The Classic at Silverstone to honour Sir Frank Williams
Williams is perhaps the grand prix team most synonymous with Silverstone, and now the track will celebrate the life of a legend
Clay Regazzoni on his way to a breakthrough win for Williams in 1979. The FW07 will be on display at the Classic as part of the event’s tribute to Sir Frank
Hoch Zwei/Getty Images
The British Grand Prix may be over and done with for another season, but there’s still plenty of Formula 1 action still to come at Silverstone as this year’s Classic gets ready to showcase an unprecedented amount of both modern and historic grand prix machinery.
The Silverstone Classic returns over the August Bank Holiday weekend (26-28) and will feature a packed programme of 20 historic racing grids, with this year’s event having a heavy emphasis on Formula 1 thanks a new tribute to the life of Sir Frank Williams.
With the Williams Grand Prix Engineering team being born in nearby Grove, Silverstone and Williams are intrinsically linked, with Sir Frank’s team scoring its first of 114 grand prix victories there back in 1979 when Clay Regazzoni won with the FW07. Sir Frank also marked his 50th anniversary of being an F1 team boss at the track in 2019. He died last November at the age of 79.
The Classic boasts some huge crowds
Jakob Ebrey
Regazzoni celebrates his win
Silverstone Museum
Plenty of entertainments on and off the track.
Jakob Ebrey
In his memory, both outings for the Masters Racing Legends events for 3-litre grand prix cars from 1966 to 1985 will be run for the new Frank Williams Memorial Trophy while the FW07 which Regazzoni raced in that first victory will be on display.
A statement from the Williams family read: “For so many reasons Silverstone was very, very special to our father and thus we, as a family, welcome the very fitting celebrations of Dad’s extraordinary life being planned.”
And that’s not the end of the Formula 1-themed attractions, with all seven of Sir Lewis Hamilton’s world title-winning racing cars being gathered for display for the first time (one McLaren and six Mercedes), and there will also be a collection of the current grid in attendance. On track there will be races for the HGPCA Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars as well as demonstration runs by Ignition GP, which features high-revving V8, V10 and V12-powered cars from the 1980s and ’90s.
For those not particularly into their single-seaters, it’s far from tough luck with a huge number of other categories ranging from pre-war, touring cars, sports cars and even a new celebration of GT4 racing planned across the three days.