F1's Silverstone deal won't stop London street race

British GP

F1's Silverstone deal won't stop London street race

Would you want to see both in F1?

Matthew Scott

Thursday 11 July 2019 10:21

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has confirmed that Liberty Media are still looking into adding a street race in London to the schedule, despite securing a five-year deal with Silverstone to keep the British Grand Prix in place this week.

A race in the British capital has been an idea floating around F1 for many years, with Bernie Ecclestone having previously looked into the prospect.

Finding a suitable route and the money to make it happen have thus far proved impossible, but Liberty say it remains a possibility.

"We have interest from a lot of places and the discussions with London are ongoing," Carey said.

"We look forward to continuing to have those discussions. It will be a different experience and we will see where they take us.

Article continues under video

"But certainly in the short term our focus is here on Silverstone to make sure we continue to build on the new contract."

Silverstone's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club, had put pressure on F1 to negotiate a new deal by enacting a break clause in their previous deal, signed with Ecclestone.

The BRDC say that a race in London may not be exactly to their liking.

"We recognise Formula 1's desire to have destination city races and frankly if that brings a new audience to Formula 1, I think in general that is a good thing," BRDC chairman John Grant said. "We don't oppose that and we certainly support the intent.

"Of course, we are concerned about the commercial threat to us of having a competitor event on our doorstep so to speak, and just 85 miles or so away.

"So we have had very frank discussions with our friends at Formula 1 about that and they understand those concerns, and it's fair to say we have come up with some modus operandi - a set of agreements - that protect our interests to our satisfaction should that set of events ever become a reality."