Silverstone threatens F1 exit
SILVERSTONE: The heartland of Formula One will lose its home race from 2020 unless Silverstone is handed a cheaper deal to stage the British Grand Prix.
Despite seven of the 10 teams being based in Britain and Silverstone attracting the biggest crowds in the sport, the circuit has told F1 owner Liberty Media that escalating race fees have made the historic race unsustainable.
Silverstone on Tuesday activated a break clause in the contract that was signed in 2009 when the British GP was last under threat, providing two years’ notice of its intention to walk away from F1.
Losing Silverstone would deprive the series of a huge dose of its heritage, given that the former airfield first staged an F1 race in 1948 and opened the inaugural world championship season two years later.
“We don’t have infinite resources to keep on subsidising the Grand Prix and it’s wrong to do that,” British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) chairman John Grant told The Associated Press as the circuit was being prepared for Sunday’s race.
“We only have one opportunity to bring it to a stop, legally. We have this one opportunity to exercise the break clause and we have to do it today.”
The BRDC reported losses in 2015 of £2.8 million and £4.8 million in 2016. Race fees rise 5% annually and will hit £16.2 million for this weekend’s race.
The race organisers said the fees will have leapt to £25 million by 2026, the last year of the current contract.
F1 came under new ownership earlier this year when US sports and entertainment firm Liberty bought out investment fund CVC Capital Partners.
Liberty said Tuesday it is focused on preserving the race and promised to “carry on negotiating with the promoter in good faith and in private to reach a fair and equitable solution.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was less diplomatic, saying he was “amazed” the break clause had been triggered and questioning the circuit’s leadership.
“They have now realised that they can’t afford it despite having a full house every year,” said Horner, whose team is based nearby in Milton Keynes. “They either should not have signed it in the first place or they got their maths wrong. Silverstone gets favourable rates anyway.”