26/08/2011
NEWS STORY
There are rumours flying around today that the family trust of F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone may buy a 100 year lease on Britain's Silverstone circuit. The trust already owns France's Paul Ricard circuit which has been home to the French Grand Prix. Likewise, the Formula One group, which Ecclestone runs, owns a long lease on Turkey's Istanbul Park circuit. So is it too hard to imagine the F1 Group or Ecclestone's family trust buying Silverstone? Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt managed to get hold of Ecclestone to get the lowdown on whether owning more circuits is on the horizon.
Ecclestone has been one of Silverstone's fiercest critics but recently described its new pit and paddock complex, which opened this year, as "super." This doesn't mean to say his family trust or the F1 Group will buy a lease on it.
"I wouldn't consider buying more circuits. Why would we want to?" he told Sylt. It seems that the experience of Turkey has put him off further race track acquisitions. Ecclestone says the F1 Group bought the lease on Turkey because it "is probably the nicest circuit in the world that has been built." However, spectator numbers never lived up to the promise. "Like lots of things, it seemed a good idea at the time," says Ecclestone adding "if we had had, as we expected to have, 100,000 people it would have been good but it didn't quite work out that way."
It is understood that Silverstone is still in negotiations about a lease and given Ecclestone's comments it doesn't sound like it will be going to the F1 Group or his family trust.