Keith Collantine at http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/ has some good info on Silverstone even if he does not cite his sources. He says that the 2010 cost of the GP will be 12 million pounds and will escalate by 7% per year. The escallation percentage is publically agreed, but the initial fee is not. But let's just use his numbers and follow his calculations.
| 2010 | £12m |
| 2011 | £12.84m |
| 2012 | £13.74m |
| 2013 | £14.7m |
| 2014 | £15.73m |
| 2015 | £16.83m |
| 2016 | £18.01m |
| 2017 | £19.27m |
| 2018 | £20.62m |
| 2019 | £22.06m |
| 2020 | £23.61m |
| 2021 | £25.26m |
| 2022 | £27.03m |
| 2023 | £28.92m |
| 2024 | £30.94m |
| 2025 | £33.11m |
| 2026 | £35.43m |
Total Contract Value - £370m
This is the same 17 year agreement that Donington suppossedly had. That contract offer seems a bit daunting to me, especially if I am a club of mostly old racing drivers who have never calculated a single transaction that had more the five digits in it.
That may be a cruel appraisal of the club, but I suspect that they will never have the "nutsack" necessary to comtemplate or execute a deal of this magnitude. I do not blame them, as it is beyond their expertise.
Far too expensive! Remember that it's the other circuits, all the licenced competitors, and all the clubs in the UK who will pay for this. For only one race a year that's far too much to pay.
Why should I, as the organiser of a MSA registered club have to pay more to organise my events to cover the cost of a single event where the championship organiser seems allergic to paying circuit hire fees?
Motor racing is a sport. Some [very short] people forget that sometimes.
Posted by: KM-TV | November 07, 2009 at 05:05 AM
This is a very expensive contract. Is F1 really worth this much to Silverstone? Bernie needs to remember that all the other grand prix are funded by the national or local governments and therefore are happy to pay through the nose. F1 is Britain is paid for by the BRDC and it is unfair that the CVC should be asking for these prices.
But at the end of the day it comes down to business and the sporting side is often forgotten about
Posted by: Paul_Murtagh | November 07, 2009 at 07:45 AM
F1 in Britain is paid for by the Motor Sports Association ulitmately. The MSA makes it's money from permits and licences sold to the recognised clubs, the drivers, and the other circuits. To afford the race, these permits and licences will go up in price. Why should a national b licence holder who is only going to race at Pembrey in a saloon car have to pay for a single race that does very little to help the sport in the UK.
What really annoys me is that nearly every other racing series pays the circuit to use the facilities, this is the way it should be. Motor racing circuits are in the business of hiring motor racing facilities to motor racing organisers. Why should they have to pay ludicrous amounts to their customers in return for nothing.
Someone is going to come in now and say that the British GP brings in new fans to the sport, and new competitors. That's total rubbish. If half the fans at the British GP turned out to the event the week after, I'd be very surprised. Most of them are lazy, and will happily watch F1 on the television, turn out to Silverstone, and then spend the rest of their year on their sofas again. That does not benefit British Motorsport! As for new competitors, the majority of new competitors here have no intention of ever going near a F1 car.
Besides that it's the wrong image. People tune in to see Jenson stepping from his million pound motorhome, then climb into his multi million pound racing car and wonder why some talented racing drivers further down the ladder are struggling to survive in the sport through lack of money. They think that all racing drivers are millionaires. That's why sponsorship is so hard to come by.
With a £12m saving without the grand prix, just think of what can be done to develop the sport, to make entering cheaper, to promote it to a whole new audience.
So no, it's not worth it at all.
Posted by: KM-TV | November 07, 2009 at 08:13 AM
Big numbers indeed. The escalator is the killer blow.
17 years ago one litre of petrol cost 38p in the UK.
The average hourly minimum pay rate was £2.40 per hour.
Using those figures as yardstick a doubling of the fee over 17 years wouldn't look so bad.
But a tripling of the fee whatever the fee actually is seems to be economic suicide.
One other point does spring to mind however.
The drivers gargantuan salaries are frequently defended by their fans by saying but look at the TV exposure they bring to their teams,
Posted by: sportsman | November 07, 2009 at 08:38 AM