England and France may be forced to alternate

UPDATE “We said it doesn’t work for us," BRDC chairman, Stuart Rolt, explained in the Times. “We were not able to see how a grand prix every second year works financially — we have to keep the place in a suitable condition for a grand prix, and in terms of staffing. You may be able to let some staff go temporarily and hire them back, but that’s a difficult way to run a business."

“We’ve given them the opportunity and Magny-Cours agreed. Silverstone had the opportunity and said they didn’t want to. Silverstone stays where they are. We respect our contracts and we’ll see what happens when the contract runs out," Ecclestone said, explaining that the proposal would give Silverstone the opportunity to give them more time to complete the necessary work to the track. “We offered a ten-year alternating deal and all the work they are promising to do, they wouldn’t have to do probably for four years."

The British GP’s current contract comes to an end in 2009 and sadly, they are not sure if the event will continue after that date…

“I really can’t reassure them (fans) after 2009," he said. “To me there is a danger that we cannot, or we are somehow unable to, find a way to fund the improvements or there may be a point where the amount of money we have to pay for hosting the Grand Prix becomes untenable."

11/09/06 Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that Britain and France may have to “share" their place on the world championship calendar to make way for the sport’s expansion into new markets. Ecclestone recently signed a long-term deal with South Korea to host F1 from 2010, and also plans to bring India into the fold the same year.

But with few in the sport enthusiastic about increasing the total number of races, it seems likely that the European portion of the calendar will be scaled back in the future.

In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Ecclestone claimed the French GP organizers “are happy" to alternate with Silverstone, but “as for the British race, I don’t know what they want and I’m not sure they do".

The 76-year-old said negotiations over the Indian event are “far down the line" and that a venue had been agreed upon – though he declined to reveal where it will be. ITV/F1