Silverstone Could Be Forced Out of Formula One, Says Hill

Damon Hill, the president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, yesterday warned that commercial pressures could result in the British grand prix at Silver stone being priced out of the market - even if the Northampton shire track receives the £30m upgrade demanded by Bernie Ecclestone, the formula one commercial rights holder.

"Looking at what you might call the free-market model, the profitability of the race could be marginal," warned Hill, who won the world championship in 1996. "There is a very definite trend towards formula one being regarded as a promotional activity of a national government. I'm not saying that Silver stone is asking the government for money or that this situation is good or bad but merely that's how it is."

Hill was speaking the day after the sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, visited Silver stone to offer his support to the circuit's upgrading plans, although he made it clear that the government ruled out direct financial assistance.

"We've been asked to support sustainable development which has lots of vision in it and has the opportunity for the government to support in a variety of creative ways," said Sutcliffe.

"We have talked about this fantastic decade of sport in Britain coming up with the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and the rugby and football World Cup bids. To lose the British grand prix would be a massive blow and we really don't want to do that."

Silver stone's current contract for the race expires in 2009 but Hill is optimistic that a deal can be done, although not at any price. "We can't afford to go bust," he warned. "There's an elastic band that stretches only so far. The BRDC is prepared to go right to the end of that but we can't go to the snapping point."

Ecclestone and the BRDC have enjoyed a fractious relationship for many years with the former critical of the club members' failure to appreciate that contemporary commercial sport is not a business for the faint-hearted. On the other hand, many BRDC members are annoyed that Ecclestone takes too big a share of the commercial rights income to enable Silver stone to make a profit.