How did Silverstone get itself in such an F1 mess?

London is showcasing F1 in a city-centre spectacular during grand prix week, but a shadow has been cast over the event by the ongoing row over the future of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (pictured).

F1 owner Liberty Media has criticised the timing of Silverstone’s announcement that it is triggering a post-2019 break clause in its F1 contract, saying the track owners are ‘posturing’ in the week of the British Grand Prix when they should be celebrating F1 and Silverstone.

For their part, the track owners – the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) – have hit back, with chairman John Grant saying: ‘We had one chance to protect our future. We left it to the last possible moment as we wanted to keep all our options open.’

How did it come to this?

Unlike almost every other Formula 1 venue, Silverstone receives no government backing, and the costs of hosting F1 have risen inexorably, if predictably.

In 2009, Silverstone signed a 17-year deal with former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone (pictured) which guaranteed the track would pay the promoter £12million that year – and 5 per cent more every year after, peaking at £25million by 2026.

At a time of historically low inflation rates, that 5 per cent escalator has crippled Silverstone’s ability to cover its costs, never mind generate a profit.

The circuit’s only income from F1 is through ticket sales and circuit hospitality – advertising and other income streams go straight to F1 bosses – and there’s only so much financial pain F1 fans can take.

For example, if you want to sit in the stand at Becketts for Sunday’s race, you’ll pay £349. For Abbey, it’s £399 and the Pit Straight is a relative bargain at £275.

Even General Admission tickets are £185, and £92.50 for under-16s.

Despite these ticket prices, the circuit says it lost £4.8million last year, on top of a £2.8million loss in 2015.

Such losses are unsustainable but Liberty Media is understandably nervous about renegotiating the deal, fearful that it could open the floodgates to similar protests around the world.

And do countries make much money from hosting F1? They can ­­– in 2013, Singapore estimated that running a grand prix brought in an extra £71million over the race weekend.

What do racing types think?

Martin Brundle said he was ‘sad’ at the situation the track found itself in, while Sir Jackie Stewart has called for the government to help, highlighting the 143,000 people employed by F1 in Britain as well as the money the race generates for the country as a whole.

Ex-racing driver and TV presenter Tiff Needell (pictured), a BRDC member, said: ‘When you think of the money that is spent on Olympic sports and winning Olympic medals, that’s all so we can wave the flag. That’s money being spent for patriotic promotion.’

Needell, who is currently filming a new motoring show called Forbidden Drives, for the Motor Trend OnDemand streaming service, added: ‘The joke of it all is that the country that earns the most out of holding a grand prix pays almost nothing – Monte Carlo.

‘F1 has special deals for Monaco, special deals for Ferrari, can Liberty give Britain a special deal? I think something will be bashed out – I don’t think Liberty want to lose the British Grand Prix.’

Is it all Ecclestone’s fault? Surprisingly, not exactly…

Bernie Ecclestone made billions from F1 by driving the hardest bargains he could, wherever F1 went.

However, even though Silverstone’s hosting fees appear eye-watering, they are among the lowest in the F1 world.

Individual fees are generally kept secret but in 2015, the average fee for hosting an F1 event was $31.5million, and the peak fee was considerably higher.

Cast in that light, it looks like Ecclestone was actually doing Silverstone a huge favour when he signed the 2009 deal.

And it’s worth remembering that the BRDC has attracted criticism for its handling of Silverstone’s facilities over the years.

Back in the 1990s (pictured), the circuit badly needed basic improvements to the pit area and other elements such as drainage, but money was lavished on a new BRDC clubhouse which opened in 1998.

That was just a year after Silverstone told Ecclestone there was no money available to upgrade the pits.

Over the next ten years, the circuit repeatedly failed to deliver on pledges (to F1 and non-F1 operators) that it would upgrade facilities, culminating in Ecclestone’s 2009 threat to take the British Grand Prix to Donnington.

That was a kick up the backside for Silverstone and BRDC pulled their fingers out.

However, the circuit remains an unfinished project. The ‘Wing’ pit complex was paid for through two huge loans from Lloyds and the local council – it’s iconic, but you can’t see all the garages from the main grandstand.

The old pit area, used by lesser motorsport categories, still resembles a skanky swimming pool when it rains – and it does rain at Silverstone.

Silverstone, then, has to shoulder a lot of the blame for what’s gone on but, as it’s the only F1-grade circuit in Britain, there’s nowhere else to race, right? Well, maybe there is…

Is a London Grand Prix viable?

There are at least a couple of options for a London Grand Prix but the most likely location would be in the East of the city, around the Docklands.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner is one F1 figure who sees potential in a Docklands race.

He said: ‘Silverstone is a wonderful track but if this London F1 event (pictured) is a success – which hopefully it should be – along with recent legislation changes in the City of London, one can imagine a London Grand Prix being pretty attractive to the Liberty guys.’

Not everyone is so bullish about the potential for a race in the city though.

Needell said: ‘There’s been posturing about London but I don’t really think it can happen.

‘The safety element of Formula 1, with acres of run-off and carparks, means that Silverstone is the only Formula 1 track that teams would agree to drive on.

‘They held a Formula E race in Battersea for two years and the complaints were horrendous – and that was in a closed-off park.

‘It didn’t interfere with public roads at all. But to move furniture out of London streets and shut London … there are so many people who would protest.

‘Let’s see how the Trafalgar Square event goes.’

Where do we go from here?

Silverstone hosted the first Formula 1 race, back in 1950, and there’s been a British Grand Prix every year since (1954 pictured), at various circuits.

Bringing a Donnington or a Brands Hatch up to F1 standards is, financially, a non-starter but we’ve seen F1 be increasingly adventurous with its street circuits – the eccentric Baku track being a particularly good example of how F1 can squeeze itself into unlikely spaces, when the money is right.

Liberty has said it wants to protect the classic F1 races – but not at any price.

There is no need for the British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone – it’s a marathon for most of us to get there and the circuit has been neutered over the years, although Maggots-Becketts-Chapel remains one of the finest complexes on the F1 calendar.

A Docklands grand prix would be a huge draw – and there would be public transport to get you there.

Whether a race could be turned around before Silverstone exited F1 is a different matter but money, as they say, talks.

Needell’s new motoring show, Forbidden Drives, looks at cars we can drive in Britain which aren’t available in America, and decides which ones would be worth giving our Stateside cousins a taste of.

They range from AMG C-Class Merc estate and Audi RS6 to the Land Rover Defender, all vehicles which you might be surprised to learn are not available over the Atlantic.

It would be just a tiny bit ironic if, in the years to come, F1 was available in the States – Liberty’s stomping ground – but not back here in Britain, the spiritual home of the sport.