British GP Saved!

Finally we can say it aloud; there will be a Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 11th 2010. What's more, there WILL be a British GP for the next 17 years! Breathe a sigh of relief...

When thinking of F1 venues, which five come to mind first?

For me its Monaco, Spa Francorchamps (Belgium), Monza (Italy), Silverstone and Interlagos (Brazil). In fact, add those to Suzuka (Japan), Nurbergring (Germany), Adelaide, Montreal and Le Mans and you have an awe inspiring list of circuits which are all famed and would be in most people's top ten. As you can imagine, I was vey pleased when Damon Hill (1996 WDC and current president of the BRDC) announced that they had reached an agreement that will keep Silverstone on the calendar for the next 17 years.

17 years is a long time and it finally gives the circuit owners a chance to improve the venue and make the modifications that will bring Silverstone up to the standard of most other F1 tracks. The reason this hadn't already been done is that for (at least) the last 5 years there has been a question mark over whether Britain would make it onto the subsequent year's calendar and so there could be no justification for investment if it might not even be seen. This is no longer an excuse not to improve. The plans are ambitious; starting with a new track layout, I only hope that Damon Hill has done his sums right - the last thing we need is for another Donnington scenario where there just isn't enough financial backing.

Who knows what happens to Donnington now; it looks like a building site - a job that can't be finished. There doesn't seem be any push to rectify the situation and with Moto GP now also being held at Silverstone it is really hard to see where the circuit goes from here. What a terrible outcome from another classic circuit. One can only hope that someone like (Brands Hatch owner) Jonathan Palmer rescues the situation and preserves another piece of British racing heritage.

As far as I understand, the Silverstone deal is worth about £12m per year until 2015 and then £16.5m thereafter. For the entire 17 years this works out at over £315m, before any money is spent on regeneration. That's a lot of money for a circuit that receives no financial backing from the government and whilst having the Moto GP will help, Bernie holds the right to all the advertisments at the circuit so that area brings no profit.

This means a couple of things: firstly (and most importantly) Bernie must think that this agreement is viable. Bernie has always stated that he wanted a British GP but he needed commitment that the circuit could hold its own against the ulta modern facilities of Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Secondly, Damon and the BRDC must think this is viable; they need to maximise their small profit margins and are therefore banking on sell out crowds despite the recession - consecutive British champions will help with this. Finally, the FIA must also want a race in Britain. This is a curious point as the decision is largely down to Ecclestone but if the rumours are to be believed (new FIA president) Jean Todt helped to fight for Silverstone. Todt is largely seen as a very closed and cold person so whether this was a leak to improve his profile or as some precursor to putting a similar deal in place for a race in (his native) France remains to be seen. Either way I am glad that he did what he did.

At the end of the day Silverstone is a classic, in my opinion it is a better Grand Prix venue than Donnington and has provided us with some absolutely brilliant races (think '03 and '08). Like the other circuits listed above, as a fan, I look forward to the British GP there is just something about it.

Thank you Bernie and Damon (and Jean) for letting the fans have what they want. Its almost like you have listened to us.