What if Britain lost its GP?

[Matt Phelps]

There are rumours suggesting that Silverstone may not be hosting Grand Prix for much longer, but are there any real alternatives?

Donnington
Oulton Park
Whatever the new Welsh track is...

Are any of these truly suitable? If Silverstone goes, does the British GP?

[Raggs]

That would be heresy! Although F1 has become Merc plus "the rest" for the past couple of years, hopes are it will return to the competitive level it should have. What next, the Italian GP, Belgium? Won't Bernie and the BRDA do something?

[Starter]

That would be heresy! Although F1 has become Merc plus "the rest" for the past couple of years, hopes are it will return to the competitive level it should have. What next, the Italian GP, Belgium? Won't Bernie and the BRDA do something?

Bernie will do something. He will continue to cash checks at the earliest opportunity.

[Rollo]

There are rumours suggesting that Silverstone may not be hosting Grand Prix for much longer, but are there any real alternatives?

Donnington
Oulton Park
Whatever the new Welsh track is...

Are any of these truly suitable? If Silverstone goes, does the British GP?

The real alternatives are:
Donnington
Oulton Park
Croft
Rockingham
Snetterton
Thruxton
Brands Hatch
Silverstone
Circuit of Wales

All of these are technically viable because they're long enough. The question is how much of a guttersnipe Bernie is.

I hope that Bernie cancels the British and Italian GPs. Then there shall be a revolt and walkout and he'll be in charge of nothing.

[Stan Reid]

How about a London to Paris race through the Chunnel?

[Rollo]

How about a London to Paris race through the Chunnel?

That race would be in single file.

The Chunnel is two train tunnels with a service tunnel connecting them.

[AndyL]

The real alternatives are:
Donnington
Oulton Park
Croft
Rockingham
Snetterton
Thruxton
Brands Hatch
Silverstone
Circuit of Wales

All of these are technically viable because they're long enough. The question is how much of a guttersnipe Bernie is.

I hope that Bernie cancels the British and Italian GPs. Then there shall be a revolt and walkout and he'll be in charge of nothing.

The length of the Circuit of Wales right now is zero so I'm not sure that meets the requirement. I don't think they're currently designing it to FIA grade 1, but since it doesn't exist yet, I guess they could do that without any problems.

Probably Donnington could be upgraded to grade 1, perhaps Thruxton and Snetterton too. Hard to imagine Oulton Park or Brands being possible though. The old 60s Snetterton could make an interesting F1 circuit.

How about Cadwell Park

With F1 and MotoGP it doesn't seem to matter too much which circuit it's awarded to; they always end up at Silverstone.

[Rollo]

The length of the Circuit of Wales right now is zero so I'm not sure that meets the requirement.

As David Coulthard proved, you could in theory hold an F1 GP in Zimbabwe on a dirt track:



Where we're going, we don't need Rhodes.

[Stan Reid]

As David Coulthard proved, you could in theory hold an F1 GP in Zimbabwe on a dirt track:



Where we're going, we don't need Rhodes.

Ah-David needs to learn how to back it in and ride the cushion. Juan Pablo Montoya actually ran a race on dirt oval here a couple of years ago and didn't do too bad. Maybe either he or Steve Kinser could be a temp driver for that one.

[Nitrodaze]

It would be a big blow for british interest but not unsual in the grand scheme of things. Bear in mind we did not have a German GP in 2014. Germany has, at least 2 historic tracks, namely Hockenhiem and the famous Nurburgring. The forces of money in F1 could easily bring this about. But there would be some inherent consequences as viewing numbers in Germany is showing.
The right holders may seem to be losing the plot, because most tracks are finding it hard to afford to put on the F1 show. Austin in struggling, the Russian track is rumored to be quietly uneasy about its future, Silverstone is barely keeping afloat. Many tracks have come and gone due to the costs of putting on the F1 show, India, Argentina etc. Hence, it is not outside the realms of possibility that a British GP ceases to be in the future calendar of F1.