There is still no certainty that there will be a British F1 GP next year. Donnington haven’t come up with the money and Bernie is not prepared to give Silverstone the deal it wants when there are other countries willing to pay astronomical fees to host a race. It seems you have to be an oil rich country now to be able to afford a Football team or an F1 race. Seen as Donnington nor Silverstone are anywhere near oil fields and certainly don’t have a government/Royal Family willing to stump up unreasonable cash, things are looking rather bleak.

Bernie has postured before whilst in negotiations in order to push deals and strengthen his position and has, so far, not let the British GP slip off the calendar. However, he’s also shown that he’s not shy of following up on his word should he not be seeing what he believes to be proportional response to his demands. Although, he would never call them his demands, they are all Market demands… Mmmm. He took away Spa from us for a few season and he took away the Italians and Germans “spare” Grand Prix. There is a strong possibility he will indeed take away the British GP and break a chain of continuous racing year on year since the start of GP racing.

So here’s how I see it. F1 has heart land following in Europe. There are pockets of fans around the world that foster support and, often-times, fanatical support at that. The reasons that other countries and continents want to be a part of F1 – countries and continents that have no history with, or global interest in, motorsport – is that they see this support and want to bring attention to their part of the world. They know they can have the gaze of the media on their shores for a weekend a year and this is clearly valuable from a tourism and business stand-point. However, it’s the huge body of fans that give the sport it’s value. Without people watching, there’s no coverage and without coverage there are no business benefits.

Bernie’s outward position on where, when and how countries host an F1 GP is purely financial. Why should Silverstone get a GP at a knock down rate when other countries are paying top dollar? In purely financial terms, this has grown the sport of F1, but on any semblance of a sporting or fan focused view, it’s going the wrong way. The new tracks being built are impressive indeed, but they are hopeless for motorsport in general. Most of the new tracks get used once a year. They are too big for any other formula to use and they are in locations around the world that have no motorsport history or infrastructure. Even F1 races this year have seen plenty of tracks with poor attendance, with teams and drivers all agreeing that these events are just boring to be a part of. No matter how good the racing is, or how high the TV viewing figures are, without the fans track-side, the sporting spectacle is gone. A football game being played to an empty stadium is flat and boring – no matter how exciting the game being played.

Silverstone’s been a sell out success for many years. It isn’t like the new circuits being built in far off lands. It’s seen great improvements from a spectators point of view and is a joy to access and use now. It still remains relevant to motorsport of all levels and it has great viewing all round the track. But most importantly, when the F1 circus comes to town, it’s crammed full of enthusiasts and the atmosphere is electric.

However, it’s also full of fans who are tired of being taken for granted. They spend a lot of money to stand trackside and for Bernie and his team to constantly threaten these fans with the loss of their GP, not only do they become tired of it all – they also become disillusioned. Nearly every team on the grid is stationed in Britain. Those that aren’t physically stationed here are often run and manned by a strong contingent of Brits. To class that fact as worthless in decisions on location is insulting. Piss off enough of these faithful and it just won’t be worth the effort any more.

As I say above, if fans stop supporting and visiting these heartland locations around the world, then the sport is worthless. Chasing every single dollar may in fact become far more detrimental to F1 than it thinks.

Time will tell whether the British GP will last another year but for me, its patently clear that F1 does need a British GP more than it thinks. It needs it for its long term survival.