Anyone who follows me on Instagram will know that I absolutely love Formula 1. It’s a relatively new obsession for me, having only really got in to it following – oh I’m so embarrassed to say it – Drive to Survive. Since then, I’ve watched every race, fully team Lewis Hamilton for reasons I can’t even explain. The last few years in the sport have been pretty boring, with Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominating, but this year the races are wide open and it’s great to see lots of different winners in a season. I’m hopeful for a close and exciting 2025.
Not only do I love Formula 1, I also love museums, and combining the two sounded like a pretty awesome day out, especially when I heard the Museum houses so much Lewis Hamilton history. So whether you’re planning a visit or just wanting to learn more about F1, then I hope this post is helpful!
Silverstone Museum: Visitor Information
- The Museum is open 7 days a week, 10am – 4pm (10am – 5pm on weekends)
- Tickets bought online in advance are £22.50 (adults) and £13.50 (children) or £27.50 and £16.25 respectively if bought on the day
- The only way to reach the site is by car and there is ample parking on site, right outside the Museum
- The Museum is accessible with accessible toilets, disabled parking, lifts etc
- Visiting the Museum will take between 1.5 – 3 hours depending on how much you want to read the information and do all the activities
- There is a Café on site, but the food is quite limited and basic – if you’re looking for a nice lunch I recommend heading to Silverstone village pub down the road
- To visit Silverstone is a 2hr drive from London, 45 minutes from Oxford, and 1.5hrs from Birmingham
Silverstone Museum: What to See
Upper Floor: The history of the track
The Museum starts with a F1 starting grid with a snazzy intro, before you walk out on to the upper floor which houses exhibits explaining the layout of the track and the track’s history.
Originally the area where the track is was used as a WW2 airfield for training. The Museum houses information about those who died in accidents training at Silverstone. After WW2, there was a campaign to convert the airfield in to a racing track, and by 1948 the first British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone.
I found it super interesting to learn why the track sections are called what they are:
- Abbey: The first corner of the track is named after the 12th-century Luffield Abbey, which used to stand near the Silverstone site.
- Maggotts: One of the most famous track corners is named after Maggot Moor, which is located next to the village of Whittlebury just down the road.
- Becketts: Another famous corner, named after Saint Thomas Becket, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
- Chapel: Named after the medieval chapel of St Thomas a Beckett, which was once located near the corners
- Aintree: Named after Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, which is home to the Grand National, the UK’s most famous horse race
- Brooklands: Named after the 1907 circuit near Weybridge in Surrey, which was the world’s first purpose-built race track
Upper Floor: Scaletrix
If you have kids with you, or in our case if you’re a big kid yourself, you’ll love the giant Scaletrix set up of the track. We went straight to it as the queues get quite long, and it was a lot of fun!
Lower Floor: Silverstone through the years
On the ground floor, you can learn all about the races at Silverstone from 1948 to the 2010s, covering motorbike racing, F3, F2, and F1 and other motor races. It was so cool to be able to see Daniel Ricciardo’s 2014 car (I’m still very upset with Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton’s race suit from 2018, Nigel Mansell’s car from the 1990s and many others. There is also information about many of the drivers, including Schumacher, Hamilton and Senna.
Lower Floor: F1 Car Engineering & Safety
I’ve never known so much about engines! If you’re in to engineering or the science of F1, this section is fascinating – it explains how suspension works, break discs operate, how the tyres are impacted in different weathers and lots more. The engines are strangely cool to look at as well!
As well as the technical parts of the car, there’s also a whole section dedicated to safety – tracking the design of safety barriers, flame resistant suits and helmets. It was fascinating to see how far safety has come in the sport, and I was horrified by how many deaths there were historically. Thank goodness we have made strides forwards!
Lower Floor: The Simulator & Race Experience
The final section of the museum shows the race experience, which is a cinema experience where you sit in a theatre and look up, immersed in a race round the track against some of the legends of Silverstone. Hamilton of course wins, followed by us! Just a word of warning though, if you have motion sickness, it’s probably not worth it – I had to keep my eyes closed through most of it!
You can also head in to the Simulator for an extra £25 per person where you can sit and drive round the track in a mocked up F1 car. It was so much fun and really realistic, I thoroughly recommend it and we had it to ourselves!
Outside: The Track
After visiting the museum, it’s time to see the track. You can walk the heritage section of the track, and head to the side of the main track to watch any cars racing – I was really lucky that on the day of my visit they had some historical old cars racing, so cool to see!
So there you have it – a visit to Silverstone, a dream for every F1 fan. Sadly the next Silverstone Grand Prix in 2025 is over my work project Go Live, but I’m aiming for 2026 and I can’t wait to see the real event live! Thanks for reading – stay safe and happy travelling!
Saasdia Travel Gid
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