Silverstone, home to the British Grand Prix, "is on the verge of being sold to a luxury car manufacturer, believed to be Jaguar Land Rover," in a £25M ($36.3M) deal and has "invited its shareholders to discuss the potential sale next week," according to Christian Sylt for the London DAILY MAIL. Silverstone hosted the first race of the Formula 1 championship in '50 and has a contract to stage the British GP until '26. The track is owned by the British Racing Drivers Club, a group of 850 racing luminaries including Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jenson Button and current F1 champion Lewis Hamilton. Over the past six years the BRDC has tried to "sell a long lease on Silverstone to reduce the club’s exposure to risk." The British GP is the "only race on the F1 calendar to receive no government funding." Silverstone has to "survive on the proceeds from ticket sales and has had to raise prices" to match increases in the F1 hosting fee, which is an estimated £17.6M ($25.5M) this year. A sale to JLR "would see Silverstone become home to offices for up to 1,000 of the firm’s staff," along with a hotel and heritage center. To sell the track the BRDC needs a mandate from its members, who will meet at the track to "discuss the deal a week on Wednesday." A BRDC member said anonymously, "No one can be 100 percent sure that (the deal) will get the go-ahead but from what we are hearing there is a potential upside of what is being proposed." F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "ultimately holds the keys to any deal as the British GP contract states that he needs to approve any change in control of the track" (DAILY MAIL, 2/13).
