New name announced

The Silverstone Experience Museum is reopening its doors on Monday 17 May with a new name. This immersive visitor attraction, which celebrates the past, present and future of Silverstone and British motor racing, has been renamed the Silverstone Interactive Museum.

The Silverstone Interactive Museum has been designed to inspire the next generation and has over 60 hands-on exhibits where visitors can try out a wide variety of activities – from operating a wind tunnel, piloting a Wellington bomber, taking part in a pit stop and climbing into a replica Grand Prix car. Visitors can even see whether they have got what it takes to commentate on a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

In addition to the hands-on fun, the museum features some of the most iconic cars and bikes that have played a part in the 70-year history of Silverstone circuit including Mansell’s iconic “Red 5”, an E.R.A from the first ever Grand Prix held at the venue in 1948 and Barry Sheene’s 1979 Suzuki motorbike.

New for 2021 is a display featuring Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 race overalls and an enhanced outdoor area where parents can relax with a coffee while younger members of the team can play on an original stretch of the iconic Grand Prix Circuit.

Rounding off a visit is a thrilling immersive film show – the ultimate lap of Silverstone – bringing together some of the circuit’s most famous racing moments with commentary from Murray Walker, Martin Brundle and David Croft.

The Silverstone Interactive Museum is extremely grateful to have recently been awarded a grant of £775k from the Culture Recovery Fund which will support its reopening plans and help the business recover from the effects of having to remain closed for much of the last 12 months.

Sally Reynolds, CEO of Silverstone Heritage Limited, (the charity that runs the museum) commented “After a challenging 12 months we are delighted to be reopening with a name that better portrays what we offer at the Silverstone Interactive Museum which is a fun, educational and hands on day out.

Since the official opening by Prince Harry and Lewis Hamilton on 6 March 2020 we have had three long periods of closure as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has been incredibly frustrating and resulted in us having a very limited time to welcome visitors and build the charity’s cash reserves. We are extremely grateful to the Culture Recovery Fund for recognising the difficulties we have faced and for awarding the grant. With the help of our wonderful volunteers, the team and I are busy preparing the museum ready to open our doors to visitors from 17 May and are very much looking forward to a busy and successful summer."