Gerald Donaldson: SILVERSTONE 1950: The First Grand Prix For The World Championship.

The Farina (#2) and Fagioli (#3) Alfettas finished one-two in the historic event (autosport.com photo)

In 1950 the big news in international motorsport was that single-seater competition at the highest level would henceforth be formally organised into an annual series of Grand Prix races for the World Championship. Though a championship of sorts had first taken place in 1925 (and was won by Alfa Romeo), it was for national makes of Grand Prix cars rather than drivers. The new series, while still very much a showcase for national automotive prestige (and a Constructors' Championship would begin in 1958), would put less emphasis on the machines and more on those who drove them.

The governing body of motorsport, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), based in Paris, established a mechanical formula for the cars, limiting engine capacities to 1.5 liters supercharged or 4.5 liters unsupercharged. The Formula 1 cars, as they were known, would in 1950 compete in seven international Grands Prix, each one in a different country at a road racing venue with a tradition of staging major motorsport events. Though the series was naturally heavily biased towards Europe, where cars were invented and where motorsport began in the late 1800's, the FIA made a token gesture to the New World by including the USA's famed Indianapolis 500 in the first decade of the championship. But this 500-mile race, held on an oval track and contested by purpose-built cars using special engines, was destined to remain very much an insular American affair, with only occasional crossovers between the two disciplines.

The inaugural world championship race was scheduled to be held at the British circuit of Silverstone in an event entitled the Grand Prix of Europe (though it soon became known as the British Grand Prix), which would be followed by the Monaco Grand Prix run through the streets of Monte Carlo, the Indianapolis 500, the Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten, the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, the French Grand Prix at Reims and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. At each race points would be awarded to the drivers on the basis of 8 for first place, 6 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth and 2 for fifth place, with 1 point given to the driver setting the fastest race lap. At the end of the season the scores would be added up and the overall winner would be officially declared the 1950 World Drivers' Champion.

With Europe still recovering from the devastation of the war the first entrants in the new championship would have to use updated pre-war machinery that conformed to the Formula 1 requirements. In France, Talbot and Gordini cars were available, while in Italy Maserati and Alfa Romeo had suitable cars. While Ferrari was preparing cars for the new series, they were as yet an unknown quantity, unlike the team's driving strength, which featured three drivers with excellent track records: Ascari, Villoresi and Sommer. Alfa Romeo, following the fatal accidents that claimed the lives of its top drivers, Varzi in 1948 and Wimille in 1949, and the recent death from cancer of Count Trossi, was now in search of suitable candidates for cars that the Italian manufacturer felt sure were capable of winning the new championship. In fact, though the 1.5 liter, twin-supercharged, 8-cylinder-engined Tipo 158 Alfettas were first designed in 1937, they had been nearly unbeatable whenever they appeared in post-war competition.

The Alfa Romeo directors decided to enter a team of three cars, which preferably should be driven by Italians. The best available were Guiseppe Farina and the pre-war star Luigi Fagioli, both of whom were promptly signed to contracts. For its third driver, Alfa decided to pursue the Argentine newcomer Juan Manuel Fangio, whose ancestry after all was Italian, and whose Italian-based racing team was named after the great Achille Varzi. Moreover, and most importantly, this Fangio in his recent performances had demonstrated that he was capable of acquitting himself well against the world's best drivers. Besides, the publicity-conscious Alfa Romeo hierarchy decided, a lineup of Farina, Fagioli and Fangio - 'the Three F's' - had a nice ring to it.

Given the significance of the Grand Prix of Europe the British venue at Silverstone, about 70 miles north of London, seemed somewhat nondescript compared to the better-known European tracks, which tended to have more distinguishing characteristics as well as a longer tradition of racing. In the war Silverstone's flat, featureless terrain had served as an RAF bomber base and from the airfield's windswept concrete runways a 4.649km road course had been fashioned (mainly with haybales and oil drums) on which the Formula 1 cars would perform. The entry list was for the most part also rather rag-tag, consisting mainly of privately-entered and well-used Maseratis and Talbots, as well as several British-built ERA and Alta cars driven by amateurs. In light of this the official Alfa Romeo team, with its powerful engines developing over 330bhp and its driving strength of Farina, Fagioli and Fangio augmented by a fourth car for the Englishman Reg Parnell, was expected to dominate.

Before the start, on Sunday 13 May, 1950, the drivers were presented to the British Royal Family, whose sporting interests were mostly confined to horsepower of a non-motorised variety, but whose presence at the race signified its importance to the country. King George V1 and his smiling Queen, together with their young daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, showed a keen interest in the drivers and the King exchanged a few words with most of them. When Fangio's turn came George VI asked a question to which Juan responded with a "No spik English, spik Italian, spik Spanish," answer that led to an embarrassing pause in the proceedings. To retrieve the awkward situation, Juan turned to the interpreter and told him to tell His Majesty that he didn't have to speak to be able to drive fast. The amusing remark raised a right royal chortle.

For once even the fickle British weather rose to the occasion and the Grand Prix took place in pleasant Spring sunshine in front of 150,000 enthusiastic spectators. As a race it was more of a demonstration run for the Alfettas, with the Three F's taking turns leading, followed by Parnell. With eight laps to go the front-running foursome was reduced to a trio, when an oil pipe broke on the second-placed Fangio car and it retired in a cloud of smoke. Thus it was that Farina, Fagioli and Parnell were the first drivers to stand on the podium in the first race for the Formula 1 World Championship.

- Excerpt from FANGIO, The Life Behind The Legend

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fangio-Behind-Legend-Gerald-Donaldson/dp/0753518279

Geoffrey Crossley, a private entrant who started 17^th and completed 43 laps, had a backmarker’s view of the proceedings…

“I towed my car behind a wartime Chev truck I’d bought at an army disposal sale. The fact that Silverstone was the first round of the new World Championship didn’t really affect us. In fact,I don’t think we even knew about it. The Alfas were in a race of their own – they were at least eight seconds a lap faster than the British cars, so they came past us every 15 laps or so. After the Continental races there would be a big gala dinner for the drivers and teams. After Silverstone we all just went to the beer tent.”

Results of the first F1 World Championship Grand Prix(from the Grand Prix Guide, by Jacques Deschenaux)…