Silverstone retains the British Grand Prix

Great news spread through the world of Formula 1 yesterday, as confirmation that the British Grand Prix will definitely be part of the next year’s championship. The FIA has accepted the proposal put forward by the BRDC and Silverstone which means that the circuit will be home to the British Grand Prix for the next 17 years.

For most of the year in Formula 1, enthusiasts have been caught up in what has been one of the more exciting seasons in a long time, with young pretenders Brawn GP and Red Bull dominating the championship, breaking up the usual suspects at the top of the leaderboard. Eventually the rapid, consistent start of the Brawn team saw them leading the constructer’s championship from start to finish with Jenson Button becoming world champion with one race left to go.

Off track though there has been all manner of news and controversy, starting with the McLaren team’s deceit in the first race and the later revelations of the Renault fixing a race for their driver Fernando Alonso to win in Singapore the previous season. Further problems stemmed from new budget restrictions that where to be implemented next season, the majority of teams where unhappy with the situation and at one point several of them threatened to break away and form their own championship.

But for many fans in the UK there has been one story that has been ongoing throughout the season, where the British Grand Prix would be held next season?

At the start of the year Donington had won the bid to host the Grand Prix and subsequent races for the next 10 years or so. But as the season rolled on the rumours started to begin, the owners of the Donington where struggling to get the financial backing required to rebuild the track to the standards that are expected for a Formula 1 race and the track would struggle be completed in time unless the money situation could be resolved.

By the time of the British Grand Prix it was becoming apparent to all that Donington was looking more and more likely to not be the venue for next year. The potential fallout of this could have been that there would be no Grand Prix at all in the UK next season. For the fans at Silverstone this year it was a situation too scary to think about and action needed to be taken. Throughout the weekend there was talk of Silverstone putting in another bid to host the race for next season, even if it was just a temporary measure and the majority of the drivers on the weekend voiced their support for the circuit, especially at the concert on Sunday evening. Mark Webber, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton all talked about the history of the circuit and how it is one of the most revered tracks for the drivers during the racing calendar.

As the saga continued beyond the end of the season with the Donington bid definitely no longer being an option for next year countless F1 fans have been waiting for yesterday’s annoucement. Silverstone have secured a 17 year deal to host the British Grand Prix and can now put into motion new track developments, including improvements to the paddock and a redesign of part of the circuit which can be seen on the official Silverstone website

The British Grand Prix next year will be held on July 11th 2010 on the same day as the World Cup Final but not at the same time, much to the relief of sports fans.

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