Good news for Formula 1 fans, Motorsport Week can reveal that the British Grand Prix will remain at Silverstone until at least 2022 following the conclusion of a new deal between the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) and Liberty Media.
British Formula 1 fans can breathe a sigh of relief with the news that the British GP won’t be dropping off the calendar after this year’s event, which was due to be the last race at Silverstone after the BRDC activated a break clause agreement in its contract shortly before the 2017 race.
Silverstone had originally held a deal to host the race through 2026, but in 2017 activated a clause which allowed it to end that deal earlier, a decision which was made due to strained finances caused by a multiplier agreement, which saw the hosting fee increase year-on-year.
That deal was struck under former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, and many believed that the break clause was activated by the BRDC purely hoping to negotiate a better deal with new owners Liberty Media. But Chase Carey and his team held firm in negotiations and with just two months to go until what was supposed to be the last race at the Northamptonshire circuit, all seemed lost.
But yesterday Joe Saward, Group F1 Editor of sister publication Motorsport Monday confirmed via his JSBM confidential weekly newsletter that the race had indeed been rescued and that the event would continue beyond this year’s grand prix.
Although it isn’t known exactly what compromise has been agreed to, Saward is confident that a successful accommodation has been reached for the race to continue at the historic circuit. Given that the British GP has been a staple of the F1 calendar since the very first championship race in 1950 and seven of the ten teams being based in the UK, not having a British GP would have been unfathomable.
Saward’s sources confirmed to him that the new deal is a multi-year agreement, destined to run from 2020 through to 2022. But coming as a further surprise, is that there is no guarantee that the Silverstone race will remain the only UK event on the F1 calendar!
This is because commercial rights holders Liberty Media are hoping to add a second UK-based race to the calendar as early as 2021, with the obvious location being London’s Docklands area.
Although this remains in the very early planning stages only, there are moves to make it a reality in the hope of reviving the idea of a grand prix in the Docklands area, which recently confirmed plans for a Formula E race at the ExCel Exhibition Centre next year.
Meanwhile an agreement for the return of the Dutch GP next year, which was revealed by Motorsport Week earlier this month, is due to be announced by Liberty Media in mid-May.
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