Goodwood Festival of Speed Salutes 75 Years of Formula 1
Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard will honour the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship by welcoming three legendary technical minds: Adrian Newey OBE, Aston Martin Formula One’s Managing Technical Partner; Professor Gordon Murray MBE, Executive Chairman of Gordon Murray Automotive; and Ross Brawn OBE, former Managing Director of Formula 1 Motorsport. The Festival splits its F1 75 narrative into six vivid chapters—Prologue, Pioneers, Innovators, Underdogs, Champions and Teams—each revealing a fresh facet of grand-prix history.
Adrian Newey has curated the Innovators class, showcasing cars that redefined performance and shaped design philosophy. With 223 Grand Prix wins and 26 World Championships, he remains Formula 1’s most successful designer. Newey brings his own Lotus 49, the car that inspired his career, and the trail-blazing Leyton House CG901 he penned for the 1990 season. “It’s been a real pleasure to work with Goodwood on assembling such a remarkable collection of Formula 1 cars for the Innovators class. It’s a celebration not just of the machines, but of the creativity, craftsmanship, and engineering excellence that have defined the sport over the past 75 years,” he said.
Professor Gordon Murray began in South Africa before joining Brabham in 1969 and becoming Chief Designer at 26. He produced championship-winning innovations, such as the BT46B ‘Fan Car’, and later steered McLaren to dominance with the MP4/4, driven by Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. Turning to road cars, he created the McLaren F1—still hailed by many as the most excellent road car ever and a Le Mans winner at its first attempt. Gordon Murray Automotive takes centre stage this year with a dramatic Central Feature outside Goodwood House and a display of hallmark designs celebrating his six-decade career.
Ross Brawn consistently stretched technical boundaries, masterminding Michael Schumacher’s seven titles before orchestrating the 2009 fairytale in which Brawn GP rose from Honda’s ashes to clinch both the Constructors’ crown and Jenson Button’s Drivers’ title. After selling to Mercedes, he remained as team principal and laid the foundations for their dominance from 2014 to 2021. As Formula 1’s Managing Director of Motorsport, Brawn later drove sustainable innovation and safeguarded the sport’s future. He will showcase his championship-winning Brawn BGP 001, famed for its double diffuser.
The Duke of Richmond CBE DL remarked: “Pushing the boundaries of technology has always been central to the relentless pursuit of performance in Formula 1, so I am thrilled that three of the most brilliant designers of all time – Adrian Newey, Gordon Murray and Ross Brawn – will be joining us at this year’s Festival of Speed, as we celebrate 75 years of the World Championship. Between them, they have created some of the most ground-breaking (and dominant) cars in F1 history, many of which will be on display and in action at the Festival. I am especially grateful to Adrian for his help in curating the Innovators class – his unique insight has been invaluable in pulling together a truly amazing lineup of cars.”
This milestone celebration promises the largest Festival of Speed gathering yet, with more than 100 significant Formula 1 cars and eight former champions—among them Alain Prost, Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell—converging on Goodwood for an unforgettable salute to the sport’s past, present and future.