Silverstone, host of the British Grand Prix this weekend, could be very well-liked by the individuals who topic maximum in Formula 1: the drivers.
The 3.7-mile direction constructed round a former Royal Air Force base options many high-speed corners, which give you the thrill that the ones at the back of the wheel search.
“It has the best layout,” Lewis Hamilton, the English Mercedes driving force and eight-time winner of the British Grand Prix, mentioned of his house race. “It’s one that all the drivers look forward to because we have great races there and you have crazy high-speed corners.”
Silverstone is steepest in Formula 1 historical past. When the game began in 1950, the monitor hosted the primary Grand Prix, which used to be received via Nino Farina, who went directly to win the primary drivers’ identify. Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart and Michael Schumacher all received British Grands Prix there, even if Sir Stirling Moss by no means did.
And whilst the British Grand Prix used to be run at different tracks through the years, Silverstone has held each and every one since 1987. For many lovers, who pack the stands and make it a number of the maximum closely attended in Formula 1, Silverstone is the actual house of British motorsport.
It’s “the one I look forward to the most,” Lando Norris, an English McLaren driving force, mentioned.
But Silverstone’s deal to host the British Grand Prix runs out in 2024, and the monitor will likely be required to return to new phrases with the game to proceed internet hosting the race. Stefano Domenicali, the manager govt of Formula 1, has mentioned that, with many new nations and towns involved in maintaining races, even tracks with lengthy histories weren’t assured puts.
The two aspects are negotiating, however neither would say the place the talks stood.
“We won’t know until we get there,” Stuart Pringle, the managing director of Silverstone, mentioned.
Silverstone’s position at the Formula 1 calendar has been underneath danger sooner than. In 2008, Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula 1 on the time, mentioned the race would depart Silverstone. Then in 2017, the British Racing Drivers’ Club, the landlord of the monitor, activated what is known as the destroy clause in its internet hosting settlement, which might permit the membership to forestall maintaining the race.
Silverstone felt it needed to threaten to stroll away as it used to be bleeding cash: 4.8 million kilos in 2016, or about $6.5 million on the time, up from £2.8 million in 2015. It used to be reeling from its earlier contract phrases during which it needed to pay Formula 1 extra money each and every yr, in addition to paying the prices for renovating the monitor and establishing structures to modernize Silverstone.
After two years of talks, a brand new deal used to be struck with Formula 1 and its new proprietor, Liberty Media, which had changed Ecclestone. The monitor had used this time to reshape its funds.
Based on its most up-to-date monetary submitting, Silverstone made £6.9 million in benefit in 2021. It is, in step with Pringle, constantly appearing “black numbers rather than red numbers,” sufficient to assist the monitor upload 9,000 extra seats to its grandstands for this To set up yr’s race. This is a part of the drivers’ membership’s dedication to reinvesting the monitor’s earnings.
“The members, the 820 or so racing drivers or former racing drivers,” he mentioned, do not take cash out. “They get no dividend, they get no personal financial benefit. They get two passes a year and some biscuits with their coffee in the clubhouse.”
The turnaround in Silverstone’s fortunes stems from the track’s efforts to “generate a living from the other 51 weeks of the year,” Pringle said.
This includes holding MotoGP motorcycle racing and other racing championships, as well as attracting visitors to a new museum and a hotel. Silverstone is also selling 60 track-side apartments, inspired, Pringle said, by “examples of something similar in America.”
The track had also been helped by Hamilton’s run to seven world titles, Formula 1’s increasing popularity generated by the Netflix show “Drive to Survive” and people’s eagerness to attend live events again after years of Covid-19 disruptions.
A record 400,000 people attended the 2022 British Grand Prix, but Pringle hopes “another 50,000 or so” will come this year.
In 2013, the drivers’ club sold land it owned around the track, which led to the development of the Silverstone Park business area adjacent to the track. The park houses many motorsport businesses, including the Aston Martin team. Its road car division uses Silverstone to test its products. Pringle said the park was blossoming.
Domenicali, the Formula 1 chief executive, put many racetracks on notice last year, saying “some of the current Grands Prix will no longer be part of the calendar.” He said he wanted existing races to offer more fan entertainment.
Silverstone is working to meet Domenicali’s goal by installing more music stages and holding more fan events. Pringle said it was a “vision of sports and entertainment” that broadens its appeal.
As a privately run track, Silverstone receives no government funding to pay its hosting fee to Formula 1, as many other races do. Silverstone is on its own.
“It’s all we’ve ever known,” Pringle mentioned. “And if we don’t run the track and race successfully, we don’t eat.”