RAF Silverstone
Today the airfield is a major racing circuit known as Silverstone Circuit. The circuit hosted the first ever Formula One World Championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix, held on 13 May 1950. Since 1987 the track has hosted the British Grand Prix every year. The airfield's three runways, in a standard World War II era triangle, lie within the outline of the classic racetrack; after recent development of a new section of track, the main runway is transected by the circuit. Sections of two runways are used for the smaller south circuit.
1948 British Grand Prix
The Royal Automobile Club took a one-year lease on the Silverstone airfield site in early 1948 and set about creating a race track. The airfield conformed to the standard model for WWII RAF sites: three long, wide runways formed a triangle, their ends joined by a narrow perimeter roadway. In this inaugural year the RAC decided to lay out a relatively long circuit, using the full lengths of the two longest runways, as well as large portions of the perimeter road.