65 years ago Alfa Romeo won the very first Formula one race at Britain's Silverstone circuit.

• Four Alfetta 158 race cars take to the Silverstone race track to compete in the inaugural Formula One race
• Giuseppe "Nino" Farina leads home an Alfa Romeo podium sweep as Alfa Romeo begins its domination of the first championship season
• The Alfetta was upgraded for 1951 to give Juan Manuel Fangio his first championship and Alfa Romeo its second
• Today the Alfetta 158 is one of the most important cars in the famous Museo Storico Alfa Romeo

Exactly 65 years ago yesterday, on May 13th 1950, four Alfetta 158 race cars created history at the Silverstone race track in Northamptonshire, with Giuseppe "Nino" Farina, Luigi Fagioli, Juan Manuel Fangio and British driver Reg Parnell behind the wheel of their respective cars. It was the first race in the inaugural Formula One season and it set the stage for what is today amongst the world’s most prestigious and popular global sporting entities.

Nino Farina not only claimed pole position and the fastest lap of the race, he also won the race outright (indeed, Alfa Romeo enjoyed a podium clean sweep), a pattern that was to continue for the rest of that seminal championship season as the trio of Farina, Fagioli and Fangio dominated race after race. King George VI himself waved the chequered flag to bring the British Grand Prix to a triumphant close for Alfa Romeo, and later personally congratulated all the drivers of team for their exceptional achievements.

Farina went on to claim the first Formula One championship in the Alfetta 158, a feat that was repeated the following year by Juan Manuel Fangio, and today the Alfetta 158 remains one of the most prestigious cars from the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo, not only for its important place in Alfa Romeo’s history but for its global relevance in the world of motorsport.

Originally developed in 1938, the Alfetta had to wait for peace and prosperity to return to the world before it could prove itself on the world motorsport stage, evolving from its original 195hp output to close to 300hp by the time it took the Silverstone racetrack – an impressive output from its supercharged, eight-cylinder, 1,479cc inline engine.

Uninhibited by fuel or weight limits, the 158 evolved into the equally dominant “159”, with a new two-stage supercharger and numerous other improvements, for the 1951 season. Producing up to 450hp in test trim and 425hp in race specification, it powered Fangio and Alfa Romeo to a second consecutive championship, at which point Alfa Romeo officially retired from racing to concentrate on the series production of some of the most technically advanced and aesthetically stunning road cars of the time.

Ferrari celebrates the 61st Monaco Grand Prix.

This will be the 61st Monaco Grand Prix to count for the Formula 1 World Championship, the 72nd in all. The track layout has always used the same roads in the Principality, although over the years, there have been ten slight modifications to its length which is currently 3.340 kilometres. Ferrari has won eight times, equivalent to 13%.

The first ever Monaco GP in 1950 was the second ever championship race and Scuderia Ferrari’s first. 19 cars started but 10 of them got no further than the opening lap. Giuseppe Farina, in an Alfa Romeo crashed at Tabac and was hit by Jose Froilan Gonzalez in a Maserati. The road was blocked and the rest of the group couldn’t avoid them and it ended in a carambolage. Juan Manuel Fangio won for Alfa Romeo, with Alberto Ascari second in the Ferrari.

The race did not return to the calendar until 1955, when Maurice Trintignant won in a Ferrari. The Frenchman was noted for his tidy style and made the most of the misfortunes of others, winning from ninth. To this day, there has only been one winner who started further back.

Although the Scuderia won elsewhere, victory in the Principality escaped it for 20 years, with Niki Lauda taking the 1975 win in the 312 T and doing it again the following year.

In 1979, it was an all Ferrari front row with Jody Scheckter ahead of Gilles Villeneuve, but only the South African finished where he started. It was the Canadian’s turn two years later in the 126 CK when he made no mistakes, while overtaking Alan Jones in the Williams with just four laps to go. The spectacular win made waves in North America and Gilles and the number 27 Ferrari even featured on the cover of “Time” magazine.

This victory for the Scuderia was followed by another barren patch in Monaco. It took the arrival of Michael Schumacher to see a return to victory. In 1996, the German took pole but failed to finish that crazy race which saw only four cars make it to the line, the winner being Olivier Panis, the Frenchman having started 14th. The next year, at the wheel of the F310B, the German outclassed the field to win with 53 seconds in hand over Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart and over a minute in front of his team-mate, Eddie Irvine.

Two years later, Schumacher and Irvine finished first and second, while in 2001 Michael won for the fifth time in the Principality to equal Graham Hill’s achievement, only one win short of the Monaco record holder, Ayrton Senna.

Monaco win for C-Type and then straight off to the Mille Miglia.

• Historic Jaguar C-types race at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, and then immediately head to Italy to participate in the 2014 Mille Miglia
• The ex-Juan Manuel Fangio Jaguar C-type takes a convincing Monaco victory in the hands of Alex Buncombe, ahead of moving directly on to the Mille Miglia
• Another C-type, raced at Monaco by Andrew Frankel, is then driven straight to Brescia for the start of the Mille Miglia by its owner Richard Frankel

Two of the Jaguar C-types set to compete in this week’s Mille Miglia – as part of an extensive line-up of Jaguar sports car entries by Jaguar Heritage Racing – have driven directly from their race at the Monaco Historique on Sunday 11 May, down to Brescia in Italy for the start of the gruelling 1,000 mile Mille Miglia endurance event.

The well-known ex-Juan Manuel Fangio Jaguar C-type, race prepared by JD Classics and driven by Alex Buncombe, won a decisive victory in the Series C race for sports racing cars raced from 1952 to 1955 at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique on Sunday afternoon.  He won the same race in the same car at the last Monaco Historic in 2012.  Following victory, the winning C-type was quickly packed up and transported to Brescia, Italy, where it will be driven by successful Belgian singer and songwriter Milow, and Jaguar Land Rover Regional Director for Europe Bernard Kuhnt in this year’s Mille Miglia (15-18 May).

Another Jaguar C-type entrant from the same Monaco sports car race – Richard Frankel – also drove his 1952 C-type the 200 miles from Monte Carlo to Brescia on Sunday evening, after this brother Andrew safely brought the Jaguar home in Monaco from a crowded grid of 37 cars.  This C-type is famous for the journey it made in 1952 - from Coventry to the Monaco Grand Prix - where it finished 6^th and was the first non-Ferrari home. The car was driven by Tommy Wisdom in that race – and then driven back to the UK!  

Richard Frankel will share his C-type with the ex-Jaguar Le Mans 24 Hours race winner and talented racer Andy Wallace in the 2014 Mille Miglia.

Hot from their racing exploits in Monaco, these two C-types will be joined in Brescia by a line-up of other historic Jaguar sports cars from the 1950s, driven by top-name celebrities.

These will include American TV chat show host, Jaguar collector and classic car enthusiast – Jay Leno – sharing the famous ex-Sir James Scott-Douglas Ecurie Ecosse 1951 Jaguar XK 120 roadster with Jaguar’s Design Director, Ian Callum.

Husband and wife team Elliot and Erin Gleave will share another well-known 1951 XK 120, as will author David Blakeley and TV presenter and model Jodie Kidd.

Jaguar Heritage Racing also has a C-type being driven by AC/DC lead singer and car buff Brian Johnson, with two motor racing stars – Martin Brundle and Bruno Senna – sharing the famous ‘Long Nose’ Jaguar D-type as this legendary Jaguar model celebrates its 60^th anniversary in 2014.

A number of new Jaguar F-TYPE Coupés will support the Jaguar Heritage Racing team, following the full Mille Miglia route through Italy with broadcast crews and VIP guests.

Kimi states Australia will be "Wide open and anything can happen"

There are now only a few days to go to the start of the 2014 Formula 1 season and this year, like never before, there is a great sense of anticipation to see the cars take to the track on Friday in Albert Park. For Kimi Raikkonen, there’s an extra reason why it will feel special, because he will be starting his second stint at Ferrari. Most recently, the Finn won this race in 2013, but he also did it back in 2007, when he made his Ferrari debut, thus joining a select band who triumphed first time out for the Prancing Horse, drivers of the calibre of Juan Manuel Fangio, Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell. Only one other driver managed it after Kimi and that was his current team-mate, Fernando Alonso.

“I remember very well my first win with Ferrari,” Kimi told www.ferrari.com. “it couldn’t have been a better start to my seventh year in Formula 1, with a dominant win from pole. Winning always feels great for me. Nothing could be better. Last year, we also managed to win, which certainly surprised people because unlike 2007, at Lotus we weren’t favourites. So, if I had to compare the two Australian wins, somehow, winning it last year for the second time felt even a little bit nicer after such a difficult pre-season testing period.

“Australia is a great place to start the season, Melbourne is a wonderful city and, for us Europeans it always feels a bit special to be in this different part of the world. Only the weather is not always that nice,” added Raikkonen. “I can remember only one GP here where there was sunshine all the time. Of course, I’d prefer dry and hot weekends, especially this year with a completely new car and so many technical aspects still to be understood completely.”

Kimi ran the Albert Park track programme on the simulator today, to try and anticipate unusual situations that could arise because of the characteristics of the 2014 car. “The track is not that difficult and it’s a combination of a street circuit and a permanent race track and the event is very well organised. Sure, if your car is not well balanced then life can get difficult because you can lose a lot of time compared to those have got it right. If it rains, then the track is very, very slippery and the white lines can be really treacherous.”

The Espoo man won’t be drawn into what could be the possible outcome of the race: “Making predictions has never been my habit and this year there is even more reason not to. We are heading Down Under with brand new cars and I reckon it is wide open and anything can happen. In Maranello, we have worked hard and the F14 T seems to be a good car, but the track will tell who is quickest. When we start running to see where we are, we will at least have some data to give us a starting point.”