Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

BRDC Won't Take Blame if Silverstone is Not Saved

Jackie Stewart claimed today that the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) would not be to blame if the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is lost from the Formula One calendar.

Jackie Stewart claimed today that the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) would not be to blame if the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is lost from the Formula One calendar.

The BRDC, promoters Brands Hatch Circuits Ltd, Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management (FOM) and the East Midlands Development Agency - representing the British Government - met on Tuesday to consider proposals to fund a proposed £40 million (pounds) redevelopment of the track.

But BRDC president Stewart, who claims to be doing everything in his power to save the historic event, admits he may face an uphill battle after the four interested parties failed to reach an agreement after talks.

However, he pointed out that the meeting itself indicated that progress was being made and that Formula One ringmaster Ecclestone, with whom he has worked since 1964, was a passionate fan of motor racing and the British Grand Prix and was prepared to compromise his position in order to find a solution.

"It is a David versus Goliath situation," said Stewart. "The other three in this are all Goliaths. It is really beyond our power to raise the sort of monies that have been talked of in the last few days.

"We are the smallest of the players involved in this game. But I do believe, following our meeting yesterday, that there is a way forward to make progress and keep the British Grand Prix on the calendar. If we lose it, it won't be us to blame. We are not a rich body and we are not the owners of the rights to the British Grand Prix."

Stewart said it was now a matter of sharing out the financial burden between the four parties to make the event a success and secure for the long-term.

BRDC chairman Martin Brundle added that Interpublic - who own Brands Hatch Circuits Ltd - had "done an appalling job in running British motorsport" and had further weakened Silverstone's bid to keep its place in Formula One.

Ecclestone had claimed that he expected Silverstone to raise at least £40 million (pounds) against its own rental income from the British Grand Prix promoters Brands Hatch Circuits to fund the necessary improvements to save the race.

He also said he expected the Government to support the promoters and to prevent any losses by subsidising the event. But Brundle said that the suggestion by Ecclestone that the BRDC should borrow £40 million (pounds) or more to fund the redevelopment was "not on the agenda any longer".

Brundle confirmed that the financial figures banded about during the British Grand Prix weekend by Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley were inaccurate. He said the rent received by the BRDC from Brands Hatch was only half of the £8 million (pounds) suggested and that this was secured only until 2007 and no longer.

These figures made it clear that the BRDC, which has an overdraft of £3.4 million (pounds) was not making sufficient profit and did not have sufficient security of income to borrow anything like the funds suggested.

Brundle said: "It is not within the powers, or within the gifts, of the BRDC to save or to lose the British Grand Prix now or in the future."

Brundle confirmed that Ecclestone and the other parties who attended Tuesday's meeting had accepted the BRDC's figures and had conceded that any borrowing against them was impossible. But Ecclestone's Formula One Management issued a statement on Wednesday claiming to have put forward a proposal to the BRDC that would see the future of the Silverstone event secured until 2015.

"A proposal was put forward to secure the British Grand Prix until at least 2015," read a statement from Formula One Management. "The proposal did not involve BRDC raising money or taking any financial risk. Unfortunately, no progress was made with BRDC representatives."

Both Brundle and Stewart were surprised to read the statement from FOM that was distributed to reporters at the end of the BRDC news conference in the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London.

Stewart said he was "very surprised" because he felt progress had been made during Tuesday's meeting. Brundle suggested that Ecclestone was working with a broader and entirely different agenda in mind.

The British event faces great competition to retain its place on the calendar in the future as Formula One becomes more global and the standards of the venues and their facilities rise. Next year will see the inclusion of races in Bahrain and Shanghai for the first time.

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article BRDC Rejects FOM Offer to Run the British GP
Next article British GP solution is on the table

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe