Archive - Jul 5, 2008

During coverage of Friday Practice for the F1 British Grand Prix, Speed TV reported that this may be the last time Formula One is held at Silverstone for some time. According to Bob Varsha, Speed TV commentator, Donington Park has signed an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to host the British F1 Grand Prix for ten years, following a 100 million dollar update to the facility. F1 was last held at Donington Park in 1993.

The British Racing Drivers' Club, the entity that owns Silverstone, has not been on good terms with Ecclestone for some time, and while the club is apparently doing everything within reason to keep F1 at their track, they have been unable to come to terms with Ecclestone.

Peter Windsor commented that Donington has committed to a Hermann Tilke refit of the circuit to make it suitable for Formula One. MotoGP fans will be familiar with other Tilke projects, such as the tracks at Shanghai, Sepang, and Istanbul. Windsor proposed that one of the problems with keeping Silverstone on the F1 calendar from Ecclestone's perspective is that Silverstone has not used Tilke for any modifications.

David Hobbs responded by saying that Silverstone, as is it, is "better than a lot of Herman Tilke circuits, that's for dead sure."