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How Verstappen stacks up in F1's 70-year Silverstone speed battle

Red Bull set the fastest lap at the 2020 British GP, Mercedes has the fastest car, but neither has yet managed to surpass the quickest Silverstone Formula 1 lap of all time. That honour belongs to a moustache-wearing Brummie from over 30 years ago

Kevin Turner Aug 6, 2020, 3:32 PM

Max Verstappen's fastest lap in the 2020 British Grand Prix - following the tyre stop that arguably cost him victory - represented an incredible average speed of 151.3mph around Silverstone. That 1m27.097s effort is a record around the current 3.661-mile configuration of the Northamptonshire circuit, but it's not the fastest racing lap recorded during a British GP.

Perhaps appropriately given his affinity with the place and three Silverstone F1 wins, Nigel Mansell still holds that particular accolade. His 1m09.832s mark, set during his famous and successful pursuit of Williams-Honda team-mate Nelson Piquet in 1987, produced a 153.1mph lap of the 2.969-mile version.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.