Silverstone WILL host British Grand Prix

[WhiteBlue]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formul ... stone.html?


It looks like the dirty deed is done. The BRDC can start selling special Hamilton vs Button packages for Xmas.

[raceman]

good, very good.

[ISLAMATRON]

its too flat, it has no character, same with Montreal

[ESPImperium]

its too flat, it has no character, same with Montreal

I too agree that Silverstone is a tad too flat, but Montreal is flat ans gives exciting racing, Silverstone does give good exciting racing as well. Melbourne is flat as well, and i hate that track, Hockenhiem is also flat and i hate that track, for the new version of the track.

What the flat tracks lack in charricher, they make up for in excitement i feel. All the tracks i have mentioned have had lots of excitement going on the last race or two that have been there.

[ISLAMATRON]

I said it with a wink jokingly because that is the same thing all the Tilke track haters say when they speak of his tracks, I like Montreal & silverstone and actually most Tilke tracks... but many people who criticize his tracks seem to forget that most of the inhabited world is pretty flat, and that building elevation is difficult and expensive.

Good to have Silverstone back, but an updated donington would have been cool to alternate with for more variety... or they could finally just give us the 20plus races we want per season.

[ESPImperium]

Press Confrence sheduled tomorrow.

I am another that thinks that there should be more F1 grade cuicits out there, with alernating cuircits for some places we race at. But id like to see there be 20 or 22 races a season, with certain countries getting a second race each year, im thinking UK, Spain, Germany and Italy for those countries. Italy for Ferarri, UK for the majority of the other teams as they are basted here, Spain for the Alonso factor and Germany for the fact theres a huge ammount of German drivers on the grid.

[multisync]

Heard an inside rumour that The outside caterers were told back in January that Donnington will definitely not host the GP. On that basis they should happily prepare -as usual- for the event as the contract for 2010 GP would be in place before any so called deadline....

On a personal note I hate Sliverstone, for me it's a boring track. Too long (all circuits should be sub 60 sec's) always windy, usually raining. Brands or even Crystal Palace were much better tracks..

[ESPImperium]

I recon that the deal has been signed for the next 11 or 17 years or something simmilar. With scope for Silverstone to upgrade facilities massivly, and also put F1 on the longer, Arrohead track that the MotoGP guys will use from 2010.

What Silverstone needs is a long term plan to make the track one of the more lucritive and needed on the callender.

[WhiteBlue]

.. and also put F1 on the longer, Arrohead track that the MotoGP guys will use from 2010.

Why would they run this and not the F1 track?

[Fil]

This is Todt's first major doing apparently. Good on him for getting involved.
17yr contract with a mutual get-out clause after 10. £12m race fee for 2010, rising to just under £17 million in 5yrs time.

As mentioned here by ESP, the BRDC is planning on running the revised 'Arena' Circuit. All that is holding this back is FIA homologation.

I'm not a fan of the changes to becketts/chapel complex - the previous flow has been ruined with the new layout.
The rest seems fine to me, particularly the final complex.

2011 should see new pit facilities finally too.

[Pandamasque]

I'll repeat myself in saying that this is utter vandalism.

Farm-Bridge-Priory-Brooklands is a unique flowing part with high speed cornering and a difficult braking zone before Brooklands.
Why replace a unique flowing sequence of corners with multiple racing lines with a few stupid stop-start corners existing in great numbers at any modern track?

[WhiteBlue]

I'm surprised that they got Bernie down to a 5% escalator. He was probably bluffing before with 7% and expected to be cut down some. The idea of a long term deal also makes sense with get out options after 10 years. Hopefully the BRDC will have enough money left to make the necessary improvements to the pits and paddock as to additional and upgraded grandstands as well.

I do not have a particular opinion about the new track other than that the high speed/infield characteristic will be lost, that was almost unique to the old circuits. Perhaps that is something that people will not like. If necessary they can always run the old config as well.

I wonder if the deal was also augmented by the teams secretly committing to 20 or more races as has been speculated ahead of the agreement. We will probably only know when the first 2011 calendar comes out in summer. It is irritating that all this stuff is kept secret all the time. Sometimes I wish we had more letters with FIA PDFs as in May and June. They are not good for F1 but they get information around.

The idea to see Jean Todt behind the compromise makes some sense. Bernie seems to brag very loud with the claim that no British GP is needed and protected but in the end he did agree to a much lower price and escalator than his previous offers in 2007.

[Richard]

I'll repeat myself in saying that this is utter vandalism.

Farm-Bridge-Priory-Brooklands is a unique flowing part with high speed cornering and a difficult braking zone before Brooklands.
Why replace a unique flowing sequence of corners with multiple racing lines with a few stupid stop-start corners existing in great numbers at any modern track?

Those where my thoughts too.

If they did want to change it, a nice Suzuka style S between Club and Abbey would be fun. That would make that whole sector very tricky.

Making that last sector more technical would then change the car set up. The current extreme low downforce would mean you lose time on the last sector. However, cars set up for the last sector would struggle on the fast bits. Hence more variability.

Also, the current cars take some of the fastest corners flat out where drivers needed to lift of the gas not so long ago. Make those corners tighter to recreate that need to lift off, or run with higher downforce. The result will be high downforce (but slower) cars going flat out on the bends, versus low downforce (faster) cars on the straights that have to slow down for the bends . That'll separate the men from the boys.

[meves]

I'm not glad they changed it because of the racing only because I had awful problems with that section on Forza...

[Richard]

I had awful problems with that section on Forza...

Exactly! The rest of the circuit is boring foot flat down (ish)