The future for Silverstone as a F1 venue

[peebee2]

He didn’t tell them to build a half-size white elephant pits/paddock and he didn’t tell them to build it in the wrong place. Nor to not build a bridge or tunnel. Nor to make it so half the garages can’t be seen by the paying fans opposite. That was all the circuit management.

[coppice]

Nothing wrong with the Wing at all . I spend many happy hours there at the Classic . It's a long way from GP spectators but so what ? Most of them wouldn't know an Indy car from an F2 car and the chances of the more informed spectators actually seeing something interesting is remote as teams are now so far up their own backsides they think it's industrial espionage if any civilian gets a look at the cars they've paid to see . Obviously D list celebrities can go where they like, when not sharing their wisdom with breathless TV interviewers .

[Sodemo]

Silverstone can't afford a footbridge but Oulton Park can...!?

[S griffin]

That’s funny, last time I went to Oulton, we had to cross the track between races to get to the other side

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

That’s funny, last time I went to Oulton, we had to cross the track between races to get to the other side

Every time I have been to Oulton, the footbridges (they actually have more than one!) at Deer Leap and Clay Hill were both open and in use during racing.
They also opened the gates between the campsite and the paddock between races to allow a large movement of people.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Silverstone can't afford a footbridge but Oulton Park can...!?

Oulton Park, famed for being narrower than a narrow thing being narrow.

Silverstone, famed for being so wide you have to wait for the tide to change before racing

On a more serious note: building anything that could materially affect the circuit licence is a serious business; the ground in the places where a bridge might make sense is like a sponge, the water table is hilariously close to the surface as the weather makes clear to us repeatedly; and the places where a bridge might make sense would require an enormous span with no ground support. It's not like chucking a couple of planks across two piles of bricks!

The recently published development masterplan (which I can't find right now) does have at least one bridge, which IIRC will connect the hotel (one of the hotels?) across to the Wing complex and/or access from the pit straight over to the Wing.

I hope it happens soon, in whatever form.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Silverstone used to have a footbridge over the pit straight, between Woodcote Corner and Copse.

[S griffin]

Yes they had it up to the revamp in 2010

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by coppice

teams are now so far up their own backsides they think it's industrial espionage if any civilian gets a look at the cars they've paid to see .

Happy days.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Silverstone used to have a footbridge over the pit straight, between Woodcote Corner and Copse.

The Motor bridge was one of the most iconic sights on any UK race track. I miss it greatly!

Of course the F1 pits are no longer at the same side of the circuit as the old Motor bridge, hence the civil engineering problems highlighted above.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by coppice

.... teams are now so far up their own backsides they think it's industrial espionage if any civilian gets a look at the cars they've paid to see . Obviously D list celebrities can go where they like, when not sharing their wisdom with breathless TV interviewers .

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Bob, as even the worst lawyer in the world could tell you, if both parties to a contract want to re-negotiate the terms, then there is no court in the world that can stop them.

How curious. Specially when I still have the idea to have a degree as a lawyer myself.
Because journos and lawyers are related professions...
And have some lawyer friends that gave me advice about that...

[chunder]

Wing is a total waste of time and space, the sheer fact you need to provide a bus service to even get there shows you that. I have been inside, it is a concrete wasteland like Wembley. Not overly pleasant even compared to other similar places.

I know Silverstone is a large site, but really, why did they not just knock what was there down, take a year off and build it there, doing what they have simply shows the massive errors made and the woeful decision making taken, largely by people that are not there anymore due to the place running itself into the ground!

I know it would have meant not running F1 or GP for a year, but is this hopeless situation really worth that? No.

despite hosting ALL the major championships any track really can hope to each year!

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by S griffin

That’s funny, last time I went to Oulton, we had to cross the track between races to get to the other side

Which just shows how long it is since you went there, I guess

[coppice]

Originally Posted by chunder

Wing is a total waste of time and space, the sheer fact you need to provide a bus service to even get there shows you that. I have been inside, it is a concrete wasteland like Wembley. Not overly pleasant even compared to other similar places.

I know Silverstone is a large site, but really, why did they not just knock what was there down, take a year off and build it there, doing what they have simply shows the massive errors made and the woeful decision making taken, largely by people that are not there anymore due to the place running itself into the ground!

I know it would have meant not running F1 or GP for a year, but is this hopeless situation really worth that? No.

despite hosting ALL the major championships any track really can hope to each year!

Point one - the bus service is offered at the Classic but you can walk if you want.

Point 2 - Silverstone is a bloody big place and if I can get between old and new pits quicker by free bus so much the better

Point 3 - you will never mistake the inside of the Wing with the Royal Opera House but so what , that just means it is like every other pits I have been in ....And when it is full of Historic F1 and sportscars I don't really lose too much sleep over the architecture .

It is far from my favourite track but going there is much more fun than making moaning about it (and much else besides ) a life's work ....

[Peter Mallett]

For all of its faults I like Silverstone. It and Brands Hatch together fostered my interest in motorsport. They were the arenas for the big events. That said Thruxton and Oulton Park rate highly with me too.

Frankly I don't think, under the current circumstances, Silverstone needs a GP. The proloferation of sportscars, touring cars and other major.series, not forgetting the Historic Festival, all serve to make the loss generated by a frankly overrated GP, redundant.

[BSchneiderFan]

I disagree. I think the UK needs a Grand Prix, and, realistically, Silverstone is the only place that can hold it. If the British GP fell off the calendar for the first time ever, that would be a tragedy. It would diminish F1, and it would diminish Silverstone.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

I disagree. I think the UK needs a Grand Prix, and, realistically, Silverstone is the only place that can hold it. If the British GP fell off the calendar for the first time ever, that would be a tragedy. It would diminish F1, and it would diminish Silverstone.

It would diminish F1. The UK is the home of the majority of the F1 teams and the race itself has been on the calendar since the F1 Championship started, back in 1950, when Farina won the WDC. So without the British GP, I think F1 would look just a little absurd.

[peebee2]

Hopefully they can find a solution to move it to London.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

I disagree. I think the UK needs a Grand Prix, and, realistically, Silverstone is the only place that can hold it. If the British GP fell off the calendar for the first time ever, that would be a tragedy. It would diminish F1, and it would diminish Silverstone.

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It would diminish F1. The UK is the home of the majority of the F1 teams and the race itself has been on the calendar since the F1 Championship started, back in 1950, when Farina won the WDC. So without the British GP, I think F1 would look just a little absurd.

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.

[chillibowl]

would be a loss to the 120K plus who attend the race every year.

but yeah fans aside, a huge loss to Liberty as well as the loss of a British GP would no doubt cause a tsumani of negative press...maybe even signal a death knell for F1.

i always question the numbers behind the British GP though...300K over the weekend, 120K plus on race day. conservatively if each person spends on average $100 a day (which i would say is a low figure) for tickets, parking concessions etc then i dont really understand how they run the event for a loss.

but without any gov't subsidies and sanctioning fees which get higher and higher every year (plus what ever fees the track/local promoters pay themselves - rather whats their cut?) i can see it being a loss all be it an intentional loss on their financial reportings.

personally i think the race is more important and more fun to watch then Monaco, which pays nothing. no way Liberty offer Silverstone such a sweet deal but imo its in their best interest to make a better deal here.

[Peter Mallett]

Well if your numbers are correct then they get £7.2m from race day spectators
If they get that for the first two days that's £21.6. Not sure what the hist8ng fees are but I bet it's around £10M. Then they have to pay rates on the property, pay for services, obviously they also charge for concessions etc. But I doubt there'd be anything left to invest admfter all that. Alsi i suspect the nunbers are nuch higher than what ive posted here.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Hopefully they can find a solution to move it to London.

I don't see moving the GP to London as the solution and it begs the question, where in London?

[Mike Harte]

The sanctioning fee for 2017 was, I believe, £16.2 million, whilst the audited figures for 2015 and 2016 showed a combined net loss of £7.6 million.

The projected fee for the 2025, if the contract was to continue, is approximately £25 million. However, there is still at least 15 months for both sides to reach a sensible conclusion to their negotiations.

But having said that, both Silverstone and UK motor sport in general could survive without the British GP. It would be a shame, but it certainly wouldn't be the end of the world as we know it, Brian!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I don't see moving the GP to London as the solution and it begs the question, where in London?

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!