A huge crowd turned out at Silverstone to see if Mercedes could repeat their Reims rout. In the end, just two silver cars arrived (for Fangio and Kling). In contrast, Maserati had nine cars, whilst Ferrari had three for the experienced trio of Hawthorn, Gonzalez and Trintignant. Fangio set Silverstone's fastest ever lap, breaking the 100 mph barrier with a lap of 100.35 mph. It was Gonzalez who led away and held the lead until the flag. Behind him, Fangio passed Hawthorn for second but after colliding several times with oil drums in a difficult handling car, he dropped to fourth. Moss took over the position but retired with rear axle problems, leaving Hawthorn to follow home for a Ferrari 1–2 and young Onofre Marimón to take his second (and last) podium place.
^1 — Rodney Nuckey, named substitute driver for Eric Brandon in the #30 Cooper-Bristol, was given a starting position despite not completing a single lap in qualifying or in the race.