Silverstone in doubt: "F1 doesn't want to start something they can't finish"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Just like in Austria, Great Britain is also thinking about organizing a Grand Prix without an audience this summer. Now that the organisation there has announced that it is open for that option, a double race on Silverstone seems to be in the making, but circuit director Stuart Pringle doesn't want to celibrate too soon.
According to Pringle, there are all kinds of things playing in the background that could throw a spanner in the works. To Motorsport.com he explains that all kinds of external factors have to be taken into account. In the first place with the question whether a Formula 1 season can be completed at all.
"There's a lot of detail to work through still. I think we need to be quite careful, and it's not just what we can or can't do in this country, it's how does that fit with a season? Because they're not going to want to start something that they can't conclude. Clearly there is will on everybody's part to find a solution that works. But there's still some work to do. This is not a slam dunk."
Several local obstacles
If it is possible to race in Silverstone, but nowhere else, it makes little sense to organize a Grand Prix. Also locally there are some obstacles. Although there won't be an audience, there will still be a large group of people travelling to the circuit, something the local authorities will have to give their permission for. Silverstone will need a large part of their staff to make the preparations.
"This is all set against a backdrop of 70% of our staff being furloughed, so at the moment we don't have people in the business to be able to stand this up. If it's going to take place then we're going to need to get people back"
Pringle assumes for all his plans that Formula 1 will publish a definitive calendar before the actual preparations for the event have to start at Silverstone. Formula 1 will need to have the calendar ready for their own preparations at a relatively early stage.