I am delighted that a Parliamentary delegation visited South Northants constituency on Monday to see the Silverstone Circuit and to meet Damon Hill and members of the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
Everyone agrees that keeping the Grand Prix at Silverstone is vital for the local economy as well as for Britain. In June of this year a record 310,000 people attended the event over 3 days, and the local motorsport and related industries here employ over 40,000 people.
Not having a Grand Prix at Silverstone would be like not holding the FA Cup Final at Wembley! Silverstone is the oldest event on Formula One’s calendar – there is overwhelming support for a Grand Prix at Silverstone from fans, drivers and teams.
The FIA confirmed last month that it is promoting research into sustainability, providing information and guidance on best environmental practices, procedures and technologies that can be applied to motor sport.
Motorsport is going green, and Max Mosley wants to see Formula One take the lead in developing green technology which he sees as absolutely fundamental.
Keeping the British Grand Prix at Silverstone will help to save fuel and save energy by minimising the need for the many locally based teams and their cars to travel. From every perspective the argument for retaining the Grand Prix at Silverstone is overwhelming and I hope that yesterday’s visit will influence Bernie Ecclestone to reach the right decision for Great Britain and for Northamptonshire.
( 6 comments ) Tags: Grand Prix, Silverstone
Comment by ste on November 24, 2009 at 11:48 am
The British Grand Prix has been held at a number of circuits other than Silverstone and the FA cup final spent six seasons in Cardiff; also Max Mosley has just stood down as FIA president with little achieved in progressing low carbon technology. No mention of whether the Conservatives would provide financial support to meet the extortionate terms demanded by Bernie Ecclestone which is the key issue, but apart from that a useful contribution to the debate.
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Comment by Greg Smith on November 25, 2009 at 12:19 pm
What matters most to British F1 fans is that there is a British Grand Prix – and whilst Silverstone is an iconic racing circuit it just doesn’t have the facilities or access to cope right now and so other venues do need to be looked into until Silverstone can update its facilities to edge just a little bit closer to being able to compete with such fantastic new facilities as we saw in Abu Dhabi.
Comment by realist on December 1, 2009 at 5:18 pm
this was sensible until you mentioned “green”.
What is needed is an end to anti-car policies in particular and the climate change hoax in general
Comment by v saroha on February 15, 2010 at 9:45 am
Its great to see 310,000 people attending the event and I think more efforts are required to pull people to the track either through digital marketing or social media. The track should also be used for other country level motoring events which will bring revenue and recognision.