The 1950 British Grand Prix, formally known as The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix,

The 70-lap race was won by Nino Farina for the Alfa Romeo team, after starting from pole position, with a race time of 2:13:23.6 and an average speed of 146.378 km/h (90.955 mph). Luigi Fagioli finished second in another Alfa Romeo, and Reg Parnell third in a third Alfa Romeo. It was also the designated European Grand Prix for the year, making it the 11th time the circuit has held the title since the first race in 1923.

The race was also supported by an international 500cc Formula Three race the same weekend, which was won by Stirling Moss driving a Cooper-JAP. There was also a demonstration run for the BRM P15, which was due to enter the sport later in the year. The race was attended by George VI, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and the Earl & Countess Mountbatten of Burma,

Entries

thumb|Maserati 4CLT/48

thumb|Alfa Romeo Alfetta 158

thumb|Talbot-Lago T26C

24 drivers were entered for the first race with them competing in 22 different cars. The numbers 7 and 13 were not assigned. The biggest absence was the Scuderia Ferrari who would not compete in the opening race with Enzo Ferrari not sending any cars to Britain with the team debuting at the next round in Monaco, due to the small amount of appearance money the organisers were willing to pay him to participate.

This meant that Alfa Romeo were favourites with their four drivers Farina, Fangio, Fagioli, and British driver, Reg Parnell,

Talbot-Lago sent over two factory cars in the traditional French pale blue colour to be driven by Yves Giraud-Cabantous and Eugène Martin. Other private Talbots were entered by Louis Rosier, Philippe Étancelin, and Belgian Johnny Claes in a car painted in Belgium's national yellow colour. The rest of the field was made up of local machinery, which included four ERAs and two Altas in British racing green.

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: – Luigi Fagioli qualified and drove all 70 laps of the race in the #3 Alfa Romeo. Gianbattista Guidotti, named substitute driver for the car, was not used at the Grand Prix.

: – Peter Walker qualified and drove 2 laps of the race in the #9 ERA. Tony Rolt took over the car for 3 laps of the race.

: – Joe Fry qualified and drove 45 laps of the race in the #10 Maserati. Brian Shawe-Taylor took over the car for 19 laps of the race.

Qualifying

Qualifying took place on Friday and saw the Alfa Romeos end up on the front row of the grid as Farina claimed the first pole position in the history of Formula One with a time of 1:50.8. Fagioli and Fangio and Parnell would fill the remaining spots on the front row of the grid. Prince Bira was the fastest non-Alfa, 1.8 seconds back with the two Talbot's cars filling in the second row.

Qualifying classification

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Time

|-

! 1

| 2

| data-sort-value="far"| Nino Farina

| Alfa Romeo

| 1:50.8

|-

! 2

| 3

| data-sort-value="fag"| Luigi Fagioli

| Alfa Romeo

| 1:51.0

|-

! 3

| 1

| data-sort-value="fan"| Juan Manuel Fangio

| Alfa Romeo

| 1:51.2

|-

! 4

| 4

| data-sort-value="par"| Reg Parnell

| Alfa Romeo

| 1:52.2

|-

! 5

| 21

| data-sort-value="bir"| Prince Bira

| Maserati

| 1:52.6

|-

! 6

| 14

| data-sort-value="gir"| Yves Giraud-Cabantous

| Talbot-Lago-Talbot

| 1:53.4

|-

! 7

| 17

| data-sort-value="mar"| Eugène Martin

| Talbot-Lago-Talbot

| 1:55.4

|-

! 8

| 20

| data-sort-value="gra"| Toulo de Graffenried

| Maserati

| 1:55.8

|-

! 9

| 15

| data-sort-value="ros"| Louis Rosier

| Talbot-Lago-Talbot

| 1:56.0

|-

! 10

| 9

| data-sort-value="wal"| Peter Walker

| ERA

| 1:56.6

|-

! 11

| 19

| data-sort-value="chi"| Louis Chiron

| Maserati

| 1:56.6

|-

! 12

| 8

| data-sort-value="joh"| Leslie Johnson

| ERA

| 1:57.4

|-

! 13

| 12

| data-sort-value="ger"| Bob Gerard

| ERA

| 1:57.4

|-

! 14

| 16

| data-sort-value="eta"| Philippe Étancelin

| Talbot-Lago-Talbot

| 1:57.8

|-

! 15

| 11

| data-sort-value="har"| Cuth Harrison

| ERA

| 1:58.4

|-

! 16

| 6

| data-sort-value="hamp"| David Hampshire

| Maserati

| 2:01.0

|-

! 17

| 24

| data-sort-value="cro"| Geoffrey Crossley

| Alta

| 2:02.6

|-

! 18

| 5

| data-sort-value="mur"| David Murray

| Maserati

| 2:05.6

|-

! 19

| 23

| data-sort-value="kel"| Joe Kelly

| Alta

| 2:06.2

|-

! 20

| 10

| data-sort-value="fry"| Joe Fry

| Maserati

| 2:07.0

|-

! 21

| 18

| data-sort-value="cla"| Johnny Claes

| Talbot-Lago-Talbot

| 2:08.8

|-

!data-sort-value="22"|

|7

|data-sort-value="hami"| Duncan Hamilton

|Maserati

|data-sort-value="3:08.8"|–

|-

! data-sort-value="22"|

| 22

| data-sort-value="bon"| Felice Bonetto

| Maserati

| data-sort-value="3:08.8"|–

|-

! colspan="5" |Source:

|}

Race

On 13 May, 21 drivers from nine countries were represented at the old Silverstone airport, four from France, two from Italy, and one each from Belgium, Ireland, Monaco, Argentina, Thailand and Switzerland. The UK was represented by 9 drivers. The race drew 200,000 spectators. The cars drew up in a 4-3-4 formation. At the start of the race, Farina took the lead with Fagioli and Fangio in pursuit, while Cabantous got a poor start and lost four positions. In the early laps, they switched around between themselves several times to keep everyone amused. Fangio retired with engine troubles caused by a broken oil pipe (possibly due to clipping a straw bale) and so Farina led Fagioli home by 2.5 seconds with Parnell a distant third, despite hitting a hare during the race which caused a significant dent in the cowling of the British driver’s car.

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;Notes

  • – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
  • – Joe Fry drove car #10 for the first 45 laps, then Brian Shawe-Taylor took over for 19 laps for a total of 64 laps.
  • – Peter Walker drove car #9 for 2 laps, then Tony Rolt drove for an additional 3 laps, totaling 5 laps.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Pos

! Driver

! Points

|-

|align="center"| 1

| Nino Farina

|align="right"| 9

|-

|align="center"| 2

| Luigi Fagioli

|align="right"| 6

|-

|align="center"| 3

| Reg Parnell

|align="right"| 4

|-

|align="center"| 4

| Yves Giraud-Cabantous

|align="right"| 3

|-

|align="center"| 5

| Louis Rosier

|align="right"| 2

|-

!colspan="3" |Source:

|}

References

  • BBC newsreel of the event
  • Digital scan of programme