BERNIE: GB SHOULD HOST 1,000th RACE

BERNIE ECCLESTONE believes sunday’s 1,000th Formula one Grand Prix should be at silverstone — not shanghai. the 88-year-old said that if he were still in charge of the sport he would have covered any financial loss incurred by silverstone for switching the British Grand Prix from its traditional July date to this weekend. It was at the Northamptonshire circuit that the World championship — and regulated F1 — began in 1950, a race won by Alfa Romeo’s Giuseppe Farina. ‘the silverstone people would be worried about losing out on revenue so I would have made sure we made up the difference from Formula one’s own pockets,’ Ecclestone said. ‘It would have been super to have the 1,000th race there. It is such an important part of the heritage of F1, it would have been nice to recognise that.’ liberty Media, who took over from Ecclestone, did sound out silverstone about moving the race last year, but liberty did not offer a financial safety net and silverstone declined the offer, as they may have done in any event. silverstone bosses are haunted by the memory of their previous April race, on Easter Day 2000, when police advised people not to travel as mud-bath car parks caused miles of delays. stuart Pringle, the circuit’s chief executive, said: ‘Moving dates is never something we considered seriously. It was thoughtful of F1 to give us first refusal on it. But we always felt it was better to stick to July 14. People want motor racing in its traditional British summer slot. It was almost guaranteed not to be a success, when we are trying to make the British Grand Prix viable.’ there will be a weekend-long celebration in shanghai, including a festival in Xintiandi Park. Ecclestone, now F1’s chairman emeritus, is expected in shanghai.