Mosley regards British GP as 'essential'

However, Mosley conceded to a group of reporters that the British GP at Silverstone might not be held in 2005. He said: "I'm not involved in this, because it's between Bernie, the promoter [Interpublic] and the circuit owner [the BRDC]. Bernie wants them to raise their facilities to the same level as the best worldwide and they're not there at all at the moment. The infrastructure is much better - the British government had done its bit there. But the circuit owners haven't done theirs."

Asked how it was that the French GP at Magny-Cours was removed from the provisional 2004 calendar before being reinstated in January, he told reporters: "That was very straightforward - they hadn't paid. They couldn't produce a letter of credit and that's why they lost their date. But we gave them extra time and they paid at the last minute."

The Belgian GP has also been reinstated this season after the problems with the national anti-smoking legislation.