The May 2020 Collector’s Edition of Motor Sport celebrates seven decades since the Formula 1 World Championship roared into life with the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
To commemorate the anniversary, we have assembled motor racing’s finest writers to take you through the heroics, the tragedy and the incredible stories from seventy years of racing.
Each writer has covered a decade in Formula 1’s history, charting the great drivers who stamped their mark on the championship, as well as the political battles, mind-boggling technical advances and key figures who have shaped Formula 1 into the world’s greatest motor racing championship.
Doug Nye begins with the story of the championship’s shaky start in the 1950s, and the story is then taken up by Nigel Roebuck, who charts its growth through the 1960s, then hands over to Maurice Hamilton for the 1970s, followed by Paul Fearnley covering the 1980s.
Simon Arron is your guide to the 1990s and Mark Hughes covers the new millennium. Andrew Benson brings the story up to the present day.
Subscribers have full access to the digital edition on the website and in our app, which can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Play
If you’re not a subscriber, we’re running a limited-time free trial offer of the May issue: click below to get your copy.
The 1950s
Doug Nye, our renowned motor racing historian, goes back to where it all began and documents the Formula 1 World Championship’s stuttering start in the early 1950s.
It was a decade where Fangio built his legacy, Alfa flourished and a fleeting, game-changing Mercedes return led to battle with Ferrari.
Paul Fearnley, former Motor Sport editor, recounts racing’s ‘superpower’ decade, where two designers — equally brilliant, equally different — stamped their mark on Formula 1.
Simon Arron, another former Motor Sport editor and experienced Grand Prix reporter, reflects on a decade where a flurry of teams came and went, technical freedom led to constant innovation and one of the all-time greats earned his breakthrough.
Despite the tragic weekend at Imola in 1994, could the 1990s be Formula 1’s golden era?
Andrew Benson, the BBC’s chief Formula 1 writer, assesses Lewis Hamilton’s mastery of the glitzy hybrid era, which was dominated by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
The past ten years has seen F1 navigate a changing world, while plotting a course for its future.