Bernie Ecclestone has defended the decision to omit Silverstone from the provisional calendar for 2005, claiming it is the British Racing Drivers' club, owners of Silverstone, that is to blame.

"They came to me with a letter which more or less said 'take it or leave it'," he revealed to British tabloid the Daily Express. "The obvious thing they should know is that when they say that to me, that is an opportunity to leave it.

"Obviously I regret that we can't have a British Grand Prix," he added, "but this is a commercial deal and I have to be fair to everyone, not just Silverstone.

"There is no going back," he continued. "They had until this date to come up with a contract and all I have is a contract saying they cannot afford my terms.

"I try to be fair and honest with everybody but I cannot give Silverstone what they want because it isn't fair to the other circuits around the world. The deal I offered them was already on the old terms and the cheapest in Europe and the rest of the world. It was a really super deal. We have gone along with them for a long time but I couldn't do any more. They don't want to take a risk. In fact, they don't want to do anything that doesn't suit them.

"We took a lot of time over Shanghai getting the deal right and the people there went and built this magnificent circuit," the F1 supremo continued. "Turkey next year will be great as well.

"You can't go around the world asking people to build these terrific facilities and then we have this thing back in England called Silverstone that we are ashamed of."

In another interview, Ecclestone admitted that there was a slim chance that Silverstone might find its way back on to the calendar, although many F1 insiders believe the race will be left off the 2005 schedule merely to prove a point.