Silverstone upbeat over GP

The future of the event is now firmly in Ecclestone's hands, but despite his recent negative comments, Silverstone MD Andrew Waller is upbeat about the long-term future of the event being held at the Northamptonshire venue.

"In effect, the rights are now with Bernie and they're in safe hands," Waller told Autosport. "This is positive for Silverstone. Although Interpublic, when they were here, invested quite heavily, they made it clear recently that they wanted an exit and under those circumstances further investment was not realistic.

"We all know Silverstone needs huge investment, and this increases the possibility of that happening. We're very positive and I think Bernie is too, but we can only speculate about what he thinks.

"All three parties still have to work on the next stage to create opportunities to get that investment. At the moment, we're just focused on sorting out this year's race but I'm sure they'll be immediate discussions between the other parties. The 2004 event remains as it is, the sales are strong and we're working flat-out on it."