DEREK BELL
The Legend
Ialways look forward to the British Grand Prix, largely because it’s my home race, but also because Silverstone is one of the few genuinely historic venues left on the Formula 1 calendar. It hosted the first-ever round of the championship back in 1950, after all. Obviously, the circuit has been chopped and changed, revised and reconfigured umpteen times since then, but its name resonates the world over. It’s just a pity that this year’s race was staged only a few days after it was announced that the British Grand Prix may be hosted elsewhere after 2019, if at all. That did rather cast a shadow over proceedings.
The BRDC, owners of Silverstone Circuit, released a press release stating that the pot was dry and, unless some sort of compromise could be reached with Formula 1’s rights holders, Liberty Media, it was going to trigger a clause in its contract and walk away. Of course, we have been here before. Over the years, there have been several occasions when the race appeared to be in jeopardy and this was invariably due to finance – or lack thereof – but somehow the day was saved. I’m not so sure that will happen this time.
As I understand it, the BRDC signed a 17-year contract with former F1 czar Bernie Ecclestone in 2009. In a nutshell, it stated that it would pay somewhere in the region of £17m to host the race, with that fee escalating by five percent year on year. My maths is a little rusty, but I believe that would equate to roughly £26m by 2019. The thing is, circuit operators get a very small slice of the cake – ticket sales and a take from selling hospitality. Everything else, including monies generated from TV broadcasting, goes elsewhere and the British Grand Prix has lost £7.6m over the last two years. Obviously, that is unsustainable.
The British Grand Prix is unquestionably one of the most important races on the F1 schedule. It’s the country’s most popular weekend sporting event and plays out in front of a capacity audience, but still it does not – cannot possibly, as I see it – make a profit, let alone break even. But when you have countries such as Azerbaijan and Bahrain willing to pay upwards of £40m to host a Grand Prix, F1’s licence holders are naturally going to go where the money is. Sentimentality doesn’t come into it.
So where do we go from here? I wish I knew. You only need to spend two minutes in the Formula 1 pitlane before you hear grumblings about money. It’s always about money. Silverstone doesn’t have a God-given right to host a race, but it is ultimately a business and one that cannot continue to lose millions. The British Grand Prix is the only one of the calendar that doesn’t receive statebacking, nor, I imagine, will it ever. Given the challenges currently being faced by the UK Government, I somehow doubt that saving the Grand Prix is even on its radar, let alone a priority.
There are other potential venues, however, but once again costs would probably mitigate against switching circuits, not least because most would require massive changes in terms of run-off area, the size of pit garages, infrastructure and so on. I hope I am wrong, but I can see Great Britain joining France and other race-loving nations in becoming the former hosts of Grands Prix. After all, it’s surely much healthier for the sport to be playing out to empty grandstands in countries that don’t have even trace elements of motor sport history…
Of course, you could just as easily argue that Formula 1 is a global sport, so why shouldn’t it be exported to other countries – or perhaps ‘other markets’ is closer to the truth. No reason at all, is the answer, other than that it’s short-changing the existing fans.
As for the 2017 British Grand Prix, it was a corker. Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth home win to equal Jim Clark and Alain Prost’s joint record, and there was drama up and down the order until the chequered flag descended. It closed the gap in points between Hamilton and arch-rival Sebastian Vettel to next to nothing as we enter the second half of the season, with Lewis’ Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas now looking like a genuine title-contender, too.
I hope the rest of the season continues to provide more quality racing and I would dearly love for it to be a two- or three-way fight to the end of the year. As a former Ferrari old boy, I obviously have a deep affinity for the scarlet cars, but I am also a proud Brit and so I wouldn’t be disappointed if Lewis took his fourth drivers’ title. I foresee fireworks on the horizon – and I for one will relish every moment of it.
‘I CAN SEE US JOINING FRANCE AND OTHER RACE-LOVING NATIONS AS FORMER HOSTS OF GRANDS PRIX’