Silverstone was opened as a World War Two airfield in 1943, near the leafy village of the same name. Once the war had ended in 1945 Britain was left with a number of redundant airfields but without a major race track Donington Park was still a military vehicle storage depot, Brooklands had been sold off, Crystal Palace was in a state of disrepair and Brands Hatch was still underdeveloped.The Royal Automobile Club was interested in Silverstone as a potential site and approached the Air Ministry in 1948 and a lease was arranged. At this time the centre of Silverstone Circuit was a farm producing cereal crops and also a piggery so the RAC employed farmer James Wilson Brown to create the first Grand Prix circuit at the site and gave him just two months to build it.

Address: Registered office: Eighth Floor, 6 New Street Square, London, EC4A 3AQ
Telephone: 08704 588 200
Fax: 08704 588 250
Website: http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/home.html