F1 star reveals unique Silverstone total eclipse story

Jordan team-mates Damon Hill and Heinz Harald Frentzen in 1999 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Off the Track

F1 star reveals unique Silverstone total eclipse story

Driving in the dark

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Wednesday 12 August 2026 17:27

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There is a solar eclipse happening in the United Kingdom tonight (Wednesday 12) and if this is the first time you are hearing of it then where have you been all day?

Because with little warning the nation has gone eclipse mad. People want to see it, and are buying 'special eclipse glasses', weighing up whether sunglasses do the job, daring each other to look directly at the sun (don't) and even bringing up that Jaffa Cakes advert from back in the day.

Partial eclipses are common, but this eclipse will be the biggest in Britain since 1999, when a whole total eclipse was recorded. This time around as much as 95 per cent of the sun could be covered, although this depends on what region of the UK.

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From around after 6pm (UK time) the moon will start covering the sun reaching a peak around an hour later.

The rare phenomenon will mean it will noticeably get darker, without going pitch black, for a few minutes as the moon covers the sun before normal light conditions resume a few moments later.

So not quite the darkness matched by Monty Burns's sun blocking antics in the Simpsons all those years back.

Given it's in the evening and F1 is on its summer break, the chances of a Formula 1 driver being on track in a modern day car is precisely zero.

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Heinz-Harald Frentzen recalls eclipse story

But that wasn't the case for the 1999 total eclipse, when it occurred late in the morning. While it was on a Wednesday, it still caught out one F1 star driving around Silverstone.

In the days when testing wasn't restricted, Heinz-Harald Frentzen was taking part in a test session on the British track for Jordan, and has now recalled the remarkable moment he realised an eclipse was happening while he was hitting nearly 200mph at the home of the British Grand Prix.

The three-time grand prix winner said on X: "Anyone remember what they were doing in August 1999 when the solar eclipse crossed England?

"I was testing at Silverstone with Jordan. Suddenly the cockpit lights got brighter and brighter – then I realised we were right in the middle of the eclipse!"

F1 wouldn't get a night race until 2008 with the Singapore Grand Prix, but for around two minutes at least Frentzen (sort of) pioneered the way for driving F1 cars in the dark.

F1 Heinz-Harald Frentzen