F1 has celebrating its 75th anniversary as the first-ever grand prix took place on May 13 of 1950 at Silverstone.
At 15:00 on 13 May 1950, the cars raced off the line to start the very first Formula 1 World Championship at Silverstone, UK. The event, part of a seven-race series at the time, set in motion 75 years of excitement, drama, and innovation, which have led to the truly global sporting phenomenon we know today.
To mark the 75th anniversary of this historic occasion, Formula 1 has released restored and colourised footage of the first race so fans can witness a moment in history brought to life like never before. A team of experts at Formula 1 have expertly brought the race footage and a historic news reel to life, showing the victory by Italy’s Giuseppe “Nino” Farina in the Alfa Romeo in vibrant colour and giving new perspective to the making of the first Formula 1 World Drivers Champion, which will forever stand as a milestone in world sport.
Using advanced AI software, reference imagery, and manual painting techniques, the process painstakingly implants the original colours of the scene onto the moving imagery, bringing to life the people and surroundings of that day. Specific elements such as the sky, grass, cars, and faces are electronically painted manually to truly bring the scene to life, using images of the cars and subjects, and F1 archive footage, to ensure accuracy.
The release of this footage is part of a day of celebration from Formula 1, which also includes a 24hr YouTube stream featuring 7 full classic races, highlights from across the decades, and the drivers and team principals from the current F1 grid reflecting on their earliest memories of the sport.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: “75 years ago today our sport roared to life, and we are privileged to continue the incredible legacy of the brave drivers who raced for the ultimate prize on this day in 1950. It is fantastic to see this footage brought to life in full colour, and an amazing way to mark this historic moment.
“Today is a day when we can pay tribute to those who have come before us; drivers, engineers, team owners and of course, our fans, without whom we would not be in the position we are today. For 75 years we have innovated and driven the world forward, exciting our fans with feats of human endurance and speed that continue to amaze. Here is to the next 75 years and beyond for this incredible sport. Avanti Tutta!”
Stats from F1 –
75 years of Formula 1 in numbers:
- 1,131 Grands Prix.
- 787 drivers started a Formula 1 Grand Prix, from 41 countries.
- 151 of the 787 drivers have represented the US, 148 from the UK, and 85 from Italy.
- 34 different F1 Drivers’ Champions.
- 115 different F1 Grand Prix winners.
- 216 podium finishers.
- 107 different polesitters.
- 77 circuits across 34 countries.
- 11 circuits appeared only once on the F1 Calendar (Casablanca, Berlin, Dallas, Donington, Le Mans, Monsanto, Mugello, Pescara, Riverside, Sebring, Zeltweg).
- 363,956.169km driven since the 1950 British Grand Prix (through to the 2025 Miami Grand Prix), which is equivalent to: 9 times around the Earth; 17 days of non-stop flying of an airplane at 900km/h; 152 days of non-stop driving at 100km/h; 95% of the way to the Moon.
- 9 tyre makers.
- Age statistics: Max Verstappen is the youngest driver to win a race, aged 18 years, 7 months, and 15 days at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix; Luigi Fagioli is the oldest driver to win a Grand Prix at 53 years and 22 days in the 1951 French Grand Prix; The record for the youngest driver to lead a race was broken this year in Japan, when Kimi Antonelli led at the Suzuka Circuit at 18 years, 7 months and 12 days. Previously, Max Verstappen held the record, after leading the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix at 18 years, 7 months and 15 days; The oldest driver to lead a race was also Luis Fagioli at 52 years and 9 days, which strangely, came a year before his record for the oldest race winner. This is because Fagioli was credited with a race win, alongside Fangio in the 1951 French Grand Prix when Fangio replaced Fagioli, taking control of his car in the middle of the Grand Prix, which was running midfield, before Fangio went on to claim the victory; Sebastian Vettel is the youngest driver to win a World Championship, aged 23 years, 4 months and 11 days; Juan Manuel Fangio is the oldest, at 46 years, 1 month, and 11 days; Max Verstappen is the youngest driver to ever start a race at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix aged 17 years, 5 month and 13 days; Louis Chiron from Monaco is the oldest driver to start a Formula 1 race, when he competed in his home Grand Prix at 55 years, 9 months and 19 days; The youngest driver to qualify on pole position for a Grand Prix is Sebastian Vettel at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull, aged 21 years, 2 months and 11 days, whilst the oldest pole position came from Italian Nino Farina at the 1954 Argentinian Grand Prix, aged 47 years, 2 months and 18 days; The youngest average age of a Formula 1 podium was at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, and Carlos Sainz made up the top three, with an average age of 23 years, 8 months and 23 days. The oldest average age of an F1 podium is 46 years, 8 months and 20 days, when Nino Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Louis Rosier made up the top three at the Grand Prix in Switzerland in 1950.
- Highlights from history: Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso is the longest serving driver in Formula 1 history, having competed in the sport for 24 years and 2 months, with his debut coming in the 2001 Australia Grand Prix, alongside starting the most races in the sport – a staggering 407. Michael Schumacher is the second longest serving driver after 21 years and 3 months in the sport, followed by Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen who raced for 20 years, 9 months and 8 days; The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza has hosted the record number of Grands Prix in Formula 1 with 74, followed by Circuit de Monaco hosting 70, and Silverstone with 59 races since the inaugural year; Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton holds the record for number of wins in the sport’s 75-year history, with an incredible 105 Grand Prix victories, followed by Michael Schumacher who claimed 91 wins in his career, and Max Verstappen who is currently on 64. Hamilton and Schumacher both hold the record for the number of Driver Championships, winning 7 titles each. Juan Manuel Fangio has the next highest total of Championship wins, with 5; Lewis Hamilton has produced some memorable moments at his home race in Silverstone, breaking the record for the most wins from a driver at one circuit with 9, after his victory in 2024 at the circuit. Hamilton also holds the record for the most podiums from a driver at one circuit, claiming 15 at Silverstone; In Formula 1’s history, the podium combination that has been seen the most often features Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen, with all three appearing on the podium together 20 times; Jan Lammers holds the record for having the longest gap between two F1 race starts, with a period of 10 years, 3 months and 22 days between his participation in the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix and the 1992 Japanese Grand Prix; The longest interval between two Formula 1 race wins from a driver is 6 years, 6 months and 28 days, a record held by Riccardo Patrese who until the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix, hadn’t won a race since the 1983 South African Grand Prix; Austrian driver Alexander Wurz had to wait 7 years, 9 months and 11 days for his next podium finish following the 1997 British Grand Prix, a record in the sport. Wurz was promoted to third place at the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix after Jenson Button was disqualified from the race due to the car being underweight; 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen is the driver to have the longest gap between two pole positions in Formula 1. From the 2008 French Grand Prix, the Finnish driver didn’t achieve another pole in Qualifying until the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix, a total of 8 years, 11 months and 6 days later.
Here’s ink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS0r7_7cFDI
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[The story is as per press release]
