The first

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Cha ...

was held in 1926, however it was not until the fifth event, held in 1950, that a trophy was first awarded to the winner.Official Programme, The Grand Prix of the R.A.C., Brooklands, 7 August 1926, p5 "Regulations and Awards"Official Programme, Grand Prix of the R.A.C., Brooklands, 1 October 1927, p3 "Regulations and Awards"Official Programme, Royal Automobile Club International Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit, 2 October 1948, p7 "Prize List"Official Programme, Royal Automobile Club British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit, 14 May 1949, p36 "Prize List"Official Programme, The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d’Europe (incorporating the British Grand Prix), Silverstone, 13 May 1950, p44 "List of Awards" The first trophy presented by the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range ...

was the

Mervyn O'Gorman Mervyn Joseph Pius O'Gorman (19 December 1871 – 16 March 1958) was a British electrical and aircraft engineer. After working as an electrical engineer, he was appointed Superintendent of what became the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough ...

trophy, awarded from 1950 until the early 1970s, when it was replaced by the present gold Royal Automobile Club Trophy.Official Programme, John Player Grand Prix, Silverstone, 14 July 1973, p6 "Trophies and Awards"Official Programme, John Player Grand Prix, Brands Hatch, Saturday 20 July 1974, p8 "For the Winner" The official, perpetual trophy is awarded to the winner of the British Grand Prix and then returned to the Royal Automobile Club, where it is permanently housed. Since 1952, the winner of the British Grand Prix has generally also been awarded a trophy by the principal sponsor of the race (for 1952, the

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

), which is won outright each year and replaced by a new trophy for the following year's event. In some years, it is the sponsor's trophy, rather than the official RAC trophy, which is handed to the winner on the podium, which is why post-race photographs since 1950 have shown many more than the two official trophies that have ever been awarded. The winners of international Grands Prix are awarded trophies from countries where the race took place, and by a variety of event sponsors, therefore international trophies may vary hugely in style and colour. The current trophy holder is

Carlos Sainz Jr. Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro (; born 1 September 1994), otherwise known as Carlos Sainz Jr. or simply Carlos Sainz, is a Spanish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Scuderia Ferrari. He is the son of Carlos Sainz Sr., a d ...

The first trophy was awarded to

Giuseppe Farina Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...

, whilst

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of com ...

was the first Briton to win. Forty-four drivers have won the British Grand Prix since 1926 (on two occasions with two drivers sharing the winning car), of whom thirty-nine have been recipients of the official winner's trophy. Twelve of the winners have been

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, all having won since 1950 and including the joint victory by Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks in 1957.

The Royal Automobile Club Trophy

The present official winner's trophy is a large, ornate trophy, being an example of a Victorian, two-handled cup. It is thinly covered with hallmarked sterling silver leaf. The classical waisted urn-shaped body is decorated with eight lobes to its upper half, each hand engraved with floral designs. The lower half of the main body has four round, bead bordered insignias, the front-facing one is engraved with the title of the trophy. The cover mirrors the upper body with the eight lobes rising to large stylised types of fruit. The stem of the trophy is all supported and reinforced by four-wheel and scroll cast brackets, the conventional heraldic engraving indicating

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and the

. The trophy is mounted on a polished mahogany base with gold plated plinth band engraved with the winners' names from 1948 to 2005 when a second larger base was added to accommodate future names. It is not known why the names of the winners from 1926 and 1927 have been omitted, nor why the winners from 1948 and 1949 are included, even though they never actually received the trophy.

History

The Mervyn O'Gorman trophy was an old

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields ...

trophy, last awarded in 1909, which was donated by Mervyn O'Gorman to the RAC in April 1950, following the failure of the Brooklands race track to reopen after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The last time this trophy was presented was at the

1972 British Grand Prix The 1972 British Grand Prix (formally the John Player Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 15 July 1972. It was race 7 of 12 in both the 1972 World Championship of Drivers and the 1972 International Cup for Formula ...

at Brands Hatch, with the Royal Automobile Club Trophy first awarded at the 1973 British Grand Prix at Silverstone the following year and was first pictured in the official event programme in 1974. Little is known of the origins of the present gold trophy and despite much research, the

has never been able to establish where it came from. The only clue lies in the motto which displays, 'Floreat Etona' or 'let Eton Flourish', suggesting perhaps that it was donated to the Royal Automobile Club by the late Sir Charles Rolls, co-founder of the Rolls-Royce Motor Company and former pupil of

. The trophy was originally awarded at the Richmond Horse Show in 1898. The BRDC had it re-engraved, to succeed the Mervyn O'Gorman trophy, which by the 1970s was considered too heavy and cumbersome.

Other awards

Prize money

Before the institution of a winner's trophy, the only award for being placed in the British Grand Prix was the prize money on offer. For the first two British Grands Prix held at Brooklands, the prize money was £1,000 to the winner, £300 to the second-placed finisher and £200 for finishing third. For the first post-Second World War British Grand Prix in 1948, prize money was awarded to the entrants of the top ten finishers, ranging from £500 to the winner to £20 for tenth place, and the amounts awarded changed little over the next few years, although by 1958 the winner's prize had increased to £750.

Fred G. Craner Memorial Trophy

In addition to the official winner's trophy, in 1950 the RAC also awarded for the first time a further perpetual trophy, the Fred G. Craner Memorial Car Trophy, for the highest-placed British competitor driving a British car, which was awarded until at least 1972.Official Programme, John Player British Grand Prix, Brands Hatch, 13–15 July 1972, p10 "For the Winners" Fred Craner had been secretary of the Derby & District Motor Club and instrumental in establishing Donington Park as a motor racing circuit and in organising the Donington Grands Prix. The first winner of this trophy was

Bob Gerard Frederick Roberts Gerard (19 January 1914, Leicester – 26 January 1990, South Croxton, Leicestershire) was a racing driver and businessman from England. He participated in numerous top-level motor racing events on either side of World War II ...

driving an ERA, who finished fifth overall. The first occasion on which the winners of the British Grand Prix also won the Fred G. Craner Memorial Trophy was at Aintree in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

, when the winners were Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks driving a Vanwall.

Winners

Multiple winners

''Embolded drivers are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.''

By year

''A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.''

References

* (Complete F1 Results.) *{{cite web, title= British Grand Prix Cup , url= https://www.royalautomobileclub.co.uk/data/useful_downloads/British%20Grand%20Prix%20Trophy%20Information%20Sheet.pdf , work= Royal Automobile Club , access-date= 2018-06-03 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180603161545/https://www.royalautomobileclub.co.uk/data/useful_downloads/British%20Grand%20Prix%20Trophy%20Information%20Sheet.pdf, archive-date= 3 June 2018 , url-status= live (Information on Trophy)

Trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, i ...