Is Donington being set up?
July 9th, 2008
This is pure speculation on my part and comes following Bernie’s recent comments
“We won’t come back,” Ecclestone told The Times when asked if F1 will ever return to Silverstone. “We’re in the same situation as we were before Donington came into the deal. I am sure they will be ready but, if not, we will sign with another country. There won’t be a British Grand Prix. Pure and simple.”
Does Bernie perhaps think that Donington will not be able to meet its targets for a British GP in 2010 and so the British GP slot on the calendar can be given to some other country? It’d be Machiavellian, but it would allow Bernie to blame someone else for the decision to move.
When you look at all the aspects of the deal, it is extraordinarily ambitious
1. There is only 2 years to make all the changes
2. The circuit is not up to modern F1 standard
3. There is no planning permission for any changes
4. The road system around Donington is a nightmare
5. The £100m required is not available. I heard the Donington CEO on ITV say that the money was going to be raised through (I believe) a debenture scheme with the public. That’s a big ask
As Wikipedia points out, Brands Hatch also secured the deal to host the British Grand Prix in 1999 and was unable to complete the changes required
In 1999, Foulston announced that Brands Hatch had acquired the rights to the British Grand Prix from 2002.[6] Whilst discussions were ongoing with regards to planning permission to bring the circuit up to F1 requirements, Foulston sold BHL to Octagon Motorsports (a subsidiary of Interpublic) for £120 m.[7] Octagon, however, failed to obtain the necessary planning permission and instead decided to lease Silverstone in order to host the Grand Prix.[8]
Entry Filed under: Formula 1
5 Comments Add your own
1. Ashley | July 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I agree with you I don’t think it’ going to be ready, and this may be Bernie’s idea of saying prove you can organise something or forget it.
2. Andy | July 10th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
We’ve been having a good hard think about this on our site and, frankly, we can’t see how Donington can possibly pull this off. The public funding thing particularly sounds a complete nightmare…
3. james w. rodgers | July 10th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
i live in the u.s. and am a huge f1 fan. i have been to many euro f1 races. we just got back from turkey. loved it. i hope some how, some way silverstone could stay. to me its the Best track in f1. silverstone has it all. the history, the location in beautiful england and the actual track layout are beyond comparrison. spa comes close but silverstone is simply majestic. i wish bernie, for once, would forget about the money and come to a compromise with the silverstone people and keep the british gp where it belongs ….at silverstone!!!!!!!!!
4. Boy George | July 30th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
This is a great post, very informative lots of insight into the situation.
Thanks
5. Art | September 10th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Let’s explore the top 10 list of countries that deserve a F1 race (excluding Britain):
Italy
France
Belgium
Monaco
Japan
Brazil
Australia
Germany
China
Canada
The low man is Canada. I’d prefer F1 kept the British G.P. and dropped the Canadian G.P.
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