British GP still In doubt due to financial issues
The Silverstone venue is set to host two race weekends, but economics issue are getting in the way.
A lot of negotiations are going on in the Formula 1 world in these days, some deals are closed, some others did not end up like we expected (see yesterday's news about Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel).
The silly seasons rumours are the most interesting ones, but the FIA is trying to close deals and organize a calendar for this crazy Formula 1 season.
As we all know, the 2020 season is set to start in Spielberg, Austria. The Red Bull Ring will host two race weekends, on 5 and 12 July. The next two, on 19 and 26 of July, are expected to take place in Silverstone, UK, but it is not as easy at it seems.
The most exciting part of Formula 1 is obviosuly the race, the adrenaline, the passion that 20 cars and drivers bring to life, but there are a lot of moneys involved, and so are in the Silverstone negotiation, who might be under threat because of money deals.
Rumors suggests that Silverstone is making economics demangs to host the two consecutive race weekends, asking for £15m, the same amount it pays as its race fee. F1 wants the british venue to be part of the 2020 calendar, as one of the historic circuits, and insiders say that it has offered to the track costs for the two weekends, as well as compensation for lost earnings like ticket sales and vendor licensing.
The deals are going on, but the two parts are still far from a solution.
"Silverstone and F1 remain in close dialogue with each other and the relevant authorities to try to make a British Grand Prix happen behind closed doors" a Silverstone spokerperson commented.
At the same time, other venues are ready to step in and host the race, such as Hockenheim in Germany, which last hosted a race last year but failed to reach an agreement for 2020, and Imola in Italy, which has not been part of the F1 calendar since 2006.
"Whether it's the teams or promoters or sponsors, we're not going to be handing out candy to everybody." Said F1 chairman Chase Carey to the inverstors last week.
"We're going to expect to be treated fairly, but we're going to deal with it as adults and with the expectation that 2021 is going to look like the business that we all knew four months ago."
Indeed, Liberty Media gave the sport $1.4bn cash injection to ensure F1 makes it though the COVID-19 global crisis. Also some british teams called Silverstone demangings "outrageous" and "inappropriate" during these hard times.
Anyway, a deal needs to be closed soon, as the UK government makes it all difficult, imposing international travellers to self-isolate for 14 days after arriving in the country.
The calendar is still in the making, but after Austria and, hopefully, Silverstone, the circus hopes to move then to other European venues like Spain, Hungary, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, between August and September.
