Three-quarters of a century ago, a new era of motorsport roared into life on a former RAF airfield in the English countryside. This weekend, Formula 1 returns to Silverstone — the birthplace of the championship — for a landmark celebration of speed, innovation and endurance.
The drivers lining up today possess the same nerve and precision as those early trailblazers who took the grid in 1950. But the machines they command are almost unrecognisable — transformed by decades of engineering evolution, safety advances and growing environmental scrutiny.
As F1 marks its 75th anniversary, the Financial Times examines the sport’s dramatic transformation — from postwar improvisation to cutting-edge global spectacle — through the shifting landscape of car design and regulation.