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Pirelli will be the title sponsor of the British and Italian grands prix next season, the two historic races that have featured on the F1 world championship schedule the most times.
This year, the Italian company contested its 500th grand prix and next year, when it is set to surpass Goodyear as the most successful supplier of F1 tyres – because there is no opposition – it will put its name to the race weekends at Silverstone (3 -5 July) and Monza (4-6 September).
These two races are the only ones to have been part of the world championship, under the same name, every year, since it was established in 1950 and have therefore been on the calendar 76 times, an outright record for the sport.
As Formula 1’s global tyre partner, Pirelli can also boast a long tradition in the sport. Established in 1872, it is the tyre supplier with the most participations (currently 505 grands prix) dating back to the very first championship race.
The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was in fact won by Giuseppe Farina at the wheel of a Pirelli-shod Alfa Romeo (top). That same year, the Italian driver also won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the final round of the season.
Silverstone and the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, then as now the venues for their respective national Grands Prix, are two of the three most historic permanent circuits still on the calendar, the other being Spa-Francorchamps.
Monza, the Temple of Speed, is Pirelli’s home race, its headquarters being just a few kilometres from the track. It was inaugurated over a century ago and immediately became the favoured venue for testing the Milan-based company’s road tyres.
