David Coulthard ushered in the new century with another win and, of course, who could forget that Easter mud-bath. Copse is now flat in seventh. Gulp.
The race returned to its traditional July date in 2001 when Mika Hakkinen gave McLaren an all too rare win over a dominant Michael Schumacher. The German maestro, however, wasn't to be beaten in 2002 giving Ferrari the first of three consecutive victories.
Rubens Barrichello won an extraordinary race in 2003 after an Irish priest invaded the circuit.
Schumacher returned to the top of the podium in 2004 before McLaren bounced back to break Ferrari's winning streak – Juan Pablo Montoya savouring his first-ever Silverstone success. While most eyes were firmly focused on the track, Silverstone continued to evolve as a state-of-the-art F1 facility throughout the period.
By 2003 Silverstone had opened its gates to a vastly improved road infrastructure. The government's development plan to link the M1 with the M40 was completed in June 2002 and incorporated a new four-lane entrance road into the venue.
Back in 1950 Silverstone was the birthplace of today's FIA Formula One World Championship and, to this day, remains one of the world's most historic and challenging tracks.