Hill says Silverstone not for sale

Under the proposal, Speight's Spectre organisation would pay a total of £56 million - including £20,000 for each member of the current Silverstone owners the BRDC - for the venue and would improve facilities while developing the land around the circuit.

Hill confirmed to BBC Sport that Speight had tabled the offer and said that Silverstone would not be distracted from the 'self-funded' development plan that the BRDC already has underway.

"We're not planning to sell Silverstone - that's not the objective," Hill said.

"We've got a plan that we're proceeding with in order to develop the circuit. It's quite common for people, especially property developers, to approach anyone with a property and make a proposal, so it would fit into that category.

"There has been an approach made by a property developer called Spectre.

"He has written to all the members, which was not strictly correct etiquette, but nevertheless he's written to all the members and made an offer to buy the asset. The BRDC board have responded to that in the correct way and it will be looked at thoroughly.

"Silverstone is not for sale. We are in the middle of a property development procedure which involves co-operation with government and all the local administration, councils, and areas around Silverstone that Silverstone affects.

"That's an ongoing process, and we're not being diverted from that."

Hill explained that the BRDC was confident that their current programme of improvements would be successful without outside funding.

"We have a self-funded approach to the development of the circuit," he said.

"We will get planning permission, it will raise the asset value of the property, and then we will borrow against that to develop the circuit.

"That was also okay'd by the members. There's always nervousness, of course. But we've got the situation where we've got a good proposal, which we have confidence in, and the support of the members."