F1 British GP 2024: Behind Silverstone’s Historic and Sustainable Trophy

Dueling with gadgets and gizmos might be an F1 engineer’s job, but sculpting? No, most would think that the scientific minds behind the Formula 1 car would have nothing to do with any kind of artistry. But proving them wrong, ex-F1 Chief Mechanic Alastair Gibson sculpted the constructors’ and the podium trophies for the upcoming British GP. Gibson, who had previously served under BAR-Honda (previously called Tyrrell Racing), now has his own Carbon Fibre Art Gallery. The engineer-turned-artist got the commission to make the trophies that would accompany the historic Royal Automobile Club (RAC) trophy.

The British GP is one of the oldest races that has made it on the F1 calendar every year since 1950. It occurs at the historic Silverstone Circuit where home racer Lewis Hamilton has won the highest number of times (8 times). This year would mark the 75th British GP, and to commemorate that, Alastair Gibson created his masterpieces. The South African even elaborated on how he has drawn inspiration from nature to make the trophies out of carbon fiber. On the official Silverstone channel on YouTube, a video on the making of the British GP trophies went live yesterday.

Alastair starred in it as he commented on the entire process he followed to come up with his carbon art for the drivers’ and the constructors’ accolades. Alastair Gibson spoke on the Silverstone video about the sustainable sourcing of materials for his trophies, saying, “When I was in Formula 1, I looked at all the beautiful parts that used to be in the stores, made from titanium and all these really exotic metals.” Gibson continued relaying the story of how he used scrap parts from the F1 cars to build his art.

He said, “After the [F1] season, they [the scrap parts] were all going to the skip, so I had an idea of hand carving a shark, making a mold, and then using carbon fiber and using the Grand Prix parts to embellish this fish and show the link between the natural world and engineering.” With this novel concept, the 61-year-old used the flaps of the F1 cars as petals while the turbochargers acted as the center of the flower-shaped British GP trophies. Interestingly, this is not the first time Alastair Gibson has made sculptures for F1 racers as several of them have already commissioned his art previously.

British GP trophy-maker Gibson has F1 racers in his clientele

Born in South Africa, Alastair Gibson has been in the midst of nature throughout his childhood. Even after moving to Britain to further his career as an automobile engineer, Gibson managed to carve out time for his sculptures. As he has been the Chief Mechanic for Rubens Barrichello during his BAR-Honda days, the Brazilian commissioned him to make a piranha out of carbon fiber. In fact, ex-BAR racer Jenson Button is also a proud owner of one of Alastair’s best-selling hammerhead sharks.

In 2006, the BAR-Honda changed its form to Honda Racing, and Alastair Gibson continued to work there as the Chief Mechanic. However, after the 2008 Malaysian GP, he exited F1 to focus on his artistry a bit more. Speaking on his move to leave Formula 1 after 14 years, Gibson once said, “I was tired. The passion was gone. It was a real emotional drain spending all my effort and time making a beautiful race car that sometimes only lasted 5 laps before it got smashed off the track. I’d think it was such a waste of energy and enthusiasm.”

Now, Alastair Gibson is the proud owner of a Carbon Art Gallery where he has five co-workers. He explained how all of them helped him in making the iconic British GP trophies. The Johannesburg-born ex-engineer also said he wishes a British driver wins his trophy on July 7 at Silverstone because ‘that’s always special at their home Grand Prix’. Would Lando Norris, perhaps, exact his revenge on Max Verstappen to receive the British GP Champion’s trophy made by Gibson? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.