1949 British Grand Prix

The 1st British Grand Prix was a Formula 1 race and took place on May 14, 1949 on the Silverstone airfield circuit. It has not yet been conclusively clarified whether the event actually already had the status of Grande Épreuves this year . The race was held in accordance with the Formula 1 regulations (racing car without weight restrictions up to 1.5 liters displacement with compressor or up to 4.5 liters displacement without compressor; race distance at least 300 km or at least three hours of racing) over 100 laps of 4.828 km , which corresponded to a total distance of 482.8 km.

The winner was Emmanuel de Graffenried in a Maserati 4LCT / 48 , who achieved the only Grand Prix success of his career and the first victory of a Swiss racing driver in an official International Grand Prix .

run

Brooklands Racecourse had been the center of British motor racing for two decades because it was forbidden to race cars on public roads in mainland Britain. This was initially only possible on the offshore islands or in Northern Ireland, and because Brooklands was soon no longer considered to be worthy of a Grand Prix, the sports car race around the RAC Tourist Trophy (which, unlike the famous motorcycle race of the same name, was not on the Isle of Man , but on a racetrack near Newtownards in Northern Ireland ) soon became the most important annual racing event in the United Kingdom. Consequently, the British automobile club RAC made use of an exception to register the Tourist Trophy with the international automobile association AIACR as its own Grande Épreuve instead of its own national Grand Prix , which in this way was granted corresponding privileges in the preparation of the annual calendar of events. After Donington Park became a permanent racetrack in England, the Tourist Trophy found its new home here in the 1930s . At the same time, Grand Prix races were held there, but the RAC was reluctant to declare them as the official British Grands Prix and thereby withdraw the status of Grande Épreuve from the Tourist Trophy .

At the end of World War II , as everywhere in Europe, there was a rapid surge in demand for motorsport events in Great Britain. The problem, however, was that in the meantime, both Donington and Brooklands were no longer available as racing tracks because both areas had been rededicated for other purposes during the war. The events had to be limited to mountain races, sprint races, off-road driving, etc., until a suitable new venue for circuit races was found. The solution was to use the Silverstone military airfield that was no longer needed . After the great success of the first RAC International Grand Prix in October 1948 , more of the airfields that existed all over the country were quickly used in the same way, so that motor racing in Great Britain subsequently rose rapidly, which has given the country an international leading role to this day .

As before, however, the RAC stuck to anchoring the Tourist Trophy as the official Grande Épreuve in the international racing calendar, even if the attempts to revive the traditional event were not yet crowned with success. After the race had to be canceled again for 1949 shortly after the calendar was passed, the RAC finally managed to officially raise the event in Silverstone to the Grand Prix of Great Britain ( 1st British Grand Prix ). It has not yet been possible to conclusively clarify among automotive historians whether this also involved transport to the Grande Épreuve , but in practice it does not really play a role, because the purpose associated with this classification primarily served to prioritize in the appointment calendar.

Due to the short remaining time until the race, the continental European racing teams hardly had the opportunity to fundamentally adjust their season planning again, and because, as in the case of the Ferrari team, the entry fee offered did not meet the expectations either, the field settled down similarly to the one for the Ferrari team Last year's races were mainly made up of local participants, mainly on older ERA or Maserati models in the Voiturette category from the prewar period. With the British, it was often common for two drivers to share the financing of a racing car and then take turns at the wheel during the races.

Only a few French private drivers had come over from the mainland with their Lago-Talbot T26C . This model had been produced in small series at the Suresnes plant and, with its 4.5 liter naturally aspirated engine, was comparatively slow, but due to its reliability and the fact that the races could usually be driven through without refueling, it was sometimes quite suitable for a surprise success good.

The clear favorite of the race, however, was Luigi Villoresi with the Maserati 4CLT / 48 "San Remo" from Scuderia Ambrosiana , which acted as a kind of unofficial factory racing team for Maserati . The team had also signed agreements with British privateers Reginald Parnell and Fred Ashmore , who nominally competed under the Scuderia's application, in order to avoid the high British import duties on the import of racing cars. Two more San Remo Maseratis have also been registered by the Italian Enrico Platé's private racing stable for the Siamese driver Prince Bira and the Swiss Baron Emmanuel de Graffenried . Maserati's racing cars were usually handy and fast, but often poorly maintained and the teams were often poorly organized, so that the defect rate was correspondingly high.

Ferrari was not at the start at the factory, but was represented with the two privately registered Ferrari 125 GPC customer vehicles from Peter Whitehead / Dudley Folland and Raymond Mays / Ken Richardson . In the latter, it was a car that the British industrialist Tony Vander well as a demonstration for the initiated Mays coming BRM - National race car had been procured. After the BRM was not ready for racing, however, the Ferrari was now launched under the product name of Vanderwell's plain bearings as a Thinwall Special in order to gain racing experience. Ferrari's first Formula 1 model, however, suffered from poor weight distribution and a wheelbase that was too short, so that the drivers had to struggle more with the driving characteristics of the cars than with their opponents.

In the race, the Maserati quartet of “Bira”, Villoresi, de Graffenried and Parnell took the lead right from the start, with Villoresi taking over from the Siamese prince at the top in the third lap. However, his Italian brand companion did not shake him off and when Villoresi fell back with engine problems after his pit stop on lap 22, he came back in front. "Bira" looked like the sure winner for a long time, but in the 47th lap he touched the barrier in the chicane in front of Club Corner after a driving error and had to give up afterwards with a defective steering. Parnell was in the lead at half-time, but he too could not enjoy the lead in his home race for long and went to the pits with misfires on lap 53. In the same lap, the Briton John Bolster had a serious accident with his outdated ERA , from the consequences of which he never fully recovered. After the car went off the track due to a fault in the power transmission, the driver, who had stalled under the car, had to wait half an hour for medical care to arrive.

With de Graffenried, the fourth Maserati driver was already in the lead, who, given his more than three-minute lead over his first rival, ERA pilot Bob Gerard - this result also represented the greatest success of the Grand Prix for the British brand. History - but was able to adopt a material-friendly driving style in order to bring his first and only Grand Prix victory home safely. In the last section of the race there was another accident when the relatively inexperienced Richardson - clearly overwhelmed by the problematic driving behavior of the Thinwall Special - lost control of the car and got into the audience. With luck, only five people were injured.

Remarks

↑ In the racing calendar originally adopted by the FIA, the RAC Tourist Trophy was initially listed as the traditional Grande Épreuve of the British automobile club RAC , as usual . However, after this event had again been canceled prematurely, it is possible that this status was transferred to the British Grand Prix - which was still run under the title of a Grand Prix of the RAC in the previous year - which had been renamed accordingly for this purpose . On the other hand, such an action would actually have contradicted the real meaning behind the classification as Grande Épreuve , the real purpose of which was to take precedence in determining the appointment calendar. Until the facts have been finally clarified, the Grand Prix of Great Britain will be listed as Grande Épreuve at this point .
↑ As with the previous model , the official type designation was still 4CL , the designation as 4CLT / 48 was only introduced later in the literature for better differentiation, but has since become generally accepted.
↑ www.gilcodesign.com (accessed January 21, 2020)

[1] In the racing calendar originally adopted by the FIA, the RAC Tourist Trophy was initially listed as the traditional Grande Épreuve of the British automobile club RAC , as usual . However, after this event had again been canceled prematurely, it is possible that this status was transferred to the British Grand Prix - which was still run under the title of a Grand Prix of the RAC in the previous year - which had been renamed accordingly for this purpose . On the other hand, such an action would actually have contradicted the real meaning behind the classification as Grande Épreuve , the real purpose of which was to take precedence in determining the appointment calendar. Until the facts have been finally clarified, the Grand Prix of Great Britain will be listed as Grande Épreuve at this point .

[2] As with the previous model , the official type designation was still 4CL , the designation as 4CLT / 48 was only introduced later in the literature for better differentiation, but has since become generally accepted.

[3] www.gilcodesign.com (accessed January 21, 2020)