Silver lining for British Grand Prix

FORMULA One’s new boss Chase Carey will not rip up the contract that threatens the British Grand Prix.

But the American has pledged to work with Silverstone to make the race ‘bigger and better’ and has been in touch with John Grant, chairman of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, the track’s owners, to see what can be done.

Silverstone’s future has been in doubt since Grant wrote to his 800 members telling them the grand prix was ‘potentially ruinous’. He proposed activating a break clause that would make the 2019 staging of the race the last at the circuit.

The BRDC desperately wants to keep the British Grand Prix, the race that kicked off the first World Championship in 1950, but only if it is affordable.

Despite attracting big crowds, the club is stymied by a deal signed with Bernie Ecclestone in 2009 whereby the fee to host the race rises by five per cent each year, from £12million in 2010 to £26m in 2027.

Silverstone were waiting to see if Carey might help out.

‘We’re not going to renegotiate with Silverstone but we’ll work with them to be good partners,’ Carey told the Mail on Sunday.

‘The British Grand Prix is an important race in the calendar. Although we want to stage new races in “destination” cities such as London, New York and LA, we recognise the European foundations of the sport.

‘We want to help Silverstone promote the race. When there is an NFL game in London, the shops in Regent Street are full of it. We want to do that with the British Grand Prix and also make the event broader, with the race at the centre of a full-weekend show.’