2011 British Grand Prix

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May 21, 2012

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May 21, 2012

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May 21, 2012

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May 20, 2012

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SV_SHOWRUN_KIEV_19052012_0368.jpg

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May 17, 2012

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Event Details

Location
Silverstone, UK (Map this address )
Start
JUL 6, 2012 at 12:00 AM
End
JUL 8, 2012 at 12:00 AM
About
The British Grand Prix, currently held at the Silverstone Circuit, holds the joint honour with the Italian Grands Prix as the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship races. It was first established in 1926 and Silverstone has regularly been its home since the first ever official race of the World Championship in 1950. It alternated between Silverstone and Aintree, the famous horse racing course, between 1955 and 1962 and Silverstone and Brands Hatch between 1964 and 1986. Silverstone has been the sole host every year since 1987.

Before being modified in 1991, Silverstone was one of the fastest tracks in Formula 1, in 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg held the all-time Formula 1 qualifying lap record for 16 years after posting fastest time for the 1985 British Grand Prix with an average speed of 258.983kph (160.92mph).

A dispute between Silverstone's owners and the Formula One authorities in 2003, over funding for necessary track improvements, led to doubts over the future of the race. In October 2004 the British Grand Prix was left off the preliminary race schedule for 2005 because the BRDC refused to pay the race fee demanded by Bernie Ecclestone. After months of negotiation a deal was made for the Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone until 2009.

On 4 July 2008, it was announced that Donington Park had been awarded the contract to host the British Grand Prix for 10 years from 2010. However, it failed to secure the necessary funding to host the race, and its contract was terminated in November 2009. One month later, Silverstone signed a 17 year contract to host the British Grand Prix until 2017.