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The Formula One chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, has said he would like the British Grand Prix at Silverstone to remain on the F1 calendar for ever, with the event set to host what is expected to be the largest meeting in the sport’s history, reaching half a million people over four days this weekend.
The British GP, which has been on the calendar since F1 began in 1950, is expected to sell out with record numbers and Domenicali acknowledged it was part of a large and thriving F1 business in Britain, which he hopes can be improved by working closer with the UK government when he meets the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and other government officials at Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon.
Last year Silverstone extended its contract with F1 to host the race until 2034, one of many long-term deals the sport has concluded recently, including Austria extending to 2041 last week, but Domenicali said the British GP was such a unique event for the sport in size and interest it could negotiate a deal of even greater longevity.
“Silverstone has the right characteristics to stay for ever in the calendar,” he said. “There’s no other places where you can develop such a huge event in the UK. I don’t see any other places, to be honest.
“In the past the relationship with the Silverstone promoters has been intense and they know that. Our approach is to find the best situation. I don’t see Silverstone not being able, if they want, to do what others have already done. We’ve done already last year a big step, never done before.”
The meeting on Wednesday, to celebrate F1’s 75th anniversary, will include senior figures from F1, including drivers and team principals as well as apprentices and members of the all-female F1 Academy. It is hoped to be part of a developing relationship with the government to work better with the sport, notably in areas including infrastructure and over the effects of Brexit on F1, with seven of the 10 teams based in the UK.
F1 is now an increasingly important industrial player in the UK. It is worth £12bn to the economy annually and employs 6,000 people directly, with a further 41,000 in the 4,500 associated supply chain companies.
“I will highlight to the prime minister the technology and the centres of excellence that are in the UK,” Domenicali said. “Of the fact that with Brexit there are complications for movements, there are complications for the visas. I’m saying that because I think that it’s relevant to keep the possibility for people to be attracted to work here. Because if you lose that link, then immediately the centre could be moving other places.”
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Complications include the carnet system now required for moving equipment into Europe, which has knock-on effects in costs, time and notably sustainability. Visa issues for entry to the UK also still exist for those coming to work here in F1 and Domenicali hoped what is a continuing dialogue would prove fruitful.
“We have already formally presented in order to see if in the agenda of the government there will be a sort of attention to this, it’s our duty to present respectfully in the right way to them,” he said. “Of course, there is the hope for the government to understand if there is a way to have some exceptions or a way to work around the needs that we have. We will not decide the priority on which your government will dictate the agenda for the next step but we’re going to do it in the right way.”
