Silverstone is inextricably linked with Formula 1: the circuit staged the opening round of the inaugural world championship in 1950 and has been the exclusive home of the British Grand Prix since 1987.

The track is situated on a plateau, on the site of a former World War II bomber station and, despite several facelifts over the years, it still retains much of its original high-speed challenge. It was the scene of F1’s first 160mph qualifying lap [set by Keke Rosebrg in a Williams in 1985], and the middle section of the ‘new’ lap – Copse, Becketts and Stowe – remains one of the fastest and most revered stretches of racetrack anywhere in the world.