Maggotts, Becketts, Chapel… Where do the bends on the Silverstone circuit get their names?

In the heart of the English countryside, the 18 turns of the Silverstone circuit, spread over 5,891km of asphalt, are an integral part of the history of the Formula 1This circuit was built at the end of the Second World War, on the former launch base for the bombers of the Royal Air Force.

The track has since hosted 59 Grands Prix on the Formula 1 calendar, including the first official race 75 years ago on 13 May 1950. It has since undergone nine different configurations, with the most recent change in 2011 and the shifting of the start/finish line to the south of the circuit.

1 – Abbey

Having become the first bend on the route in 2010, it takes its name from the abbey of Luffield, a former civil parish located near Silverstone. Remains of the monastery were found a few meters from the curve that the drivers approach at nearly 280 km/h, dating its period of activity to between 1133 and 1943.

2 – Farm

Added in 2009, this curve, used at 300 km/h in Formula 1, includes the pit lane exit for a braking duel at the third corner. The farm that was present there gave the 1947 race the unofficial nickname "Grand Prix des moutons" after several ruminant crossings.

3 – Village

The track's first braking zone, the name of the third corner refers to the village of Silverstone, located a half-hour walk from the circuit. Of its 2500 inhabitants (as of 2021), more than 30% are said to work at the factory. Aston Martin F1, inaugurated a year ago, 400m from the circuit.

4 – The Loop

The slowest corner on the circuit. As its name suggests, a left-hand hairpin in the shape of a "loop" whose exit determines the speed carried onto the straight. WellingtonThe latter takes its name from the bombers Vickers wellington used by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

5 – Aintree

Slight left before the straight, Aintree pays homage to the circuit of the same name, on the outskirts of Liverpool. Although Silverstone has hosted the British GP since 1987, it alternated between 1955 and 1960. The city now organizes the British Grand Prix horse race there Grand National.

6 – Brooklands

As for the first end of the straight line Wellington, the turn Brooklands also refers to a former circuit that hosted a Formula 1 race in Great Britain. Considered the oldest circuit in the world, it notably hosted the first Grand Prix races in England in 1926 and 1927.

7 – Luffield

The seventh bend, like the first, takes its name from the abbey of Luffield. It was formerly separated fromAbbey than by a straight line, "Farm Straight", which would give its name to the second bend during the modifications made to the circuit in 1991.

8 – Woodcote

If the drivers go flat out, Woodcote has the merit of requiring just enough angle in the steering wheel to be considered a turn. It is named after the Woodcote Park, a stately home in the Surrey belonging to Royal Automobile Club since the First World War.

9 – Copse

Its name could be translated as "grove" in French (a land dotted with trees or shrubs), which the circuit is encircled by. Today one of the fastest curves at Silverstone, Copse was, from 1952 to 2010, the first bend of the Grand Prix, always taken in a clockwise direction.

10 to 14 – Maggotts/Becketts/Chapel

Probably one of the most legendary races on the Formula 1 calendar, if not in the history of motorsport. Maggotts (turns 10, 11 and 12) takes its name from the adjacent peat bog of the same name. The rest of the sector (turns 13 and 14) refers to the chapel of Saint Thomas À-Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was destroyed in 1943 for the construction of the airfield.

15 – Stowe

The entrance to the last sector, at the end of the straight line "Hangar Straight", a reminder of the time when the place was an air base. Having undergone four variations since 1949, Stowe takes the name of a school in Buckinghamshire founded in 1923, whose students are said to have had the idea of ​​piloting at the air base.

16 – Vale

There are two opposing theories as to the meaning of the name of this bend. The first links it to Aylesbury Vale, a former district of the Buckinghamshire, stuck to the circuit. The second develops the word in "Valley" (valley) to emphasize the very slight slope from Stowe, the only one on an air base, logically flat.

17 and 18 – Club

The final section of the circuit, towards the start/finish straight « Hamilton Straight », the most successful Briton at Silverstone. His name, and perhaps his hat shape, pay homage to the Royal Automobile Club, based in Pall Mall Clubhouse London.

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