Exclusive: Stewart Vows to Fight for British GP

British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) president Sir Jackie Stewart today promised to fight for the future of the British Grand Prix after fears emerged that it will be dropped from the calendar next year.

The event is in jeopardy after Octagon Motorsport, who own the rights to run the event at the BRDC-owned Silverstone circuit for the next 13 years, were put up for sale by parent company Interpublic earlier this year.

The BRDC chairman, Martin Brundle, said this week that the future of the event is only 50-50 but Stewart, who backed up those suggestions, insisted it will not be given up easily.

"We believe there is going to be a fight to retain the British Grand Prix," Stewart told Atlas F1. "The government don't want to see it go, the motorsport industry doesn't want to see it go and it would be bad for Formula One if it goes.

"If you talk to Ron Dennis or Sir Frank Williams or Eddie Jordan or any teams for that matter, they want it on the calendar and to be honest, I think it will run in 2004."

New venues in Bahrain and China are currently being built in preparation for their first Grands Prix in 2004 while Turkey this week said that they are close to a deal to host a round of the World Championship in 2005.

Stewart believes that it is vital for the sport to have a Grand Prix in Britain, which along with Italy has been the only country to remain an ever-present name on the Formula One calendar since its conception in 1950.

He warned the sport's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone: "At the moment everyone wants a Grand Prix but if you take races to non-market countries then major sponsors are going to recoil.

"I think there needs to be a core group of races that remain constantly on the calendar and there are Grands Prix in this world that are sacred. I include Britain as one of them."