However , there ’ s always an element influenced by circumstances . Naturally when the team has employed a British driver it has garnered extra support here , and thus Mike Hawthorn ( 1953- ‘ 55 and 1957- ’ 58 ), Peter Collins ( 1956- ’ 58 ), John Surtees ( 1963- ’ 65 ), Nigel Mansell ( 1989- ’ 90 ), and Eddie Irvine ( 1996- ’ 99 ) all played a part in generating even more backing for the Maranello outfit .
On the flipside , in those years when Ferrari has provided the main opposition to the local hero – perhaps most famously at Brands Hatch in 1976 when James Hunt was in the middle of a ferocious battle with Niki Lauda – the support had been a little more one-sided !
It will be fascinating to see what happens in 2025 when Lewis Hamilton races in red here at Silverstone for the first time , and brings his massive support with him .
Meanwhile for now Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are wearing Ferrari colours , and they will both be very much in the hunt this weekend . Sainz , who scored his maiden F1 ® victory here in 2022 , is looking forward to returning .
‘ I ’ ve always felt Silverstone is one of my favourite places to go racing ,’ he says . ‘ Getting my first win here was something very special .
‘ I feel like since I raced for McLaren I ’ ve had a good relationship with British fans . And since then , every time I come back , I ’ ve always felt the love here . And yeah , we might have another shot at winning this year . It would be nice to get another one !’
The British Grand Prix has played a huge role in Ferrari ’ s history . The team has logged 18 wins in total , all but three of them achieved here at Silverstone , with one at Aintree and two at Brands Hatch also in the record books .
By way of comparison that ’ s only one fewer that the total achieved by the team in its home race at Monza , while McLaren is second on the British win list with 14 .
Enzo Ferrari skipped the first ever World Championship event at Silverstone in 1950 – in those days individual races paid starting money and he wasn ’ t happy with what was on offer ! – but he relented in 1951 , when José Froilán González logged the marque ’ s maiden win in a pointsscoring event . It was also the first of an impressive run of six FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX victories that the team achieved during the decade .
Alberto Ascari triumphed in both 1952 and ’ 53 , the years that the Italian also logged the team ’ s first FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™ titles , while González won again in 1954 . In 1956 it was the turn of the great Juan Manuel Fangio to win here at Silverstone during his single season with Ferrari .