The owners of the Silverstone circuit may enact a clause in their contract with F1 to end their tenure early as hosts of the British GP, it has emerged.
The BRDC have confirmed they are unable to continue hosting the British GP on the current contract because of a lack of money.
It means that if this clause was enacted, Silverstone would officially stop hosting the F1 British Grand Prix after the 2019 season, with the 2019 race being its last under the current terms.
It’s hoped that the owners would be able to re-negotiate a cheaper deal with Formula 1 to host the Grand Prix in the years to come.
However, the future of the British GP still looks to be one of uncertainty.
This is not the first time the future of the British GP has been in question.
During the 2009 and 2010 seasons, the possibility of hosting the British GP at Donington Park was discussed.
The owners of Donington Park even went so far as to widen the current track to accommodate F1’s new safety regulations which dictate the need for run-off areas on purpose-built circuits.
However, that plan came to an abrupt end when, halfway through adapting the circuit, the owners of Donington Park filed for bankruptcy.
Subsequently, the British GP was saved when it was announced that a new deal to hold the races at Silverstone had been agreed by both parties: crucially, with the aforementioned clause to end the contract early if costs rose.
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