Silverstone battles to stay in the race

LONDON, England (CNN) -- It is a saga that has rumbled on for years -- but there finally could be light at the end of the tunnel for the British Grand Prix.

After much uncertainty, Silverstone's long-awaited redevelopment plans have been given the green light by planning officials near the central England racetrack.

The decision is the first step towards securing the long-term future of the British Grand Prix, which has a contract to host a Formula One race only until 2009.

Not a month seems to pass when the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), which owns the Northamptonshire circuit, does not get a tongue-lashing from the sport's ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone for its inability to meet the demands of modern F1.

Gleaming new tracks in the Middle and Far East, bankrolled by governments eager to bask in F1's glow, have highlighted the failings of elderly Silverstone.

The former airfield hosted the first world championship grand prix in 1950 and a revamp has been discussed ever since ambitious plans were mooted to build a banked curve in 2001.

Ecclestone has made it clear that a new contract will only be agreed once the work is carried out.

"They've known for five years what they have to do -- to bring themselves up to speed with everybody else," he said.

The development plans include new grandstands, pit and paddock facilities, a science park, manufacturers' test center, hotel and conference center, plus 190 new homes.

Work is scheduled to start in October and should be finished by spring 2010.

"This is a turning point for Silverstone and a bold commitment towards the BRDC's support for motorsport in the UK and for retaining the British Grand Prix," said Silverstone's managing director Richard Phillips.

But there is a further, sizable complication.

Ecclestone's desire to make the world championship truly global will see races in India, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Russia in the near future.

Unless the calendar expands -- and there is resistance to that from some teams -- the sport's European heartland circuits will have to make way.

San Marino has already gone and the cost of putting on a F1 event has forced Hockenheim to alternate with the Nurburgring in staging the German Grand Prix.

A host track can only generate revenue through ticket sales. Silverstone's current capacity of 90,000 is insufficient to cover the cost of staging a grand prix.

Ecclestone, who owns the promotional rights to the race and organizes the calendar, is driving a hard bargain with the BRDC.

A deal has been put on the table that will cost the owners a reputed $22 million for 2010, rising at a rate of five per cent each year after that.

"The BRDC know the terms," Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph.

"If they meet them, then we are in business. But at the moment they can't and therefore there is no race in 2010."

The last deal with Ecclestone was signed in 2004 -- but only after the British Grand Prix was dropped from the next season's provisional calendar.

Behind-the-scenes wrangling saw F1's 10 teams, many of which are based in the UK, agree to share a reported loss of $49m to finance the 2005 race.

Whether they would be prepared to bail the circuit out again in today's uncertain economic climate -- which has already seen the Super Aguri team fold this season -- is open to debate.

Ecclestone has also used the threat of a potentially spectacular grand prix around the streets of London as a stick with which to beat Silverstone.

That, though, is highly unlikely to go ahead and with no other circuit in the country anywhere near F1 standard, British race fans can only hope the BRDC and Ecclestone reach an accord.

So, the redevelopment of its facilities goes some way to guaranteeing Silverstone a grand prix.

But clearly there is more work to be done around the negotiating table to ensure the historic home of British motorsport maintains its place on the F1 calendar into the century's second decade.

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