And now after over 70 years from the first race, we can see some differences. The biggest difference is in the cash prizes. The first race was held in Silverstone, and from that time to this day, the British Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix have remained in the Formula 1 calendar. So they are the longest-running races in Formula 1.

32 countries, five continents

From the very beginning until today, Formula 1 races have been driven in 32 countries on five continents. Italian Giuseppe Nino Farina is the winner of the first F1 World Championship race held on May 13, 1950, and four months later took the world title at home. Just to compare, the competition season now lasts twice longer than in the beginning.

Michael Schumacher holds the record with seven world titles, and interestingly, his last victory was achieved on the track in Shanghai in 2006. He is also a record holder with 91 victories in Formula 1, followed by Lewis Hamilton with 74 and Sebastien Vettel with 52.

Schumacher said it all

When he was at the peak of his career, the German summed up the charm of this sport. Every year brings something new, and every year they get faster and faster, and that’s Formula 1. One of Schumacher’s former teammates from Ferrari, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello is a record holder in the number of races he started in, but unfortunately, he didn’t manage to win in any race in his career.

Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio dominated in the first decade of Formula 1 by winning five world titles in seven seasons since 1951. In the 60s he was replaced with Australian Jack Brabham and Brits Jim Clark, Graham Hill, and Jackie Stewart.

20 drivers died in Formula 1

During the ’70s in Formula, we can see the rivalry between Britain’s James Hunt and Austria’s Niki Lauda. In the ’80s between great Frenchman Alain Prost and the legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna, and since 90’s we can see a dominance of Schumacher.

In the history of Formula 1 we can see 772 drivers on the start line, but from that number 20 drivers died, including Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix.

Their deaths caused extensive changes and they improve safety. The final result was the fact that until 2014 no one died. Then, Frenchman Jules Bianchi died as a result of head injuries sustained at the 2014 Japan Grand Prix.

Ferrari is the only constant

Ferrari is the only constructor who has been competed in all world championships and since the beginning, they recorded 16 titles since the constructors ’championship started. They have this championship since 1958 which was called International Formula 1 Manufacturers’ Cup.

The first winner was the British team. Also, Williams won 9 titles, McLaren 8 of them, and Lotus 7. They are followed by Mercedes with five titles, while Austrian Red Bull won 4 titles. Now, 70 years later, we can say that there is a big difference between than and now. The organization was bought by the American media giant Liberty Media in 2017 for eight billion dollars.