Silverstone Backed by F1 Fans

The venue has been repeatedly criticised in recent years by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley and faced a fight to keep its place on the calendar, but the recent FIA/AMD Survey revealed that it was a surprise big hit with worldwide fans.

According to the results of the survey, 49 percent of fans claimed that their interest in Formula One would decrease if Silverstone was dropped from the calendar. It ranked behind just Monaco (55 percent) and Spa-Francorchamps (53 percent).

The results come on the back of comments from Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard, who said he was mystified as to why the venue was criticised so much.

"It has looked for several seasons now that they are desperate to get it off the calendar," Coulthard said on Tuesday. "For whatever reason Silverstone seems to have to work harder than the other circuits to keep its Grand Prix.

"Look at Canada's facilities - absolutely terrible but we endure them because we enjoy the track, the city and the whole atmosphere. Canada's facilities are significantly worse than Silverstone."

The low ranking of Bahrain, Shanghai and Istanbul is most probably because they are the newest venues on the calendar, meaning that established races Hungary, Malaysia and France were the most unpopular.

Most popular circuits according to FIA/AMD survey: