BRDC Optimistic as Deadline Nears

Silverstone's owners are optimistic a deal will be done to save the British Formula One Grand Prix before a Thursday deadline set by Bernie Ecclestone.

"We're working on a proposal that Mr Ecclestone has put to us in the last day or two," British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) chief executive Alex Hooton told BBC radio on Wednesday. "We're working on it and we are optimistic.

"I believe that the signs are that there will be a Silverstone next year and in succeeding years but we're not there yet," he added.

Ecclestone has given the BRDC until Thursday to agree a deal, with the official 2005 calendar due to be ratified by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA)'s world motor sport council in Monaco on Friday.

The 74-year-old, who draws up the calendar and controls the sport's commercial rights, has said that there must be a contract before the race can be listed but he has also guaranteed it will happen.

However, Frank Williams, sounding a discordant note as other team bosses expressed confidence, on Monday doubted that there would be a race. The teams all want to compete in Britain but the duration of the contract, rather than money, is now the sticking point between the BRDC and Ecclestone in an on-off saga.

Britain has hosted a Grand Prix every year since the first Formula One Championship race at Silverstone, a former World War Two airfield, in 1950. Six of the 10 teams are based in England.

Friday's final calendar, with an unprecedented 19 races, could see several changes from the draft one. Jacques Regis, head of the French Federation (FFSA), said this week that there was a possibility of the French Grand Prix moving from April 17 to July 3 on the calendar.

July 3 was the slot earmarked for Silverstone on the provisional calendar.

Formula One sources have suggested that Britain could be moved to July 10, a date that would also avoid a television clash with the Wimbledon men's tennis singles final.

The San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, reprieved after what had looked like a farewell race at the Italian circuit this year, could revert to its familiar April slot as the first European round of the season.