F1 » Ecclestone: Silverstone deal 'better than others'

Who for ???

Ah - the old "I'm doing you a favour, really" line, much favoured by double glazing salesmen....Well if Bernie says it's a good deal, it must be. Right? As usual, he is seeking to pile the pressure on the BRDC to take it off himself. When will people get their heads round the fact that it is a member's club which happens to own a race circuit, and not some faceless government agency keen to acceed to Bernie's every whim?

Incidentally, I wonder if he watched the Warren Buffett interview on the BBC this week? He would have done well to do so. A billionaire with humility, intelligence, humour and integrity. Look and learn Bernard.

Bernie, of all the little arab countries you manage to get "better" deals with for the circuit hosting fee, how do they compare on TV revenue... is for instance the amount raised from Abu Dhabi from the combination of TV and hosting anywhere near the total from the UK.... even if you only charged half as must for the hosting fee in the UK ?


PS, I guessing you are looking at a 2010 fee of around 12 Million for Silverstone with a sliding scale over ten years, and probably around 20Million for middle/far east.... How about cutting a deal that gives Silverstone a chance to make say 2 million per year on the GP with a contractual obligation to re-invest in "improvements" using that.

Isn't Bernie the same A**-Hole who said that F1 doesn't need a British GP just a few weeks ago? So now he's changing his story. Spending too much time with Max in some dungeon.

Al, thats meant to be more or less the idea of the BRDC. Sadly they seem more inclined to invest the money in their personal bank accounts rather than improving the circuit. They have a very good drivers circuit (as, indeed, do Donington) but facilities are inadequate. Yes, people turn up year on year but id venture that many havnt visited any other tracks and seen the facilities, particularly from a fan spectacle point of view

Silverstone is never going to get anywhere near Rockingham in terms of fan viewing but it could be significantly better than it current it. But the BRDC seem insistent that big crowds mean it must be fine and wont change a thing which Bernie naturally is annoyed at!

“They need to go and buy a pen.”

So is Bernie so cheap that he won't let them borrow a pen? That is the message I got from it. Obviously there is still much hostility towards the BRDC.

On the other hand the Brits keep reminding everyone that the UK is the center of the F1 universe so they should have no problem hosting the most popular GP and paying accordingly. It does not make a lot of sense why the UK should get a discount compared to other countries.

What really needs to happen is that Bernie should run the whole show. He should rent the track and keep the money from the gate.

Steve, Silverstone are changing things, it's just a case of not doing it with any outside investment, which is fair enough. The current changes they are making for the MotoGP race next year are all, as far as I am aware, being paid for from the money they have banked for just such a reason over the years. Running a business on margins of less than 2 percent doesn't leave a lot of room for error and I certianly see no reason why a circuit should have to pay such an extortionate amount to host an event that it can pull in over 300000 people and still struggle to make money. Bernie gets more than enough from TV and advertising that he can afford to give back something to the hosting circuits.

Spot on Al.

Steve- I am sure the directors would be delighted if you could point out to them exactly where this missing pot of cash is!

As an accountant (for my sins), I suspect my clients would be pretty bemused if I came up with a scheme that offered them a return of less than 2% on a turnover of £38 million. Particularly when there is an annual hosting fee of £12 million with a 7% incremental riser! Not to mention the odd demand of £25 million for a pits complex here and there.

The fact is that the facilities at Silverstone are far from the worst in F1. What about Bernie's beloved Monaco? Don't hear him whingeing about that do you?

Anyone that signs a deal with a 7% escalator wants carting off to the funny farm

I don't think Damon is the pushover that BRDC used to be

It really is time Bernie followed Max into the sunset but until he does perhaps he could show a little respect to those who have done more for F1 than he ever will

The new places he has created for Formula 1 have taken the enjoyment and excitement away from the sport

He should hang his head in shame

Why do people assume Mosley has gone...he hasn't !

He's just controlling his glove puppet in the background unfortunately