'German British GP' denied

Silverstone's place on next year's Formula 1 calendar has been made provisional until motorsport's governing body, the FIA, can assess evidence gathered in an inquiry into the traffic problems that blighted the 2001 race.

AUTOSPORT's sister magazine F1 Racing claimed that a solution could be to rebrand the European GP held at the Nurburgring as the British GP. But an F1 source told AUTOSPORT that there was only a "very small chance" of that happening. But he did add that the idea was "entirely feasible".

Silverstone has reacted to the threat to its place on the F1 calendar by slashing the number of spectators allowed into next year's race. But this has led to a hike in ticket prices, which could play against the track's chances of holding on to the GP. This week is the last that tickets can be bought at 2001 prices.

For more F1 news, buy this week's AUTOSPORT magazine, on sale tomorrow (Thursday).