The management of Silverstone is "considering dropping the British Grand Prix due to the increased cost of running it," according to Joel Hills of ITV. A letter from the chair of the British Racing Drivers' Club -- which owns the racing track -- was sent to its members spelling out the "potentially ruinous risk" of continuing to host an event "that is loss-making." The BRDC has a contract with Formula 1 to host the British GP until '26 but is "considering activating a break clause." In the letter dated Dec. 19, BRDC Chair John Grant expressed a wish to "preserve the BGP" but told members "the Board is considering whether we should give notice before the 2017 BGP (as required) of our intention to exercise the break clause in the BGP contract at the end of 2019." The last Grand Prix held at Silverstone in July '16 attracted 139,000 fans to the circuit and "was won in dramatic circumstances by a British driver, three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton." It was an organizers' "dream" but Grant revealed the event still "fell short of budget." The same race in '15 ended up costing Silverstone £2M (ITV, 1/5).
KEEP IT: REUTERS' Greg Stutchbury reported Formula 1 fans in Singapore are "keen" for the Singapore GP to remain there, despite negotiations between organizers and F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "seemingly stalled, according to a survey conducted by British research firm YouGov." The contract for the Singapore race "expires this year and Ecclestone and organizers are still in negotiations about extending" beyond '17. The Singapore race costs some S$150M ($104.7M) to put on every year, 60% "of which is funded by the government." The future of the race was a concern for the 1,002 Singaporean respondents to the survey, with 57% "keen for it to continue beyond this year." About 70% also "felt the race had been a net positive for the country" (REUTERS, 1/5).
