By the numbers
A crash means a race retirement from an accident, collision or spin. Starts exclude non-qualifications, non-starts and exclusions.History
Brands Hatch is in the English county of Kent. The name originally referred to a natural grassy hollow shaped like an amphitheatre. Cyclists from around London used the land, and the first race was held there in 1926. Motorcyclists later raced on a grass track. In 1950 a tarmac circuit was laid for the 500cc Formula 3 cars. It was roughly 1.6 km long and ran anticlockwise.
During 1953 and 1954 the track was lengthened with the Druids corner and the direction of travel was reversed to clockwise. This created Paddock Hill Bend, a fast right-hander running downhill. In 1960 the circuit was extended into a Grand Prix layout of 4.265 km, with the shorter loop remaining in use alongside it. In 1976 Paddock Bend was realigned, which shortened the lap to 4.207 km.
The lap begins on the Brabham Straight. Next comes Paddock Hill Bend, one of the few overtaking places, followed by the Druids hairpin. The biggest changes in elevation are found on the back straight, and the track then runs through woodland on a series of medium-speed corners.
Formula One cars first raced here in 1956, in an event that did not count towards the world championship. The first championship round was the British Grand Prix in 1964. Until 1986 the race alternated between Brands Hatch and Silverstone, so Kent hosted it in even-numbered years. A European Grand Prix was added in 1983 and again in 1985. Niki Lauda won three times and Nigel Mansell twice. The final championship race was held in 1986, after which the British Grand Prix stayed at Silverstone.
Moments
- 1964Jim Clark won the first world championship race at Brands Hatch, the British Grand Prix, for Lotus.
- 1968Jo Siffert won in a Lotus entered by the private Walker-Durlacher team, whose car only arrived at the circuit on the first morning of the meeting.
- 1976Niki Lauda was declared the winner for Ferrari after James Hunt, who took the flag first following a restart, was later disqualified.
- 1983Nelson Piquet won the European Grand Prix for Brabham, which gave Britain a second championship race that year.
- 1985Nigel Mansell took his first Grand Prix win for Williams at the European Grand Prix, and Alain Prost clinched the world title by finishing fourth.
- 1986Nigel Mansell won the last world championship race at Brands Hatch for Williams, restarting in the spare car after the race was stopped.
2 layouts since 1964
- 1964-19744.265 km
- since 19764.207 km
Years without a Grand Prix at this circuit: 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981.
Most wins
Click a bar to see every win here with year, team and analysis.
Data: F1DB by Marcel Overdijk, CC BY 4.0 licence.