Motorsport

Silverstone Circuit is located in South Northamptonshire and is widely regarded as the home of motor sport and the circuit where the Formula 1 championship began.

Grand Prix racing started in Britain by Henry Segrave in 1926 at the Brooklands Circuit, Surrey.

Brooklands was the brainchild of Hugh Locke-King and opened on 17th June 1907 as the first custom built race track in the world.

The first Grand Prix took place at Silverstone in 1950 and the race track has regularly hosted GPs since the start of the F1 championship in the same year.

Until 1987, the British Grand Prix alternated between Silverstone and the home of horse racing, Aintree (1955 – 1962) and Brands Hatch (1964 – 1986).

Silverstone became the main circuit for the British Grand Prix in 1987, hosting the event every year since.

The British Racing Drivers’ Club own the Silverstone Circuit.

The boss of F1, Bernie Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone owns the rights to Formula 1 racing, which includes media coverage rights.

Mr Ecclestone had reportedly wanted £8.9m from the BRDC to bring Formula 1 to Silverstone, each year for three years from 2005.

The British Racing Drivers club have reportedly offered Mr Ecclestone around £6 million for each year’s race.

Silverstone Circuit was originally an airstrip and a major wartime bomber training centre during World War Two.

The BRDC brought the lease of the Silverstone Circuit from the RAC in 1952 and ownership from the Ministry Of Defence in 1971.

Day-to-day running of the Silverstone circuit is operated by Silverstone Motorsport Limited.

The 2004 British Grand Prix was attended by 100,000 fans on race day alone. Over the three days, 195,000 people visited the circuit.

Two past winners of the British GP

An advance basic entry ticket to see the three days of racing at the 2004 British Grand Prix cost £90

The British Grand Prix has seen six British winners in the past 14 years. Nigel Mansell (91,92), Damon Hill (94), Johnny Herbert (95), David Coulthard (99, 2000).

The 2004 event was won by Michael Schumacher in a time of 1:24:42.700 after completing 60 laps of the track and starting fourth on the grid.

The British Grand Prix is rumoured to bring £30 million into the Northamptonshire economy.

Improvements to A43 helped Silverstone

BAR and Jordan Formula 1 teams are based at Silverstone and conduct much of their testing at the Silverstone circuit.

A £56 million upgrade of the A43 between Northampton and Brackley opened in September 2002 to help improve access to the Silverstone Circuit.

Silverstone race track's technology park has spent £4.2 million on a new facility which will house 40 motor sport related companies. It opens in October 2004.

A £30 million hotel was proposed by the BRDC but the application rejected after local residents were unhappy with the plans.

Could this be the future of British F1?

The City of London has looked into hosting the 2007 British Grand Prix on the streets of the capital.

In July 2004 eight F1 cars drove on a course laid out between Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus in a display.