Conservatives call for statement on British Grand Prix
The Conservatives have called for the Sports Minister Richard Caborn to make an urgent statement to the Commons on the future of the British Grand Prix.
Head of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, this morning said that he believes the British Grand Prix is “doomed”.
Though the race at Silverstone has been included on the provisional calendar for next year, attempts at securing a deal on the funding of the race appear to have broken down.
In an interview this morning with the Daily Express, Mr Ecclestone said: “As we have been unable to reach agreement on the length of the commitment or the financial terms, we have to admit defeat and end the discussions.
“It looks certain that there will not be a British Grand Prix in 2005.”
“I have a country knocking down my door for a race who are prepared to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a state-of-the-art circuit for F1 in the 21st century and make a guaranteed commitment to pay substantially more than we have agreed to accept from the BRDC.”
The British Racing Drivers’ Club has called an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue. It has suggested that Mr Ecclestone has backed away from a previous commitment to give the race a two year contract to allow it to invest, and claims his financial terms are unreasonable.
Speaking this afternoon, Shadow Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said: “We’re extremely concerned about reports today that the British Grand Prix is dead, particularly as it seemed just a few days ago that an agreement to hold it in 2005 had been reached.
“It will be of serious concern to the hundreds of thousands of motor racing fans in Britain, but particularly to the 40,000 people employed in the industry. The end of the British Grand Prix could threaten many of those jobs.
“The Sports Minister has been involved in the negotiations but we have heard nothing from him today. The Government needs to come to Parliament to tell us what is going on.”
