5 The modern era begins

The first race to count towards the new World Championship of Drivers was held at Silverstone in May 1950, and it was a royal occasion. King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth were there, having taken the royal train to Brackley, where a fleet of limousines was waiting for them – they completed a ceremonial lap at the stately speed of 20mph.

There wasn’t much else to be patriotic about. The new BRM V16 wasn’t ready, and even if it had been it wouldn’t have provided much opposition to the Alfas. The Italian team comfortably secured the first four grid spots courtesy of Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli, Juan Manuel Fangio and Reg Parnell. Come the race, Farina and Fangio eased away from the field; when the latter retired with eight laps to go, Farina was left to take victory and would go on to become the sport’s inaugural World Champion. Anorak fact Details of prize money were published in the programme – Farina got £500 for his efforts