The British Grand Prix is once again under threat, as the owners of the Donington circuit begin legal action against the company that has the lease on the venue for the next 150 years.
The owners, Wheatcroft & Son Limited, are seeking £2.47 million in rent from the leasers, Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd.
Bernie Ecclestone is close friends with Wheatcroft but says he knows nothing about the legal action, adding that there’s no chance of the race returning to Silverstone from 2010.
“If Donington can’t put on the British Grand Prix, then that’s it. We will be leaving Britain,” said Bernie.
“There is no question of us going back to Silverstone [pictured]. They have had enough chances and have not delivered what they promised.”
Bernie went on to say that the best way to save the race is to find an investor.
However, British Racing Drivers’ Club president Damon Hill told BBC Radio 5 Live that he has had discussions with Bernie about the race returning to Silverstone.
“We’re very keen on Formula One, and Silverstone has a long history with Formula One, so we’ve always tried to keep the door open,” said Hill.
So is this another of Bernie’s mind games, or is there a real threat that the Brit GP could get cancelled from next year?
Either way, let’s cross our fingers and hope there’s a resolution there somewhere, or we’ll be Grand Prix-free. And that just will not do.
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What do you think?
GLASBO commented on this article
Friday April 24, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Why cant we drop the f1 next year sort out the sliverstone track then return in 2011
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V8fan commented on this article
Friday April 24, 2009 at 11:16 pm
How about a London street circuit if there’s no alternative track & Silverstone is’nt upgraded. I think Bernie should give the Silverstone owners 12 months to get the track upgraded & then suffer a tragic accident in pitlane. I can see the headlines now “Weasel run over by Button in tragic F1 accident”. Shortly followed by “Fans rejoice in F1 revival” & “Max, all tied up with no place to race”.
The race should be at Silverstone.
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tisme commented on this article
Friday April 24, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Ok this will get me into alot of trouble but here I go, I think that Sliverstone has had its day, its just a little boring it is after all a poorly disguised airfield, with the facilities to match. I do think that a British GP has to be on the calender for ever year and only hope that Donington will be a welcome change/challenge for the drivers. That said if Donington does grind to a halt, I do believe that the days of a British GP are over, because the wee man with all the cash seems to want to drop the British GP so he can flog it to some other place were I have to get up at 5am to watch it….
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V8fan commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 1:39 am
Half your luck tisme. I’m an aussie & we have to stay up until 2am to see a full F1 race. We only get 2 races during reasonable hours (Australia & Malaysia) the rest are on in the middle of the night or are delayed until midnight. Thank your lucky stars your in Europe & get a lot of races at a decent hour. It’s hell trying to watch F1 & get up for work in Aus.
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Deano commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 9:46 am
Has Bernie forgotten where F1 started? That’s right, here in the UK, and having no British GP means there is no point in having F1 next year.
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petrolheadsteve commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 12:37 pm
you can’t get rid of the british grand prix, if not donnington how about dunsfold business park
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Obama commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 2:43 pm
As some have mentioned history i think it should be pointed out that Ferrari gets money from Bernie as a heritage team, so why should the British GP go if Ferrari can stay with the huge pile of cash Bernie gives them
Stop destroying the history Bernie, or you will see your sport burm
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DJ05 commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 5:40 pm
How about staging it at the Top Gear track? (!)
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Normal guy commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Its just a shame bernie always wants to put on a GP in england in like april or something stupid so that it will rain, it just back fired on him that one year when everyone got stuck in the fields that were being used for car parks. The quest for a ‘crazy race’ this year bit him in the ass when we got half a race, when EVERYONE said and saw the days before that it rained at that time of the day, and dont tell me they didnt know that when they planned months before, its the dam season for it. Get rid of Bernie he’s ruining this sport and he really enfuriates me. Rant over
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Anonymous commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 9:10 pm
BERNIE’S A COCK
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liam commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 9:27 pm
bernie to be sacked,he is not responsible,and sack max mosley as well,replace them with michael schumacher and damon hill,anyway,why not have the gp at a specially laid track at wembley stadium,like the race of champions,the home of football and f1,what a combination!,it can seat 90,000,imagine it wih a capacity crowd!,i would definately watch that,the brit gp is not going,at any cost,and zandvoort + oz gp at surfers paradise are a must!
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Graeme76 commented on this article
Saturday April 25, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Are you prepared to pay for that track Liam? I hear the tax man calling. It would be an awful hard sell to get non motorsport fans to want to shell out 100+ million for a track they won’t use & will see no direct benefit from.
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Mikeado commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 8:19 am
Liam, that track wouldn’t be big enough for an F1 race – the current Donington Park isn’t and that certainly wouldn’t fit inside a stadium.
What is the minimum distance for a race track? Because we do have a few; Thruxton, Oulton Park, Croft, Brands Hatch, etc.
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Mikeado commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 8:27 am
Or they could use the London street track as seen in Gran Turismo – it’s being extended for GT5. Or build a Gran Turismo track in the British countryside! Maybe High Speed Ring (an F1 car doesn’t drop below 100mph there) or Grand Valley Speedway – a gruelling track with all kinds of corners designed to really test a car.
Ok maybe I’m just daydreaming now…
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Bob72 commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 10:05 am
Goodwood GP please. Lord March has been a genius with the Festival of speed, and revival weekend, why not do all 3. Yes i know because blah blah blah its not big enough blah blah blah facilities blah, but its not a motocross track like Donnington is it. There is history there.
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heinz commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Why not Knockhill Thruxton or Brands Hatch then?
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essexstig commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 6:11 pm
not enought good standard at brands hatch apparentlyy
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essexstig commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 6:12 pm
i want goodwood too!!!
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brs 88 commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 7:31 pm
i think some one whant to much money yep what wrong with sliverstone it need up dating ok what about vilencer and monerco some need to stop been a gread litle s##t and thimk about the sport moor than money
out and we started it all off.
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Fusker commented on this article
Sunday April 26, 2009 at 9:48 pm
What we really need is a brand new track, not a re-hash of an old one.
They could keep an old location, just build a new venue.
I know it wuld never happen, but I would personally love to see the British Grand Prix on a brand new track at Brooklands.
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tifoso471 commented on this article
Monday April 27, 2009 at 12:15 am
Bernie has always been a ruthless money making machine.
He’s being quite a traitor to the sport and its fans by threatening traditional grand prix locations in order to grab the new asian money in the east.
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cakey mess commented on this article
Monday April 27, 2009 at 8:18 am
how good do you think F1 would be if there was no restrictions on anything the teams could make the cars as fast as they possibly could there was no restrictions on tyres and the cars could look like they want. It would be more about the tactics that the teams choose with tyres and downforce etc. and all the cars would be as fast as they could possibly be so the fans would enjoy seeing more action and the drivers would enjopy driving the cars more as they could be more suited to their style
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Storm commented on this article
Monday April 27, 2009 at 11:40 am
I have to agree with Fuskers comment. I’d love to see a completely new state at the art facility at Brooklands. Thats a significantly historic spot deserving of rebirth to become a flagship track for the 21st century.
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Vitara Vixen commented on this article
Wednesday June 24, 2009 at 8:48 pm
They can race around my local city centre if they want, I certainly wouldn’t mind !
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Wednesday March 10, 2010 at 11:43 am
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