straight Piquet used these factors to his full advantage. He qualified 5th and won his only Grand Prix of 1985. The team's second driver Marc Surer recorded

4321-442: A smaller contact patch between tyre and track. According to the FIA, this was to reduce cornering speeds in the interest of safety. Results were mixed, as the lack of mechanical grip resulted in the more ingenious designers clawing back the deficit with aerodynamic grip. This resulted in pushing more force onto the tyres through wings and aerodynamic devices, which in turn resulted in less overtaking, as these devices tended to make

4470-424: A stranglehold on the over 1,900 cc class, driving either the works Lister - Bristol or Louis Manduca 's Jaguar C-Type . At the August Bank Holiday meeting spectators could avail themselves of the only permanent grandstand at a British motor sport circuit; it had been purchased second-hand from the defunct Northolt pony-trotting stadium and for the 1956 season, a telephone system was installed linking race control,

4619-427: A token system limiting which parts could be modified introduced. The start of the 2020 season was delayed by several months, and both it and 2021 seasons were subject to several postponements, cancellations, and rescheduling of races due to shifting restrictions on international travel. Many races took place behind closed doors and with only essential personnel present to maintain social distancing . In 2022,

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4768-743: A valid Super Licence , the highest class of racing licence the FIA issues, and the races must be held on grade one tracks , the highest grade rating the FIA issues for tracks. Formula One cars are the world's fastest regulated road-course racing cars , owing to very high cornering speeds achieved by generating large amounts of aerodynamic downforce , much of which is generated by front and rear wings. The cars depend on electronics, aerodynamics , suspension , and tyres . Traction control , launch control , and automatic shifting , and other electronic driving aids were first banned in 1994 . They were briefly reintroduced in 2001 , and have more recently been banned since 2004 and 2008 , respectively. With

4917-403: A weekend. It typically begins with two free practice sessions on Friday, and one free practice session on Saturday. Additional drivers (commonly known as third drivers ) are allowed to run on Fridays, but only two cars may be used per team, requiring a race driver to give up their seat. A qualifying session is held after the last free practice session. This session determines the starting order for

5066-399: A world championship race. It entered the 1961 British Grand Prix , the only front-engined car to compete that year. During 1962 , Lotus introduced a car with an aluminium-sheet monocoque chassis instead of the traditional space-frame design. This proved to be the greatest technological breakthrough since the introduction of mid-engined cars. In 1968 , sponsorship was introduced to

5215-497: Is allocated one set of the softest tyres for use in Q3. The cars that qualify for Q3 must return them after Q3; the cars that do not qualify for Q3 can use them during the race. As of 2022, all drivers are given a free choice of tyre to use at the start of the Grand Prix, whereas in previous years only the drivers that did not participate in Q3 had free tyre choice for the start of the race. Any penalties that affect grid position are applied at

5364-617: Is owned and operated by Jonathan Palmer 's MotorSport Vision organisation. Brands Hatch offers two layout configurations. The 1.198 mi (1.928 km) "Indy Circuit" layout is located entirely within a natural amphitheatre offering spectators views of almost all of the shorter configurations from wherever they watch. The 2.433 mi (3.916 km) "Grand Prix" layout has played host to several Formula One Grands Prix, including those with moments such as Jo Siffert 's duel with Chris Amon in 1968 and 1992 World Driver's Champion Nigel Mansell 's first win in 1985 . Noise restrictions and

5513-434: The 1955 Le Mans disaster . The first major technological development in the sport was Bugatti 's introduction of mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham , the world champion in 1959 , 1960 , and 1966 , soon proved the mid-engine's superiority over all other engine positions. By 1961 all teams had switched to mid-engined cars. The Ferguson P99 , a four-wheel drive design, was the last front-engined Formula One car to enter

5662-555: The 1987 World Championship. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position) Formula One Formula One , commonly known as Formula 1 or F1 , is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the world's premier forms of racing since its inaugural running in 1950 . The word formula in

5811-457: The 2002 Austrian Grand Prix . Other changes included the qualifying format, the point-scoring system, the technical regulations, and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although, at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use, leading to Bridgestone becoming

5960-403: The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix , where Jules Bianchi collided with a recovery vehicle after aquaplaning off the circuit, dying nine months later from his injuries. Since 1994, three track marshals have died, one at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix , one at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and one at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix . Since Senna's and Ratzenberger's deaths, the FIA has used safety as

6109-425: The 2017 and 2018 seasons featured a title battle between Mercedes and Ferrari. Mercedes ultimately won the titles with multiple races to spare and continued to dominate in the next two years, eventually winning seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020 and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from 2014 to 2021. During this eight-year period between 2014 and 2021, a Mercedes driver won 111 of

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6258-593: The Alfa Romeo name, Sauber introduced a title partnership with the online casino Stake.com , resulting in the team's new identity as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber . Sauber will hold Stake's sponsorship name until the end of 2025, after which it will become the Audi works team for the 2026 season onwards. Scuderia AlphaTauri , Red Bull's junior team, dropped its name and took on sponsors from Hugo Boss and Cash App, becoming Visa Cash App RB, or VCARB for 2024. Formula One announced

6407-596: The BOAC 500 on 7 April. The winner was the Ford GT40 Mk.1 of Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman from the Porsche 908 of Gerhard Mitter and Ludovico Scarfiotti , these two being the only cars to complete the full race distance of 218-laps. Two laps further down in third was another 907 driven by Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch and fourth place went to another GT40, driven by Paul Hawkins and David Hobbs . Three months later came

6556-551: The British Grand Prix on 20 July, won by Jo "Seppi" Siffert . Siffert's victory was noteworthy in that he won in a Lotus 49B which was delivered new to the circuit on the first morning of the meeting. It was completed in the paddock and was entered by the Walker-Durlacher team – a private entrant winning a Grand Prix. In second place just 4.4 secs behind was Chris Amon (Ferrari), with his teammate Jacky Ickx third. Fourth

6705-575: The Daily Telegraph Trophy . Jim Clark made his Brands Hatch debut at the Boxing Day event, when he drove the Border Reivers -entered Lotus Elite into second place behind Colin Chapman . At the August Bank Holiday meeting in 1958, an 1,100cc sports car became the first to lap Brands Hatch in under a minute. Its creator had been unable to afford to purchase a Lotus, so had designed his own car;

6854-578: The Ferrari 312PB of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni, with the Porsche 917 of Jo Siffert and Derek Bell a further three laps down in third. Motor Racing is a dangerous game and there had been some fatalities at Brands including the deaths of George Crossman, Tony Flory and Stuart Duncan in the mid-60s. But in October 1971, the season drew to its close with the death of a major driver. Jo Siffert died in an accident in

7003-670: The Ferrari 330-P4 of Chris Amon and Jackie Stewart . These two had lapped the rest of the field twice, third place going to the Jo Siffert /Bruce McLaren Porsche 910 . The year saw many firsts; in July, Tetsu Ikuzawa became the first Japanese ever to win a race in Britain, the first Mini Festival was run at Whitsun and the Mini-Seven Club ran the first ever all-saloon car meeting in February. But

7152-486: The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA), the manufacturers negotiated a larger share of Formula One's commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport. In 2008 and 2009, Honda , BMW , and Toyota all withdrew from Formula One racing within a year, blaming the economic recession . This resulted in the end of manufacturer dominance of the sport. The Honda F1 team went through

7301-647: The Imperial Tobacco 's Gold Leaf livery at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix . Aerodynamic downforce slowly gained importance in car design with the appearance of aerofoils during the 1968 season. The wings were introduced by Lotus's owner Colin Chapman who installed modest front wings and a rear spoiler on his Lotus 49 B at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix . In the late 1970s, Lotus introduced ground-effect aerodynamics, previously used on Jim Hall 's Chaparral 2J in 1970, that provided enormous downforce and greatly increased cornering speeds. The aerodynamic forces pressing

7450-518: The Jaguar Racing team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since Alfa Romeo's and Renault's departures in 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams—Renault, BMW , Toyota , Honda, and Ferrari—dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the Constructors' Championship. The exception was McLaren, which at the time was part-owned by Mercedes-Benz. Through

7599-497: The Rothmans World Championship Victory Race . This non-championship event for Formula One and Formula 5000 cars was arranged to mark Jackie Stewart and Ken Tyrrell's joint World Championships. The race was 40 laps in length; 'Seppi' lost control of his BRM P160 on lap 15, hit the bank at Hawthorn Hill, the car was engulfed in flames and he was asphyxiated before he could be extricated. The circuit came under

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7748-697: The Silver City Trophy , was contested over 76 laps of the GP Circuit by Grand Prix cars. Entries were received from Cooper, Lotus, BRM, UDT-Laystall and Yeoman Credit. Victory went to Stirling Moss driving the pale green UDT-Laystall Lotus 18/21 Climax from Jim Clark abroad the works Lotus 21 Climax and Tony Brooks driving the BRM P57 Climax. The 7 August meeting saw the Guards International Trophy for Intercontinental Formula cars. In effect

7897-623: The Team Yardley McLaren-Cosworth M19A , Chris Amon in the Matra-Simca MS120C , Denny Hulme Team Yardley McLaren-Cosworth M19C , with Arturo Merzario taking the last point in the Ferrari 312B 2. The following year, 1973, was less hectic; the BOAC 1000 was cancelled when the date offered by the FIA was unsuitable, and the year had an unfortunate Race of Champions . Peter Gethin driving a Formula 5000 Chevron-Chevrolet B24 beat

8046-496: The World Manufacturers' Championship ( 1925 – 1930 ) and European Drivers' Championship ( 1931 – 1939 ). The formula is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947 . The first Grand Prix in accordance with the new regulations was the 1946 Turin Grand Prix , anticipating the formula's official start. Before World War II ,

8195-472: The Österreichring , Zandvoort , Spa-Francorchamps and Kyalami. However, the car was not as competitive on slow circuits, with Piquet never qualifying higher than 10th or finishing higher than 5th at any of the 3 street circuits (Monaco, Detroit, Adelaide) used in 1985. Other than the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where Piquet got his only pole position for the season (compared to his 9 poles in 1984 ),

8344-409: The 'sprint shootout'; such a system made its debut at the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and is set to be used throughout all sprint sessions in place of the traditional second free practice session. Sprint qualifying sessions are run much shorter than traditional qualifying, and each session required teams to fit new tyres – mediums for SQ1 and SQ2, and softs for SQ3 – otherwise they cannot participate in

8493-494: The 'winglets' on the rear wings that had been pioneered by Ferrari in 1983 , Murray chose instead to put the small wings on the outside rear edges of the cars sidepods ( Lotus designer Gérard Ducarouge had done the same with their 97T ). Like most of its rivals, Brabham had used Michelin tyres in 1984 . However, when the French company pulled out of Grand Prix racing at the end of that season, team owner Bernie Ecclestone took

8642-570: The 160 races, with Hamilton winning 81 of these and taking six Drivers' Championships during this period to equal Schumacher's record of seven titles. In 2021 , the Honda-powered Red Bull team began to seriously challenge Mercedes, with Verstappen beating Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship after a season-long battle that saw the pair exchange the championship lead multiple times. This era has seen an increase in car manufacturer presence in

8791-507: The 1950s and firmly established the venue as one of Britain's top racing circuits. The track continued to expand during 1953 and 1954, with the addition of Druids Bend by lengthening the circuit, a pit lane and spectator banks and reversing the racing direction to clockwise. While Formula III racing was unquestionably close and exciting, it did have its limitations and now the paying public wanted some variety and more powerful cars to watch. The change in direction of racing traffic resulted in

8940-528: The 2010 season ahead of a much anticipated 'cost-cap'. Entrants included a reborn Team Lotus —led by a Malaysian consortium including Tony Fernandes , the boss of Air Asia ; Hispania Racing —the first Spanish Formula One team; and Virgin Racing — Richard Branson 's entry into the series following a successful partnership with Brawn the year before. They were also joined by the US F1 Team , which planned to run out of

9089-561: The 2010 season, Mercedes-Benz reentered the sport as a manufacturer after it purchased Brawn GP and split with McLaren after 15 seasons with the team. During the 2009 season, Formula One was gripped by the FIA–FOTA dispute . FIA President Max Mosley proposed numerous cost-cutting measures for the next season, including an optional budget cap for the teams; teams electing to take the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, adjustable front and rear wings, and an engine not subject to

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9238-524: The 6-litre Lola T70 . The Motor Show 200 for Formula Two cars saw a young Austrian named Jochen Rindt win in the Roy Winkelmann -entered Brabham BT18 . The 1967 Race of Champions (still sponsored by Daily Mail ) saw the first of two major victories by American cars at Brands when Dan Gurney brought the Eagle - Weslake T1G over the line first by 0.8 seconds from Lorenzo Bandin's Ferrari 312 /67. So good

9387-522: The A20, and the huge crowd saw the non-championship Silver City Trophy Formula One race won by Jack Brabham in the works Cooper-Climax by just 4.4 seconds from Graham Hill in the BRM P48 , after the gearbox of Jim Clark's Lotus expired after leading 22 laps of the 50-lap race. The fastest lap was set jointly by Clark and Brabham, in 1min 40.6sec, at a speed of 94.82 mph (152.60 km/h). Clark had his revenge

9536-486: The BBC to televise a grass track meeting, the first motorcycle event to be televised on British TV. Following World War II, cinders were laid on the track of what was by then known as Brands Hatch Stadium and motorcycle racing continued. That was until 1950 when the 500 Club managed to persuade Joe Francis, that the future for his stadium lay in car and motorcycle road racing. The group behind 500 c.c. single-seater racing cars

9685-521: The BOAC 1000 was the British round of the World Championship of Makes. On 16 April, what was to be the last BOAC 1000 resulted in a complete Italian benefit race with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo filling the first six places. The 235-lap race was won by Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari 312PB, with the average race speed of 105.12 mph (169.17 km/h), from Tim Schenken and Ronnie Peterson ,

9834-683: The BRM P261 from Jim Clark (Lotus 33) with Jochen Rindt fifth in the Cooper- Maserati and in sixth position, a further lap adrift, was Bruce McLaren in the McLaren - Serenissima . The event was notable for the only F1 appearance of the Shannon SH 1 in the hands of Trevor Taylor which lasted just one lap. This was also the year that John Surtees won the Guards Trophy on August Bank Holiday Monday driving

9983-653: The BT54 was generally off the pace of the front runners leaving Piquet little chance of regaining the World Drivers' Championship . Piquet's pole in the Netherlands came to nothing when he stalled at the start and by the time he was push started, he was already two-thirds of a lap behind. At the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch , Piquet qualified a strong 2nd, but on lap 7 drove into Keke Rosberg who had spun his Williams while challenging Ayrton Senna 's Lotus for

10132-671: The BT54's problem was that unlike the other teams who had tested their cars during the European winter, Piquet had spent a southern hemisphere summer testing the car and the Pirelli tyres at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa and at the Jacarepagua circuit in Brazil (it was reported that he had completed the equivalent of 75 full races in testing). The testing was completed in hot conditions which suited

10281-452: The Brabham team. With Brabham's declining competitiveness becoming apparent (giving Piquet just three wins in the two years since his 1983 championship, during which time McLaren drivers Niki Lauda and Alain Prost had won 18 races between them and each respective World Championship), the Brazilian signed to drive for Williams- Honda in 1986. The move to Williams proved to be fruitful for Nelson, winning seven races in two seasons as well as

10430-446: The F1 governing body announced a major rule and car design change intended to promote closer racing through the use of ground effects , new aerodynamics, larger wheels with low-profile tyres, and redesigned nose and wing regulations. Red Bull emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup. The 2022 and 2023 Constructors' and Drivers' Championships were won by Red Bull and Verstappen, with multiple races to spare. In 2023

10579-421: The FIA opened applications for new teams to enter Formula 1 in the then near future. Of the teams that applied, only Andretti were approved by the FIA, with them then being rejected by Formula One Management , though they have launched an appeal. In early 2024, the Formula One landscape underwent a significant change in the sphere of team sponsorships and collaborations. Having competed for five seasons under

10728-602: The Lotus was then disqualified following a protest over an aerofoil, but was reinstated before the evening was out. Third place went to Denny Hulme in the McLaren from the Ferrari of Clay Regazzoni ; a lap down in fifth spot with the March of Chris Amon with Graham Hill sixth in the other Lotus. Rindt's winning speed was 108.69 mph (174.92 km/h). Although the World Championship sports race

10877-589: The Motor Show 200. The former race gave the McLaren marque its maiden Formula One victory when Bruce, driving his own car, led home the field ahead of Pedro Rodríguez in the BRM P133 and his new team-mate, Denny Hulme. Sponsorship on racing cars was just beginning and a television executive was distressed by the 'sailor man' on the side of the Gold Leaf Team Lotus and threatened to withdraw television coverage if

11026-528: The Pirellis as it allowed them to quickly get up to working temperature which masked their major flaw - in cooler temperatures, the Pirelli tyres just could not get up to working temperature as quickly as the Goodyear tyres. Unfortunately, once the European races started the problem surfaced of the front tyres taking a long time to reach working temperature (much longer than the Goodyears) which caused severe understeer,

11175-579: The Rallycross Circuit used in the 1980s and 1990s). The event had been quickly organised by Raymond Baxter of the BBC and the London Motor Club , and saw Timo Mäkinen win easily in the works Austin-Healey 3000 . The second Motor -sponsored Six-Hour saloon car race , was a round of the inaugural European Touring Car Challenge . It was run in appalling conditions on 6 July. The large crowd witness

11324-647: The UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Promoters held non-championship Formula One events for many years. Due to the increasing cost of competition, the last of these was held in 1983. This era featured teams managed by road-car manufacturers, such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati . The first seasons featured prewar cars like Alfa Romeo's 158 , which were front-engined , with narrow tyres and 1.5-litre supercharged or 4.5-litre naturally aspirated engines. The 1952 and 1953 seasons were run to Formula Two regulations, for smaller, less powerful cars, due to concerns over

11473-517: The United Kingdom on 13 May 1950. Giuseppe Farina , competing for Alfa Romeo , won the first Drivers' World Championship, narrowly defeating his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio won the championship in 1951 , 1954 , 1955 , 1956 , and 1957 . This set the record for the most World Championships won by a single driver, a record that stood for 46 years until Michael Schumacher won his sixth championship in 2003. A Constructors' Championship

11622-550: The United States as the only non-European-based team in the sport. Financial issues befell the squad before they even made the grid. Despite the entry of these new teams, the proposed cost-cap was repealed and these teams—which did not have the budgets of the midfield and top-order teams—ran around at the back of the field until they collapsed; HRT in 2012, Caterham (formerly Lotus) in 2014 and Manor (formerly Virgin, then Marussia), having survived falling into administration in 2014, at

11771-529: The Works Cooper and set a new lap record. The August Bank Holiday meeting saw for the first time, involvement of the national press with the Daily Telegraph sponsoring the main event of the day. The old cinder track had been 0.75 mi (1.21 km) in length, but the tarmac circuit was lengthened to 1.000 mi (1.609 km) and now ran anticlockwise. The Maidstone & Mid-Kent Motor Club invited

11920-406: The average annual cost of running a team—designing, building, and maintaining cars, pay, transport—at approximately £220,000,000 (or $ 265,000,000), Formula One's financial and political battles are widely reported. The Formula One Group is owned by Liberty Media , which acquired it in 2017 from private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for £6.4 billion ($ 8 billion). Formula One originated from

12069-809: The ban on driver aids was in name only, as they "proved difficult to police effectively". The teams signed a second Concorde Agreement in 1992 and a third in 1997. On the track, the McLaren and Williams teams dominated the 1980s and 1990s. Brabham was also competitive during the early 1980s, winning two Drivers' Championships with Nelson Piquet . Powered by Porsche , Honda , and Mercedes-Benz , McLaren won 16 championships (seven constructors' and nine drivers') in that period, while Williams used engines from Ford , Honda, and Renault to also win 16 titles (nine constructors' and seven drivers'). The rivalry between racers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost became F1's central focus during 1988 and continued until Prost retired at

12218-534: The biggest 'first 'was the arrival of Formula Ford which was to become the providing ground and starting place for so many drivers. The first Formula Ford race was run on 7 July and was won by Roy Allan in a Lotus 51 . 1968 proved to be a busy season, with no less than five International meetings; the first was the Race of Champions followed by the BOAC 500, the British Grand Prix, the Guards Trophy, and

12367-622: The buy-out of the Renault team by Genii Capital investors. But a link with its previous owners still survived, with its car continuing to be powered by a Renault engine until 2014. McLaren also announced that it was to reacquire the shares in its team from Mercedes-Benz (McLaren's partnership with Mercedes was reported to have started to sour with the McLaren Mercedes SLR road car project and tough F1 championships, which included McLaren being found guilty of spying on Ferrari ). Hence, during

12516-558: The car was called a Lola and its creator was Eric Broadley . The highlight of the 1959 season was again the Kentish 100 , with no less than 40 drivers (including 10 Grand Prix names) fighting for just 16 grid positions. Jack Brabham won both 42-lap heats driving the works Cooper- Climax . The feature race at the Boxing Day meeting was for Formula Junior , a new International Formula for single-seater racing cars using production engines up to 1,100 cc; works entries were received from Elva , Gemini , Lola, Cooper and Lotus. This new formula

12665-403: The cars to the track were up to five times the car's weight. As a result, extremely stiff springs were needed to maintain a constant ride height , leaving the suspension virtually solid. This meant that the drivers depended entirely on the tyres for any small amount of cushioning of the car and driver from irregularities of the road surface. Beginning in the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone rearranged

12814-451: The country and making the approach to Clearways very much faster. From South Bank there followed a long straight dipping into and out of the next valley to the right-hand Hawthorn Bend followed by Portobello Straight to Westfield Bend leading to the dip to Dingle Dell, Dingle Dell Corner and the difficult left-hand Stirling's Bend. A short straight then brought the circuit back to Clearways at much higher speed than hitherto. John Hall said, "For

12963-514: The creation of Paddock Hill Bend a fast sweeping downhill right-hander. At the bottom the Paddock Hill, a quarter-mile extension to the circuit was added which took the competitors up the other side of the valley to a right-hand hairpin, which is called Druids Hill Bend . This new section re-joined the old track at another tricky corner, Bottom Bend , and the result was a circuit lengthened to 1.240 mi (1.996 km). The first race winner on

13112-456: The dearth of Formula One cars. When a new Formula One formula for engines limited to 2.5 litres was reinstated for the 1954 world championship, Mercedes-Benz introduced its W196 , which featured things never seen on Formula One cars before, such as desmodromic valves , fuel injection , and enclosed streamlined bodywork. Mercedes drivers won the championship for the next two years, before the team withdrew from all motorsport competitions due to

13261-462: The difficulty of the curve, due to the straight that precedes it, it is one of the track's few overtaking spots. The next corner, Druids, is a hairpin bend, taken after an uphill braking zone at Hailwood Hill . The track then curves around the south bank spectator area into the downhill, off-camber Graham Hill Bend , and another, slightly bent stretch at the Cooper Straight , which runs parallel to

13410-409: The end of 1993 . Senna died at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix after crashing into a wall on the exit of the notorious curve Tamburello . The FIA worked to improve the sport's safety standards since that weekend, during which Roland Ratzenberger also died in an accident during Saturday qualifying. No driver died of injuries sustained on the track at the wheel of a Formula One car for 20 years until

13559-541: The end of 2006 after 16 years in Formula One, but came out of retirement for the 2010 season, racing for the newly formed Mercedes works team, following the rebrand of Brawn GP . During this period, FIA frequently changed the championship rules with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders , legal since the championship started during 1950, were banned during 2002, after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at

13708-439: The end of 2016. A major rule shakeup in 2014 saw the 2.4-litre naturally aspirated V8 engines replaced by 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid power units. This prompted Honda to return to the sport in 2015 as the championship's fourth power unit manufacturer. Mercedes emerged as the dominant force after the rule shakeup, with Lewis Hamilton winning the championship closely followed by his main rival and teammate, Nico Rosberg , with

13857-485: The end of qualifying. Grid penalties can be applied for driving infractions in the previous or current Grand Prix, or for changing a gearbox or engine component. If a car fails scrutineering, the driver will be excluded from qualifying but will be allowed to start the race from the back of the grid at the race stewards' discretion. 2021 saw the trialling of a 'sprint qualifying' race on the Saturday of three race weekends, with

14006-466: The fastest getting first place on the grid, referred to as pole position . From 1996 to 2002, the format was a one-hour shootout. This approach lasted until the end of 2002 before the rules were changed again because the teams were not running in the early part of the session to take advantage of better track conditions later on. Grids were generally limited to 26 cars – if the race had more entries, qualification would also decide which drivers would start

14155-505: The fastest time in Q1 will not be allowed to start the race without permission from the stewards. Otherwise, all drivers proceed to the race albeit in the worst starting positions. This rule does not affect drivers in Q2 or Q3. In Q2, the 15 remaining drivers have 15 minutes to set one of the ten fastest times and proceed to the next period. Finally, Q3 lasts 12 minutes and sees the remaining ten drivers decide

14304-486: The favourite, a 7-litre Ford Galaxie driven by Dan Gurney and Jack Brabham, floundering in the wet and the Jaguar dominated the race. Victory went to Roy Salvadori and Denny Hulme from Peter Linder and Peter Nöcker after the winners on the road, Mike Salmon and Pete Sutcliffe being disqualified for engine irregularities. The Guards Trophy was run for sports cars and went to Roger Penske driving his Zerex Special , which

14453-598: The first of what was to become the traditional Boxing Day meeting down in Kent. A total of 15,000 spectators arrived at the Christmas meeting to watch a programme of seven races with the added attraction of ox-roasting and Stirling Moss . It was Jim Russell 's year, for he dominated the Formula 3, winning the Autosport National Championship, as well as four of the meeting. Cooper T39s and Lotus Mk.9s dominated sports car racing while Archie Scott Brown had

14602-483: The first ten grid positions. At the beginning of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the FIA introduced a new qualifying format, whereby drivers were knocked out every 90 seconds after a certain amount of time had passed in each session. The aim was to mix up grid positions for the race, but due to unpopularity, the FIA reverted to the above qualifying format for the Chinese GP, after running the format for only two races. Each car

14751-523: The first time ever, Britain will have a Grand Prix track within 20 miles of London.'" The new track was planned to be completed in time for the August Bank Holiday meeting and was ready for testing in June. The debut of the new track came in August as planned, with works entries from BRM , Cooper, Ferrari , and Lotus together with independents such Yeoman Credit Racing , Scuderia Eugenio Castellotti and Scuderia Centro Sud . Record traffic jams were reported on

14900-478: The first-ever 80 mph lap (actual speed was 80.29 mph (129.21 km/h)) by John Fenning , aboard a Lotus 20 -Ford. The 'Trio' meeting in July saw the end of an era when a 500 took the chequered flag for the last time with Mike Ledbrook , driving a Cooper-Norton Mark 8 in the 500 and 250cc race. At the Boxing Day meeting, Hulme won the Formula Junior race driving the prototype Brabham BT6 -Ford, setting

15049-497: The full International season starting. The 1952 season saw the emergence of Stuart Lewis-Evans . Les Leston raised the lap record to 71.15 mph (114.50 km/h) (50.6sec) – the first time that 70 mph (110 km/h) had been exceeded. 1953 saw the introductions of raised spectator protection banks. This was to be Parker's year for he won the Autosport Formula 3 Championship taking seven races at Brands on his way

15198-570: The glamour of the Indy 500 ; Jackie Stewart won the race in the Matra MS80 owned by Ken Tyrrell and went on to win his first World Championship with it. The BOAC 500 was once again the British round of the Manufacturers' World Championship and was a Porsche benefit, 908s taking the first three places, the winners being Jo Siffert and Brian Redman; the second place car of Vic Elford and Richard Attwood

15347-522: The grandstand and the marshals' posts, while a modern hospital was opened at the circuit, complete with operating theatre. As larger-capacity cars become more common, 500 cc racing began to decline, but the formula still gave close, exciting racing. The first year that public car race meetings were organised by other than the BRSCC was 1956 – in June, the 750 Motor Club joined forces with the Club Lotus to offer

15496-474: The handlebars. A rostrum position in the day's 250cc race was a great achievement, but an even better was not very far away. Just one week later, and again at Brands, Sheene took his first race win, and he did it is style by an incredible 12 seconds. And the best was yet to come, for he dominated a field of 350cc machines, riding special 250cc Bultaco (with an enlarged 280cc capacity). The Manufacturers' World Championship came to Brands in early 1968, followed by

15645-475: The intention of testing the new approach to qualifying. The traditional qualifying would determine the starting order for the sprint, and the result of the sprint would then determine the start order for the Grand Prix. The system returned for the 2022 season, now titled the 'sprint'. From 2023, sprint races no longer impacted the start order for the main race, which would be determined by traditional qualifying. Sprints would have their own qualifying session, titled

15794-422: The knife-edge connects back to the Indy Circuit, but in an anti-clockwise direction. Subsequently, cars proceed from Cooper Straight, swooping up the old link road and returning to Paddock. Brands Hatch was originally the name of a natural grassy hollow that was shaped like an amphitheatre . Although the site was originally used as a military training ground, the fields belonging to Brands Farm were first used as

15943-514: The lead at Surtees (with nowhere to go and no time to react, Piquet hit the Williams, taking off the BT54's nose cone and badly damaging the front left wheel and suspension). Marc Surer managed to get his BT54 up to 2nd before retiring with a fiery engine failure 13 laps from home. Piquet, François Hesnault and Marc Surer , who replaced Hesnault from the Canadian Grand Prix for the rest of

16092-550: The management of Formula One's commercial rights; he is widely credited with transforming the sport into the multibillion-dollar business it now is. When Ecclestone bought the Brabham team during 1971, he gained a seat on the Formula One Constructors' Association , and in 1978, he became its president. Previously, the circuit owners controlled the income of the teams and negotiated with each individually; Ecclestone persuaded

16241-505: The most powerful open-wheel circuit racing cars ever. To reduce engine power output and thus speeds, the FIA limited fuel tank capacity in 1984 , and boost pressures in 1988 , before banning turbocharged engines completely in 1989 . The development of electronic driver aids began in the 1980s. Lotus began to develop a system of active suspension , which first appeared during 1983 on the Lotus 92 . By 1987, this system had been perfected and

16390-439: The name refers to the set of rules all participants' cars must follow. A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix . Grands Prix take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed roads. A point-system is used at Grands Prix to determine two annual World Championships: one for the drivers , and one for the constructors (the teams). Each driver must hold

16539-452: The new formula was caused by the escalating costs of Formula Three, Formula Two and the decreasing number of non-championship Formula One events as more and more countries demanded a Grand Prix. The winner of the first Formula 5000 race was Peter Gethin driving a McLaren M10A with Chevrolet power. Indianapolis-style single-car qualifying was introduced for the 1969 Race of Champions , but it simply did not catch on – perhaps it did not have

16688-440: The offering item was not obscured, so Graham Hill was black-flagged to have the decal covered! It was March 1968 at a minor club meeting when 17-year-old rider Barry Sheene lined up on the starting grid, on a works 125cc Bultaco , for his first race. It was an impressive debut by anyone's standards. Sheene had worked his way up to second place and threatening the leader, Mike Lewis, when the bike seized and spat its rider off over

16837-466: The ownership of Brands Hatch was in the hands of Motor Circuit Developments (MCD), which saw the arrival of another MCD-inspired single-seater formula in the shape of Formula Atlantic . The BOAC 1000 saw Alfa Romeo take their first major success in 20 years, with the chequered flag being taken by the 33TT3 of Andrea de Adamich and Henri Pescarolo , who completed the 235 laps at a speed of 97.17 mph (156.38 km/h). They were followed home by

16986-490: The pit crews time to clear themselves and their equipment from the grid for the race start. Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown , Kent , England , United Kingdom . Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts many British and International racing events. The venue

17135-401: The pit lane. After the straight, the circuit climbs uphill though the decreasing-radius Surtees turn, before moving onto the back straight where the track's top speeds can be reached. The most significant elevation changes on the circuit occur here at Pilgrim's Drop and Hawthorn Hill , which leads into Hawthorn Bend (with some parts approaching 7%). The track then loops around the woodland with

17284-573: The proximity of the Grand Prix loop to local residents mean that the number of race meetings held on the extended circuit is limited to just a few per year (usually for higher-profile series such as the BTCC and the BSB ). The full Grand Prix circuit begins on the Brabham Straight , an off-camber , slightly curved stretch, before plunging into the right-hander at Paddock Hill Bend, with gradients of 8%. Despite

17433-426: The race on Sunday. Each driver may use no more than thirteen sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of intermediate tyres, and three sets of wet-weather tyres during a race weekend. For much of the sport's history, qualifying sessions differed little from practice sessions; drivers would have one or more sessions in which to set their fastest time, with the grid order determined by each driver's best single lap, with

17582-461: The race. During the early 1990s, the number of entries was so high that the worst-performing teams had to enter a pre-qualifying session, with the fastest cars allowed through to the main qualifying session. The qualifying format began to change in the early 2000s, with the FIA experimenting with limiting the number of laps, determining the aggregate time over two sessions, and allowing each driver only one qualifying lap. The current qualifying system

17731-634: The racing was on a straight strip approximately where Cooper Straight came to be when the track was tarmacked. Brands Hatch remained in operation during the 1930s, but after being used as a military vehicle park and being subject to many bombing raids during World War II , it needed much work before it could become a professional racing circuit. In 1932, four local motorcycling clubs joined forces (Bermondsey, Owls, Sidcup and West Kingsdown) and staged their first meeting that March. Motorcycle racing quickly resumed after World War II and in 1947, Joe Francis (managing director of Brands Hatch Stadium Ltd.) persuaded

17880-560: The redundant 2.5-litre F1 cars from pre-1961. The race was a 76-lap affair over the GP Circuit; Jack Brabham won in the works Cooper T53 -Climax from Jim Clark (works Lotus 18 -Climax) and Graham Hill (BRM P57). The following year 1962 did not see any major meetings at Brands, but on 1 October, the longest race staged so far took place. This was the Motor -sponsored Six-Hour Saloon race. The field of 35 entries included some foreign entrants and victory went to Mike Parkes and Jimmy Blumer driving

18029-408: The revised track was Stuart Lewis-Evans , at the wheel of a Cooper - Norton Mk.8, with a new name at the inaugural meeting. That name was N. G. Hill who was a 'graduate' of the racing school. As the season progressed larger engine machines began to appear starting with small and medium capacity sport cars, then Formula Libre machines. However, most races were still run for Formula 3 and 1954 saw

18178-444: The season's fastest speed trap time during qualifying at Paul Ricard when the turbocharged BMW engine pushed the BT54 to 338 km/h (210 mph) on the 1.8 km long Mistral Straight. The car's aerodynamics, paired with its potent BMW engine, saw that the BT54 did well on high-speed circuits and was often the fastest car down the straights, and Piquet often qualified higher up the grid at circuits like Paul Ricard, Silverstone ,

18327-469: The season, could only score 26 points to finish 5th in the Constructors' Championship. The BT54 was replaced for the 1986 season by the Brabham BT55 , although the team did use the BT54 for the 1986 British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch after the lack of results from the radical lowline BT55. After seven seasons, 2 World Drivers' Championships and 12 wins, the BT54 was the last car Nelson Piquet drove for

18476-459: The session. The race begins with a warm-up lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. This lap is often referred to as the formation lap, as the cars lap in formation with no overtaking (although a driver who makes a mistake may regain lost ground). The warm-up lap allows drivers to check the condition of the track and their car, gives the tyres a chance to warm up to increase traction and grip, and also gives

18625-406: The sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season by default. On 20 December 2007 Bridgestone signed a contract that officially made it the exclusive tyre supplier for the next three seasons. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a 'green' future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would be an important factor. Starting in 2000, with Ford's purchase of Stewart Grand Prix to form

18774-482: The sport . Team Gunston became the first team to run cigarette sponsorship on its Brabham cars, which privately entered in orange, brown and gold colours of Gunston cigarettes in the 1968 South African Grand Prix on 1 January 1968. Five months later, the first works team , Lotus, initially using the British racing green , followed this example when it entered its cars painted in the red, gold, and white colours of

18923-646: The sport. After Honda's return as an engine manufacturer in 2015, Renault came back as a team in 2016 after buying back the Lotus F1 team. In 2018, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo became Red Bull and Sauber's title sponsors, respectively. Sauber was rebranded as Alfa Romeo Racing for the 2019 season, while Racing Point part-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in Aston Martin to rebrand the Racing Point team as Aston Martin for 2021. In August 2020, all ten F1 teams signed

19072-532: The team winning 16 out of the 19 races that season. The team continued this form in the next two seasons, again winning 16 races in 2015 before taking a record 19 wins in 2016 , with Hamilton claiming the title in the former year and Rosberg winning it in the latter by five points. The 2016 season also saw a new team, Haas , join the grid, while Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever race winner at age 18 in Spain . After revised aerodynamic regulations were introduced,

19221-452: The teams reached an agreement to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years; exact figures were not specified, and Max Mosley agreed he would not stand for reelection to the FIA presidency in October. Following further disagreements, after Mosley suggested he would stand for reelection, FOTA made it clear that breakaway plans were still being pursued. On 8 July, FOTA issued

19370-600: The teams to "hunt as a pack" through FOCA. He offered Formula One to circuit owners as a package they could take or leave. In return for the package, almost all that was required was to surrender trackside advertising. The formation of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) in 1979 set off the FISA–FOCA war , during which FISA and its president Jean-Marie Balestre argued repeatedly with FOCA over television revenues and technical regulations. The Guardian said that Ecclestone and Max Mosley "used [FOCA] to wage

19519-672: The technological advances of the 1990s, the cost of competing in Formula One increased dramatically, thus increasing financial burdens. This, combined with the dominance of four teams (largely funded by big car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz), caused the poorer independent teams to struggle not only to remain competitive but to stay in business. This effectively forced several teams to withdraw. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won five consecutive Drivers' Championships (2000–2004) and six consecutive Constructors' Championships (1999–2004). Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91, since beaten by Lewis Hamilton ), wins in

19668-606: The title. Some 50,000 people packed into the Daily Telegraph International and as the season came to an end Parker raised the lap record to 74.38 mph (119.70 km/h) (48.4secs). During 1953, the Universal Motor Racing Club was established, with a racing school set up at Brands Hatch. The Half Litre Club, later to become the British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC), ran many races throughout

19817-478: The track as well. Drivers from McLaren , Williams , Renault (formerly Benetton ), and Ferrari , dubbed the "Big Four", won every World Championship from 1984 to 2008 . The teams won every Constructors' Championship from 1979 to 2008 , as well as placing themselves as the top four teams in the Constructors' Championship in every season between 1989 and 1997 , and winning every race but one (the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix ) between 1988 and 1997 . Due to

19966-425: The wake behind the car turbulent or 'dirty'. This prevented other cars from following closely due to their dependence on 'clean' air to make the car stick to the track. The grooved tyres also had the unfortunate side effect of initially being of a harder compound to be able to hold the grooved tread blocks, which resulted in spectacular accidents in times of aerodynamic grip failure, as the harder compound could not grip

20115-416: The works MG MGB of John Rhodes and Warwick Banks . The British Grand Prix returned in 1966, the inaugural year of the 3-litre Formula One. The works Brabham- Repco BT19 were first and second in the hands of Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme; Brabham completed the 212-mile race in 2hrs 13mins 13.4secs (95.49 mph (153.68 km/h)) lapping everyone except Hulme in the process. Third was Graham Hill in

20264-642: Was Denny Hulme in a McLaren M7A , from Surtees in the Honda RA300 one lap down, and Jackie Stewart a further lap down in the Matra-Ford MS80 . Easter Monday 1969 saw another brainchild of John Webb and the BRSCC's Competitions Director Nick Syreett come to fruition. This was Formula 5000 which was based upon the American Formula A, the cars being single-seater chassis powered by American V8 and V6 stock-block engines of up to 5-litre capacity. The need for

20413-402: Was a very young Stirling Moss . The Half-Litre Car Club for 500cc Formula 3 organised that first race on 16 April, with 7,000 spectators coming to witness these cars complete in 10 races. Don Parker won the first race. Before the year was out, five meetings had been held, with the events running to a similar programme. The June meeting was a Moss benefit for he won all five races he entered in

20562-526: Was added in the 1958 season . Stirling Moss , despite being regarded as one of the greatest Formula One drivers in the 1950s and 1960s, never won the Formula One championship. Between 1955 and 1961, Moss finished second in the championship four times and third the other three times. Fangio won 24 of the 52 races he entered—still the record for the highest Formula One winning percentage by an individual driver. National championships existed in South Africa and

20711-525: Was adopted in the 2006 season. Known as "knock-out" qualifying, it is split into three periods, known as Q1, Q2, and Q3. In each period, drivers run qualifying laps to attempt to advance to the next period, with the slowest drivers being "knocked out" of qualification (but not necessarily the race) at the end of the period and their grid positions set within the rearmost five based on their best lap times. Drivers are allowed as many laps as they wish within each period. After each period, all times are reset, and only

20860-460: Was based on a Cooper F1 chassis. The British Grand Prix came to Kent in 1964 and was to be shared with Silverstone in alternate years until 1986. Also the race was given the courtesy title European Grand Prix and the management rose to the occasion. The date was 11 July, a cool and dry day which saw Jim Clark at his best in the Lotus 25 winning by 2.8secs from Graham Hill in the BRM P261 , who

21009-489: Was designed and constructed by Trevor Hopkins, a four-times British Rallycross Champion. Completed around 1981, the circuit spans approximately 0.9 mi (1.4 km). A notable feature is the starting point on the startline, followed by a right turn and descent on loose terrain at Paddock Hill Bend. After navigating the left-right Esses at the bottom, the circuit rejoins the Indy Circuit, leading up and around Druids hairpin. A 90-degree left turn through Langley's Gap and across

21158-537: Was driven to victory by Ayrton Senna in the Monaco Grand Prix that year. In the early 1990s, other teams followed suit and semi-automatic gearboxes and traction control were a natural progression. The FIA, due to complaints that technology was determining races' outcomes more than driver skill, banned many such aids for the 1994 season. This resulted in cars that previously depended on electronic aids becoming very "twitchy" and difficult to drive. Observers felt

21307-595: Was followed home by John Surtees in the V8 Ferrari 158 ; fourth and one lap down was Jack Brabham driving a car bearing his own name. A further lap down in fifth place was Lorenzo Bandini in the V6 Ferrari with Phil Hill taking the final World Championship point in a Cooper. The race average was 94.14 mph (151.50 km/h) and Clark set the fastest lap at 1min 38.8secs (96.5 mph (155.3 km/h)). The Motor Six Hours had its third and final running on 6 June (still

21456-501: Was now BOAC 1000 , but measured in kilometres, not miles, it was another Porsche benefit, the fearsome 917s taking the first three places from a 908; the first car home was the Pedro Rodríguez/ Leo Kinnunen car from Vic Elford/Denny Hulme and Richard Attwood/ Hans Herrmann . The 908 was driven by Gijs van Lennep and Hans Laine . The race was run over 235 laps at a speed of 92.15 mph (148.30 km/h). By 1971,

21605-508: Was run in two 40-lap heats with victory going to Jim Clark ( Lotus 33 ), while his teammate Mike Spence , won the second and taking the overall victory. The first 100 mph lap was set by Clark in 1min 35.4secs. The longest race ever run at the Kentish Circuit took place on 22/23 May, this being the Guards 1000 consisting of two 500-mile races for production saloon cars. The overall winner was

21754-508: Was the 500 Club and it, together with the owners, invested the sum of £17,000 on a tarmac surface. Thus Brands Hatch was born as a motor racing venue, and on 16 April 1950, the opening meeting was scheduled for the first purpose-built post-war racing circuit in England, approval having been given by the RAC following a demonstration by a handful of 500s in February. Amongst those giving the demonstration

21903-445: Was the public's response to the race (run in two 10-lap heats and a 40-lap final) that John Webb decided to make the race an annual event. The other great American victory was to come when the be-winged 7-litre Chaparral 2F -Chevrolet driven by Phil Hill and Mike Spence won the BOAC 500 run over 211 laps of the Grand Prix Circuit at an average speed of 93.08 mph (149.80 km/h), from

22052-411: Was to prove the death-knell of 500 cc racing. In January 1960, Kent County Council gave planning permission for the extension of Brands Hatch – an extension which would double the length of the track offering a choice of long or short circuits. The new 2.650 mi (4.265 km) track used, all of this existing one with the extension of Kidney Bend; South Bank became a long, uphill 160° sweep out into

22201-457: Was two laps behind, with Gerhard Mitter and Udo Schütz third. The International race calendar for 1970 opened with the Race of Champions . March Engineering made its Formula One-winning debut when Jackie Stewart won driving Ken Tyrrell's March- Cosworth 701. The British Grand Prix returned to Brands Hatch on 19 July and saw victory go to Jochen Rindt by less than 33 seconds from Jack Brabham, who had run out of fuel. The Austrian driver of

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