17/07/2017
NEWS STORY
Silverstone's owner, the British Racing Drivers' Club, is understood to have rejected a bid which would have seen the British Grand Prix secure for the next five years.
Liberty Media, which bought F1 in January, had offered to run the event itself for the next five years, on this basis that it was given the circuit for the three weeks surrounding the race for free.
However, claiming that such a deal would lose the track around £20k a day, the circuit's owners are understood to have rejected the deal.
Clearly fearing a public roasting, FOM's Chase Carey and Sean Bratches were not as prominent over the Silverstone weekend as they have been at recent events, Carey no doubt still recovering from the public ambush from Eddie Jordan at the London event last week, when the excitable Irishman declared to the crowd that the event was saved, even though the American had said nothing of the kind.
The BRDC claims it triggered the break clause in its contract - the timing of which, though legally necessary, angered Carey - in the hope that in the years up to 2019 a new deal might be agreed, though FOM insists it has no intention of renegotiating the deal.
Indeed, talking to The Times, Carey admits that he is puzzled by the organisers claims of financial hardship under the current deal.
"I don't understand some of their claims about their economics," he said, "particularly when I look at our business in other places. The people who run a good race seem to have a different picture than they are painting.
"But I don't have visibility to how they account, how they assign costs," he admitted. "I know we are not treating them unfairly. We are treating them consistently with others. We value Silverstone and we have three years to reach an agreement.
"Our preference is for Silverstone but the British Grand Prix certainly does not have to be here," he warned. "We have had expressions of interest from other places in the UK, but I'm not trying to play one against the other."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Silverstone, here.