British Grand Prix: List of Reigning and the Past Champions

One of the oldest F1 World Championship Grands Prix in the Formula One calendar along with the Italian GP is the British GP that has been conducted every year since 1950. Though the roots of the British GP stand in the 1920s, the first officially recognized British GP race was held in 1948.

The 2019 British Grand Prix will mark the 70th edition of World Championship event, and the race is scheduled to take place on 14 July. The racer who will be entering the 10th round of the 2019 F1 World Championship as the defending champion is Sebastian Vettel.

When was the First British GP Held?

The first official British GP was conducted in 1948 and the champion of the inaugural season’s race was awarded the British GP Trophy. The race was held at the Silverstone Circuit and the racer who lifted the first British GP trophy was the Italian racer Luigi Villoresi.

It was Villoresi’s first and only British GP title and the winning constructor of the season was Maserati. The following year in 1949, the Swiss driver Emmanuel de Graffenried raced with Maserati and won the British GP title that marked Maserati’s second consecutive win in the race.

The British Grand Prix 1926

The 1926 Grand Prix season conducted 5 World Championship Grands Prix namely, Indianapolis 500, French GP, European GP, British GP, and Italian GP. It was the 2nd edition of the AIACR World Manufacturers’ Championship that was won by Bugatti, having won 3 of the 5 races.

The 1926 British GP was held at the Brooklands circuit and the racers who were crowned as the winners of the season were Louis Wagner and Robert Senechal, which was their only British GP title. Constructor Delage was the first to win the title who also won in 1927 with the racer Robert Benoist.

50th British Grand Prix

Jacques Villeneuve celebrates as he defends his British Grand Prix Title in 1997.

Since 1948, which is the first officially recognized season of the British GP, the 50th season of the event was held in 1997 at the Silverstone. For the 33rd time, the event was held at Silverstone and the defending Canadian champion Jacques Villeneuve, successfully defended his title in 1997.

It was his second consecutive win at the British GP and was also his last win of the event. He drove with Williams-Renault and it was the constructor’s last British GP win, having won 5 times before Villeneuve’s 1997 title. Along with Villeneuve, 9 more racers have won the title twice.

Who Won the British GP 2018?

Sebastian Vettel won his second British Grand Prix title in 2018.

The 2018 British Grand Prix was held at the Silverstone Circuit for the 53rd time and the defending champion of the title was the British racing driver Lewis Hamilton. He was on a 4 consecutive British GP win but he failed to defend his title as the 2018 British GP was won by the German racer, Sebastian Vettel.

This was Vettel’s second British GP title with his first title having won in 2009. Vettel recorded the fastest lap of 1:30.696 on lap 47 in the 2018 British GP. With Vettel’s win in 2018, Ferrari held on to the record with the most constructor wins at the British GP with 16 titles to their name.

How many British GP has Hamilton won?

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is the home race for Lewis Hamilton, who has managed to win the title for a record of 5 times. His first title came in with the McLaren Mercedes during the 2008 FIA F1 World Championship, which was followed by Vettel’s first victory with Red Bull-Renault.

Hamilton’s next victory came in 2014 with Mercedes and he went on to defend the title 4 consecutive times. The 2017 British Grand Prix was his recent win and on lap 48, the fastest lap of 1:30.621 was recorded by him. Hamilton will enter the 2019 British GP race with a 31 point lead over his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Who has won the British GP 5 Times?

The record of the most titles won at the British GP was initially set by the British F1 racer Jim Clark who won the title 4 consecutive times since 1962. He won the 5th title with a year’s break in 1967 which was also his last title of the British race. This winning streak was once again picked up by the French racer Alain Prost.

1983 British Grand Prix was Alain Prost’s first title and his recent win was in 1993. He claimed the title 5 times, with two back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. After Prost, the racer to repeat the record is Lewis Hamilton who might break the record if he wins the 2019 British GP for a record of 6th time.

Check out Hamilton’s First British GP Win in 2008.

Is Nigel Mansell the only Driver with 4 British GP titles?

Since the inception of the British GP, many professional racers have been a part of the event and have claimed the title more than once. The first racer to record two consecutive wins was the Italian racer Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953, which was once against repeated by Jacques Villeneuve in 1996 and 1997.

A record of holding 3 titles to their names was set by 3 racers – Brabham, Lauda, and Schumacher. The only racer who has won 4 titles is the British former racing driver Nigel Mansell. He won the title 2 consecutive times in 1986 and 1987, followed by titles in 1991 and 1992.

The table below shows the Drivers with more than 2 British GP titles.

Similarly, the Constructors with more than 2 British GP titles are tabled below.

Winners of British Grand Prix

The current champion of the British GP is Sebastian Vettel. Since 1948, the British Grand Prix trophy has been won by 22 drivers and of the 22 drivers, 12 were British drivers. The British Grand Prix Champions of all-time with the years in which they won the race is mentioned in the table below.