WATCH: How the cars have changed in 70 years of F1 innovation

This week marked exactly 70 years since the very first Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix was held at Silverstone in 1950, and we've been looking at how the sport has changed over those seven decades.

While there have been plenty of changes to the regulations, the tracks, the safety equipment and of course, the drivers and teams, the sport still remains what it was in 1950: compeititors battling it out on track in the fastest cars in the world.

1950 vs 2020: Cars, drivers, safety and pit stops – how F1 has changed in 70 years

But it hasn't just been a 70 year-long contest between drivers - the technicians and engineers in the pitlane have been fighting their own battle with each other over that time, and it's one that's every bit as fierce as that played out on the track as they constantly try to outwit each other with the latest development designed to give their car the edge.

In the video above, we explore the key technical innovations that took the sport from the front-engined monsters of the 1950s, to the highly sophisticated carbon fibre pure breeds of today...