Grand prix racing's forgotten year of change

A century ago grand prix racing’s future as a fully fledged world championship remained some way off, but it was already a mixing pot for technical innovation, groundbreaking feats and drama aplenty

Grand prix history is often written as though it began in 1950, with the inauguration of the Formula 1 world championship that is now very much the pinnacle of motorsport. That certainly keeps things neat, but GP competition started as far back as 1906, and the season that took place a century ago is a forgotten milestone.

The 1923 campaign featured the arrival of a new technology that would revolutionise racing for decades, the appearance of a mid-engined design, and flirtations with other innovations, the potentials of which would not be realised for many years. And there was some controversy over a team copying the car of a rival…

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Fleet with his wife and two children.