Racing through history: 75 years of F1
Join us in celebrating 75 years of Formula One, where speed, danger, and rivalry have captivated fans worldwide since 1950.
Image: Italian Giuseppe Farina in the closing stage of the British Grand Prix in 1950 | PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
In May 1950, spectators and royalty flocked to a draughty former RAF airfield in Northamptonshire to witness the birth of a new world championship. Those in attendance, including King George VI and the Queen Mother, could never have imagined just how big the sport would become by 2025.
But today, Formula One is a global sporting phenomenon that thrills over 800 million people – a number that continues to grow with every passing year. It’s not hard to understand why. Since its inception, few other sports have come close to matching its intoxicating combination of speed, danger, human drama, scandal, and glamour.
At Sky HISTORY, we love exploring sports history – and there’s no better time to take a look back at how F1 has evolved through the decades. Join us as we take you on a journey from race one to the present day.
The birth of a sport
Technically, it’s not historically accurate to say that F1 began in 1950. Grand Prix racing had existed in one form or another since 1906, with the British Grand Prix having first been held in 1926.
However, it wouldn’t be for another 20 years until the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (better known as the FIA) first defined the ‘International Formula’. This was a set of regulations designed to attract the best drivers and teams in single-seater racing.
The first Formula One race was, in fact, held in 1947 in the French city of Pau and won by a driver called Cirillo Pagani. But what is considered the birth of the sport as it is known today was the start of the new world championship for drivers.
The beginning of the world championship was a momentous occasion. 24 drivers were entered for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone – with the entry list even featuring a member of the Thai royal family, Prince Bira.
Despite the strong entry list, there was little competition for the dominant Alfa Romeo team. Their four drivers locked out the first four starting positions on the grid and were unchallenged throughout the 70-lap race. Italian driver Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina would lead for 63 laps and claim a famous victory by just over 2.5 seconds from team mate, and fellow Italian, Luigi Fagioli.
Of the seven races that season, Alfa Romeo drivers would win six. The honours would be split evenly between Farina and Argentinian team mate Juan Manuel Fangio, with Farina prevailing to become the first world champion by just three points. Eight were available for a victory. It set the stage nicely for years of drama, excitement and often tragedy that were to follow.
While Farina won the first championship, the 1950s would belong to Fangio. ‘El Maestro’, as he was nicknamed, would win five championships between 1951 and 1957 – a record that would stand for 46 years.
Image: F1 cars compete in the Singapore Grand Prix in 2024 | Michael Potts F1 / Shutterstock.com
Technological innovation and British champions
Formula One has always been synonymous with fierce competition and technical innovation. And it didn’t take long after 1950 for the cars to rapidly start changing.
Engines began to be placed at the rear of cars, rather than at the front. They would develop aeroplane-inspired front and rear wings to improve cornering speeds. Eventually, they even started appearing in the colours of sponsors rather than national racing colours – a particularly controversial development.
The early years saw many legendary drivers. Stirling Moss was Britain’s first star driver, but missed out on winning the championship despite coming close on numerous occasions. Instead, the country had to wait till 1958 for its first world champion – Mike Hawthorn, driving for the famous prancing horse of Ferrari.
He would be followed in quick succession by three others. Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart would define much of the 60s and early 70s, winning seven championships between them.
Throughout it all, the sport remained highly dangerous. Drivers – and sometimes even spectators – were killed in dreadful accidents. One particular tragedy occurred at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, where driver Wolfgang von Trips and 15 spectators died.
Even double champion Clark, considered by his peers to be one of the greatest drivers the sport had seen, would be killed in an accident in 1968. But for many fans and some drivers, the risk involved was part of the appeal.
Iconic moments and legendary races
The sport continued to grow in popularity throughout the 60s as more races began to be televised, often described by the legendary commentator Murray Walker. But it wouldn’t be until the 70s that it really enjoyed mainstream popularity.
The decade brought unforgettable moments, like the fierce competition between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, which culminated in the dramatic 1976 season. Lauda’s near-fatal crash at the fearsome Nürburgring and his miraculous return just six weeks later to challenge Hunt for the title became the stuff of legend.
Television audiences were captivated, and F1 established itself as a global spectacle. Iconic races, such as Gilles Villeneuve’s wheel-to-wheel battle with René Arnoux at Dijon in 1979, demonstrated the bravery and skill of the drivers.
Meanwhile, the glamour of Monaco and the challenge of circuits like Spa and Monza cemented F1’s reputation as the pinnacle of motorsport.
Fierce rivalries, controversies and scandals
What makes Formula One so appealing? For many, it’s the human drama of its rivalries – and the sport has witnessed plenty over the decades.
Perhaps the most famous of all was the tempestuous rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost during the late 1980s and early 1990s. From 1988, the pair battled for supremacy as team mates at the dominant McLaren team. But it is their two championship-deciding collisions in 1989 and 1990 – both occurring at that season’s Japanese Grand Prix – that have gone down in sports folklore.
Following Senna’s death at Imola in 1994, Michael Schumacher took over the mantle of F1’s biggest star. Throughout his storied career, he would delight and dismay fans in equal measure.
Controversial collisions with title rivals in 1994 and 1997 would dent his reputation. Yet Schumacher would still go on to become the sport’s most successful driver after winning an unprecedented seventh title – and fifth in succession – in 2004.
Formula One was no stranger to controversy throughout the 2000s. Events such as the 2005 United States Grand Prix – where only six out of 20 cars raced due to tyre safety concerns – left an unpleasant taste.
So too did the race fixing scandal of 2008, in which Renault ordered one of their drivers to crash deliberately at that year’s Singapore Grand Prix. It was arguably the worst cheating scandal in sports history.
Yet despite these moments, there were many more of unbelievable sporting drama. Lewis Hamilton’s last lap overtake to win his first championship at the final race of 2008 continues to be remembered as one of F1’s most incredible moments.
The modern era
As the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have battled for championships, Formula One has witnessed an astonishing boom in interest. It’s now more popular than ever before. Drivers boast social media followings in the millions, teams are valued in the billions and races around the world regularly attract hundreds of thousands of fans.
Fuelled by social media and the smash-hit success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, the sport has captured the imagination of a new generation, including growing numbers of young and female fans.
What was once seen as a sport that only appealed to men now has a demographic that is increasingly diverse, with women reportedly comprising 41% of the total fan base.
Over 1,100 races later, it’s a sport that’s unrecognisable from that first race at Silverstone in 1950. But while the cars and tracks have changed, the thrill and spectacle that hooked fans from the start remains.
Such is the pace of change, it’s impossible to say what F1 will look like in another 75 years – but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it’s even bigger and more popular.
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