The first ever Formula 1 World Championship race took place at Silverstone, the home of motor racing, 60 years ago. That first race was run for the RAC by the British Racing Drivers Club, or as they are more commonly known the BRDC, of which Stirling is vice-president for life. He may not have taken part in this first ever Formula 1 race, however Stirling did watch it, as his hero and later team mate Juan Manual Fangio raced against the drivers of the day, which included Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli, Reg Parnell, all racing supercharged Alfa Romeo 158’s, and Prince Bira of Thailand in the #21 Maserati 4CLT-48.

For his own part, Stirling competed in the supporting 500cc race in a Cooper-JAP 500 Mk.IV. In his heat race he managed to take the victory flag, his 47th professional win, against Wing Commander Frank Aikens in the #41 Iota 500, see image above, and the Coopers of Bill Whitehouse and Alan Brown. In the 500cc race final, things did not go all his way, both Peter Collins and Aikens proved to be tough competitors. As Stirling recalls “in the closing stages, we were slip streaming each other like mad, doging and darting in all directions, but I just could not find a gap to squeeze past”. Eventually he had to settle for second place, 2.2 seconds behind Aikens after his Cooper JAP’s piston failed on the final corner, forcing him to coast over the finish line.

And so onto the main event; the first ever qualifying session of a Formula 1 World Championship race, which saw Farina qualify first with the other three Alfa’s of Fagioli, Fangio, and Parnell alongside him on the front row. Prince Bira made up the second row along with two factory Talbot-Lago’s. As with today’s modern Formula 1, that first grid was truly international, made up of 21 drivers from 9 different countries, including France, Italy, Belgium represented by Johnny Clase, see image above of his #18 Talbot-Lago, Ireland, Monaco, Argentina, Thailand, Switzerland and nine from the United Kingdom.

The race itself was watched by over 100,000 spectators, showing that even 60 years ago, watching a Formula 1 race at Silverstone held the same appeal then as it does now. At the start of the 70 lap race, on a circuit which bore corner names that feature on the modern version, Farina took the lead with Fagioli and Fangio in pursuit. During the early stages the lead was traded a number of times between the leading pack of three in their Alfa's, developing into a fascinating duel between Fangio and Farina in the #1 and #2 cars.

An oil leak on lap 62, caused by a broken oil pipe, forced Fangio to retire, much to the crowds dissappointment, allowing Farina to led Fagioli, in the #3 Alfa, see image above, home by 2.6 seconds with Parnell a distant third, 52 seconds down, despite hitting one of the infamous Silverstone hare's during the race. The nearest challenger to the dominant Alfa’s, was Giraud-Cabantous in the #14 Talbot-Lago two laps down, Bira’s Maserati having run out of fuel on lap 49 forcing him to retire.

Aside from watching that first F1 race with the thousands of other newly converted F1 fans, a memorable highlight for Stirling was being presented to the then King, His Majesty George VI, the first ever Royal visit to a Grand Prix. He remembers it being a “great day” as he stood nervously waiting in line alongside Peter Collins to be presented to the King and the Royal entourage. Stirling would not have to wait long before he too would go onto race in F1, his first race coming at the 1951 Swiss Grand Prix.

The biggest difference between that first F1 race in 1950 and the modern version is the style of racing, where the early cars aerodynamics, or lack of them, allowed the cars to race wheel to wheel. That said, parallels with modern F1 are obvious; huge trackside crowds, dominant teams, talented drivers, danger and reliability issues all combined to make the sport as appealing to its fans then as it does now, 60 years later. 

Enjoy this engrossing colour footage of the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1950 as Fangio goes wheel to wheel with Farina, to watch the complete 1950 race, a further three Grand Prix's from 1951, again all in colour, as well as races from 1953 and 1954, Duke have just released the new The Birth of Formula 1 DVD.