Formula 1 has every reason to celebrate. Its 75th birthday comes at a time characterized by success. The series has regained its role as the flagship of motor racing after difficult phases.
13.05.2025, 06:01
13.05.2025, 07:17
SDA
Of course, the history of Formula 1 has its prehistory - a very long one indeed. The beginnings go back to the end of the 19th century. Names have left their mark on that era that are at best still familiar to connoisseurs of the scene today. The name Pierre Giffard, for example. The French journalist organized the first official car race, the 126-kilometre drive from Paris to Rouen in July 1894. Giffard had advertised the competition for "horseless carriages with mechanical drive".
Twelve years later, the term "Grand Prix" appeared in the annals for the first time - and with it the name Ferenc Szisz. The Hungarian won the "Circuit de la Sarthe", a race near Le Mans, in a Renault. The race took place on a 103-kilometer triangular course that had to be completed twelve times over two days. Total distance: 1238 kilometers.
Another four decades later, another driver who is hardly known today appeared on the scene. Antonio Brivio was the driving force behind the idea of holding Grands Prix as part of a world championship. The Italian needed a lot of staying power. It would take four years for Brivio, who became a sports official after the end of his career as a car racing and bobsleigh driver and was a delegate of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), among other things, to make himself heard. His proposal was approved by the FIA in November 1949.
Italian Giuseppe Farina wins the first Grand Prix as part of a world championship at Silverstone
Image: Keystone
Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio (left with helmet), five-time world champion, retires in the first Formula 1 race in the history of the World Championship
Image: Keystone
Alberto Ascari, the first Formula 1 world champion in the service of Ferrari
Image: Keystone
Jo Siffert, one of many fatalities in Formula 1
Image: Keystone
Bernie Ecclestone turned Formula 1 into a billion-dollar company
Image: Keystone
Flavio Briatore caused one of the biggest scandals in Formula 1 when he ordered Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash in the Singapore Grand Prix
Image: Keystone
Italian Giuseppe Farina wins the first Grand Prix as part of a world championship at Silverstone
Image: Keystone
Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio (left with helmet), five-time world champion, retires in the first Formula 1 race in the history of the World Championship
Image: Keystone
Alberto Ascari, the first Formula 1 world champion in the service of Ferrari
Image: Keystone
Jo Siffert, one of many fatalities in Formula 1
Image: Keystone
Bernie Ecclestone turned Formula 1 into a billion-dollar company
Image: Keystone
Flavio Briatore caused one of the biggest scandals in Formula 1 when he ordered Nelson Piquet to deliberately crash in the Singapore Grand Prix
Image: Keystone
After the FIA superiors gave in, things moved quickly. After around six months, the time had come. On May 13, 1950, the first Grand Prix as part of a world championship took place at Silverstone in England. 200,000 spectators were in attendance, including King George VI. The British monarch had insisted that the race be held on a Saturday so as not to disturb the Sunday rest, which was important to him. Technical guidelines were already in place at the time. Cars with 4.5-liter naturally aspirated engines and 1.5-liter supercharged engines were permitted. The top five in the classification were awarded points, and the fastest race lap was rewarded with one point.
Premiere without Ferrari
There were 21 drivers at the start in Silverstone, most of them of an advanced age, but none from Ferrari. Company founder Enzo Ferrari tried to justify the Scuderia's absence by saying that the entry fee was too low. However, the theory that the almighty Capo had ordered the withdrawal due to the superiority of Alfa Romeo was more likely to be true. The competitor from his own country clearly set the tone at the premiere.
The 43-year-old Italian Giuseppe Farina, who was also the first world champion, and the 52-year-old Luigi Fagioli, together with the 39-year-old Briton Reg Parnell, ensured a one-two-three victory - in 13-year-old cars. The Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio, who achieved legendary status in the following years as a five-time world champion, was the fourth driver to retire in the service of Alfa Romeo. Ferrari, for its part, made its Formula 1 debut eight days later in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Enzo Ferrari's own racing team lived up to its claim for the first time in its third year. Alberto Ascari, also an Italian, won the title and successfully defended it the following season. Ascari not only stood for sporting success, but also for one of the many tragedies that cast a shadow over Formula 1 for decades. Ascari was killed in an accident during private testing in May 1955.
Ferrari did not win the world championship again until 1958 with the Englishman Mike Hawthorn. The title win came at a particularly difficult time, when death in Maranello left several gaps in the driving personnel. Within 22 months, five Scuderia drivers lost their lives, including Hawthorn, who did not survive a serious accident in a spontaneous duel against his good friend Rob Walker in private cars and on public roads. Swiss motor racing experienced a particularly dark hour in October 1971 with Jo Siffert's fatal accident at Brands Hatch. The race in England did not count towards the world championship. It was held in honor of world champion Jackie Stewart from Scotland.
These are just a few of far too many incidents in which death has taken control in Formula 1. They bear witness not only to a high-risk sport, but also to the impotence of those responsible for the racing series at the time in terms of safety. The FIA only gradually addressed the issue. An earlier serious rethink in terms of dealing with the individual incidents could probably have significantly reduced the number of fatalities. So it took the fatal accident involving Ayrton Senna 31 years ago at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, at least in the public perception, to initiate serious research into the causes and, with it, the search for solutions to improve safety.
Upswing thanks to Ecclestone
As an outstanding driver, Senna belonged to the circle of protagonists who dominated Formula 1. The highly talented Brazilian, regarded as the very best not only in his own country, lent the racing series a special radiance. He was a driver and ambassador who opened the door to global perception and appreciation for his sport. This was not always the case later on, although Bernie Ecclestone, as a shrewd string-puller, always knew how to open up new markets. The fact that he very often followed the money trail, that he also allowed his circus to perform in countries with obvious human rights violations, was probably beneficial to the Briton's bank account, but not to the reputation of Formula 1.
Ecclestone turned the Formula 1 brand into a flourishing company with billions in turnover. The fact that resentment and envy in the inner circle could not be avoided was not only due to Ecclestone's business practices and sometimes opaque machinations. The disputes and the battle for power and influence caused damage to Formula 1 - to such an extent that its continued existence was seriously called into question on several occasions. Several times during this phase, the development of a rival series became an issue.
The poisoned scene sometimes took on strange forms. Team managers sometimes made bizarre decisions for the sake of success. Examples of this were the "espionage affair" initiated by the McLaren team personnel or the accident staged by the decision-makers at Renault in the Singapore Grand Prix. The McLaren team was fined 100 million dollars in the 2007 season for the unauthorized transfer of extensive technical data from Ferrari. It was also stripped of all points in the constructors' championship. A year later, the order from the management of the Renault racing team led by Flavio Briatore to Nelson Piquet to build an accident caused an uproar in Formula 1. The purpose of the strange request was to help the Spaniard Fernando Alonso to victory in the French team's other car.
Fortunately, stories of this magnitude are a thing of the past - even if the rivalry between the participants still extends beyond the racetracks. Formula 1 has recovered magnificently and has found its way back onto the road to success since the change of ownership from the Luxembourg-based company CVC Capital Partners to the American group Liberty Media almost nine years ago. The new owners have managed to give the racing series the necessary framework to make it what it stands for again.
Formula 1 is once again doing full justice to its position as the most important branch of motor racing. It is not only back at the top of the list of favorites among organizers and the public. It is also once again setting the technical standards from which the manufacturers of civilian vehicles, among others, can also benefit. The influx of automotive groups, whether with their own teams or as partners of racing teams, is an unmistakable sign that 75 years after the first Grand Prix, Formula 1 is once again heading in the right direction. The latest chapters in the story have much to be pleased about.
