Clare Balding is at Silverstone to discover the vital role that British drivers and engineers have played in the development of motor sports.

Clare Balding continues to explore how Britain shaped sport and sport shaped Britain. Horse racing may be the sport of kings but the princes, playboys and plutocrats of the modern era have preferred motor racing and the British have been at the wheel throughout. Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have all led the way but in the early days women were central to this story too, with Mrs EM Thomas being the awarded the first 120 mph badge at Brooklands in 1928.

The series was made in partnership with The International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University.

Technical presentation: John Benton

Producer: Sara Conkey.