The future for Silverstone as a F1 venue

[peebee2]

Maybe but we’re talking £100m F1, not £1m FE. Let’s see.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

NIMBYS would never let it happen. The Battersea (South London) natives were even in revolt about the Formula E races, and that only entails squealing tyres!

I live in Battersea and I knew the FE race would eventually be a no hoper.

As for London itself, forget about it. The biggest problem would be security.

[midgetman]

Good grief no. F1 cars are most exciting on the high speed swerves of a classic road circuit, not another "point and squirt" track.

We spend our lives complaining about the lack of overtaking at Monaco then want to build another city circuit?

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[coppice]

A race in London - what on earth for ? Is somebody pining for the total non spectacle of just about every street race except Monaco and Macau? Silverstone viewing may be tricky but if anybody isn't thrilled by watching an F1 car go through Copse at 160mph plus they should try another sport.

With crap like Bahrain and Azerbaijan (and the rest ..) on the calendar I do wonder why somewhere infinitely better than either gets so much flak?

Here we have a circuit with nearly 70 years of GP history, a GP with a huge crowd and a brilliant atmosphere , a venue which all the drivers love, a race which takes place a spit away from where most of the teams are based and all we can do is bloody moan? I give in .

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by coppice

A race in London - what on earth for ? Is somebody pining for the total non spectacle of just about every street race except Monaco and Macau? Silverstone viewing may be tricky but if anybody isn't thrilled by watching an F1 car go through Copse at 160mph plus they should try another sport.

With crap like Bahrain and Azerbaijan (and the rest ..) on the calendar I do wonder why somewhere infinitely better than either gets so much flak?

Here we have a circuit with nearly 70 years of GP history, a GP with a huge crowd and a brilliant atmosphere , a venue which all the drivers love, a race which takes place a spit away from where most of the teams are based and all we can do is bloody moan? I give in .

Without trying to be too cynical (for once) I think you'll find that over half of the comments on a forum (and that's any forum) will be negative. It's the same with customer service feedback. The majority of people seem happy to complain if they feel that something isn't quite as good as they expected, but less are inclined to get in touch and heap on praise when things are better than expected...

[Armco Bender]

Build a housing estate around the Silverstone track then you would have a built in street race...win...win..

[midgetman]

There's nowhere else in the UK that could cope with the numbers, the transporters and the helicopters.

Mainstream media does cover the GP quite well which keeps UK interest up. If Silverstone goes then F1 following in a critical market for the "sport" (not the business side) will wane. Does Liberty care though? That's 120000 people "on the day" who only give income to the circuit, not Liberty. If they can get increased hosting fees from running in Syria or whatever then that's better for their business model than keeping the inhabitants of one marginal island off the coast of Europe happy.

Will it affect the teams being based in the UK? I doubt it, it's the depth of motor racing infrastructure that they can draw on that keeps them here. Gone are the days when they popped down to Silverstone or Snetterton for a bit of pre-event testing, so there's no hindrance to not being close to a current GP track. We have specialists in all aspects of motor sport in the UK, a pool of potential technicians from our thriving motor sport scene etc.

Who cares about the F1 fans in the UK? Certainly not Liberty. Anyway, people tell me it's cheaper to go to Spa than Silverstone to get your F1 fix so maybe we're looking at a time when F1 is truly global with a couple of races on each continent and we have to get used to a bit more travelling.

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[S griffin]

I don't get why Silverstone gets so much criticism either. It draws in crowds unlike other circuits like Baku, hence adding plenty of atmosphere. The circuit is still a challenge, especially Maggots/Becketts and the new circuit has actually increased overtaking opportunities without ruining the flow

[Peter Mallett]

I like it although many don't. It is still fast and scary at times. What I don't like is what people call F1 now. It's shyte and no matter which circuit they play on it's still shyte. Ergo Silverstone can get on with life and provide real racing and still make a profit without Liberty Media.

[Sodemo]

My issues with Silverstone are that it has egregious fencing around the majority of the circuit, even in places where the cars are at “low speed”. For example the inside of Brooklands is a good example of a place where fences could be lower, since it’s not an area of track where realistically any kind of incident is likely to occur, since the momentum of the cars is going to the outside. Another issue I have is that they seem to have tried to annoy amateur photographers at every opportunity. In the past there were a few areas where you could get a decent shot through a gap in the access road for marshals etc, however having been this year, all those nice areas where the fencing was perhaps “chest height”, is now about 7-8 feet tall, it’s like they have deliberately done it just to grind the nuts of people trying to get a decent photo without fences in the way.

[Peter Mallett]

Elf 'n safety matey. You can't avoid it anywhere.

[littleman]

I'm firmly of the view that most contemporary motor racing, particularly single-seaters from F1 down, is shyte.

I've concluded the halcyon days of Motorsport are most definitely behind us, replaced instead by sterile circuits and very clever, complex but ultimately very boring race cars....they don't even sound good anymore!

Silverstone Circuit is well placed to enjoy the future of motorsport..The Past!

Nostalgia, Memorabilia, etc etc is now where it's at. There's huge interest in historic racing today, just look at the interest in historic F1, Sports Cars, Saloon Cars etc. The Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival goes from strength to strength as will the Silverstone Classic weekend.

Liberty can stick their turbo hybrids, halo's and grid kids up their proverbial.WEC can stick their Jules per lap, mega complex hybrid crap in the same place.

Give me a screaming V12, V10 or V8 and I'll be there. Don't care about the lap times, I'm quite happy just listening.

Bring on the CanAm boys and F5000 cars and I'll get very excited!

[wnut]

Originally Posted by littleman

I'm firmly of the view that most contemporary motor racing, particularly single-seaters from F1 down, is shyte.

I've concluded the halcyon days of Motorsport are most definitely behind us, replaced instead by sterile circuits and very clever, complex but ultimately very boring race cars....they don't even sound good anymore!

Silverstone Circuit is well placed to enjoy the future of motorsport..The Past!

Nostalgia, Memorabilia, etc etc is now where it's at. There's huge interest in historic racing today, just look at the interest in historic F1, Sports Cars, Saloon Cars etc. The Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival goes from strength to strength as will the Silverstone Classic weekend.

Liberty can stick their turbo hybrids, halo's and grid kids up their proverbial.WEC can stick their Jules per lap, mega complex hybrid crap in the same place.

Give me a screaming V12, V10 or V8 and I'll be there. Don't care about the lap times, I'm quite happy just listening.

Bring on the CanAm boys and F5000 cars and I'll get very excited!

Exactly! Can't argue with any of this.

I would however like to see close racing.

I am also developing a good interest in Indy Car which is free, available on YouTube and much better racing than F1.

MotoGP is also very good and has Marquez who to my mind is an, if not the, all time great. I pay to watch Marquez or Stoner ride around on their own.

[littleman]

Yep, I think most of us are on the same page wnut.

All the global car manufacturers want to show us just how brilliant their modern hybrid and electric technology is, but the bottom line is nobody but the odd nerd is remotely interested.

Who the hell can get excited about owning or watching these clever bits of kit?

[Peter Mallett]

This is off topic but many people do get excited about it. I'm not among them.

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Elf 'n safety matey. You can't avoid it anywhere.

We should just get Trump to come extend his 20ft wall around Silverstone. Its obviously heading in that direction.

[coppice]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Elf 'n safety matey. You can't avoid it anywhere.

Err..not been to Cadwell of late then ? I first went in 1975 and Hall Bends ramshackle old bridge removal and new bridge installation apart , very little has changed, other than MSV looking after it a lot better than their predecessors ever did . Deer Leap at Oulton exactly the same as when I saw Rodriguez win in his BRM in 1971 - shame about Knickerbrook though ...

Lots of venues practically unchanged in speed motorsport- Harewood and Barbon,my local hills , offer the same (or better ) viewing as they did decades ago .

Not all gloom 'n doom . But don't get me started on the bad joke stage rallying has become .....!

[Peter Mallett]

Yes but we are talking about Silverstone and the fences there. As it happens I know Cadwell intimately since on one occasion I ran out of brakes at the end of Park and finished upside down over the barriers.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

The majority of people seem happy to complain if they feel that something isn't quite as good as they expected, but less are inclined to get in touch and heap on praise when things are better than expected...

Hey! You've been listening to my staff, haven't you?!

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

This is off topic but many people do get excited about it. I'm not among them.

I am skeptical.

There needs to be a pole.


Do you wish to see:

a) 720 kg hybrid turbo F1s

or

b) 500 kg 3 litre normally aspirated cars.

[coppice]

Do you mean Robert Kubica ?

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

The only losers are the FIA and Liberty.

Silverstone can and will survive with its alternative events. They know their business. What is really a shame is that anyone really thinks what we have now is a Formula One Grand Prix.

Probably it will, but it will be diminshed and end up as 'just' another venue. The F1 track has become so expensive to hire it will and is making track days harder to run for some owner groups and now that MSV are investing in Donington they will soak up more track day business, particularly from the bikers who arguably prefer Donington.

FWIW I think that the GP will stay at Silverstone, there have been some docklands type suggestions for a BGP, but building a temporary circuit has massive infrastructure costs. We are hearing nothing, which I think is a good sign, if nothing else both Silverstone and Liberty seemed to have learnt that conducting your negotiations in public are not a winner. I think there will be a 'favourable' deal and it will be a mix of a realistic fee and some of the sponsorship/marketing rights of the event handed to Silverstone to sell themselves, thereby Liberty can say that they are 'making' Silverstone work harder across the event to make it pay, there is already a precedent for this with Monaco who get the track signage rights themselves.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by coppice

Do you mean Robert Kubica ?

*Applause*

Although I've never raced at Silverstone, I've been round it in the passenger seat of the safety car at a number of meetings & spent days on end on the bank there. There are several bits where the direction changes are just amazing, and seeing F1 (and LMP1) cars go through those bits is nothing short of breathtaking.

Having also flagged at both the Battersea FE events (which I really enjoyed), I can safely say that a UK street circuit would have be both big enough and sweeping enough to make it challenging enough to match Silverstone. The P&S approach is great for FE but I expect F1 cars on a similar layout that doesn't carry the cachet of Monaco would simply be boring.

The only other track (and I'm looking solely at the track, not the surrounding facilities) in the UK that gets close is Donington, IMO. And we know what happened there in 2009/2010, so let's not do that again.

If Silverstone's management and Liberty/F1 can bash out a deal that works for both sides, so much the better. If they can't then it'll be a genuine loss to F1 and might even precipitate changes that see F1 change beyond all recognition. Let's hope we don't end up with a US style OWR split.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

Probably it will, but it will be diminshed and end up as 'just' another venue. The F1 track has become so expensive to hire it will and is making track days harder to run for some owner groups and now that MSV are investing in Donington they will soak up more track day business, particularly from the bikers who arguably prefer Donington.

It's a good point but conversely if the cost of the GP is removed, could that serve to reduce hire charges for the rest of the events? Just a thought.

Donington is a great circuit but will never be able to cope with the traffic or indeed has it got the necessary infrastructure for a GP as Greem says. So if Silverstone doesn't host it nobody will.

And as to being "just another track" it hasn't done Brands Hatch any harm.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Greem

The P&S approach is great for FE but I expect F1 cars on a similar layout that doesn't carry the cachet of Monaco would simply be boring.

The F1 venue for the weekend, at Baku, confirms you very thoughts and fears