Silverstone, host of the British Grand Prix this weekend, may be very fashionable with the individuals who matter most in Components 1: the drivers.

The three.7-mile course constructed round a former Royal Air Power base options many high-speed corners, which give the fun that these behind the wheel search.

“It has one of the best format,” Lewis Hamilton, the English Mercedes driver and eight-time winner of the British Grand Prix, mentioned of his dwelling race. “It’s one that each one the drivers look ahead to as a result of we now have nice races there and you’ve got loopy high-speed corners.”

Silverstone is steeped in Components 1 historical past. When the game began in 1950, the observe hosted the primary Grand Prix, which was received by Nino Farina, who went on to win the primary drivers’ title. Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart and Michael Schumacher all received British Grands Prix there, though Sir Stirling Moss by no means did.

And whereas the British Grand Prix was run at different tracks through the years, Silverstone has held each one since 1987. For a lot of followers, who pack the stands and make it among the many most closely attended in Components 1, Silverstone is the true dwelling of British motorsports.

It’s “the one I look ahead to probably the most,” Lando Norris, an English McLaren driver, mentioned.

However Silverstone’s deal to host the British Grand Prix runs out in 2024, and the observe shall be required to come back to new phrases with the game to proceed internet hosting the race. Stefano Domenicali, the chief govt of Components 1, has mentioned that, with many new international locations and cities interested by holding races, even tracks with lengthy histories weren’t assured locations.

The 2 sides are negotiating, however neither would say the place the talks stood.

“We received’t know till we get there,” Stuart Pringle, the managing director of Silverstone, mentioned.

Silverstone’s place on the Components 1 calendar has been beneath risk earlier than. In 2008, Bernie Ecclestone, head of Components 1 on the time, mentioned the race would go away Silverstone. Then in 2017, the British Racing Drivers’ Membership, the proprietor of the observe, activated what known as the break clause in its internet hosting settlement, which might permit the membership to cease holding the race.

Silverstone felt it needed to threaten to stroll away as a result of it was bleeding cash: 4.8 million kilos in 2016, or about $6.5 million on the time, up from £2.8 million in 2015. It was reeling from its earlier contract phrases during which it needed to pay Components 1 more cash every year, in addition to paying the prices for renovating the observe and establishing buildings to modernize Silverstone.

After two years of talks, a brand new deal was struck with Components 1 and its new proprietor, Liberty Media, which had changed Ecclestone. The observe had used this time to reshape its funds.

Based mostly on its most up-to-date monetary submitting, Silverstone made £6.9 million in revenue in 2021. It’s, based on Pringle, persistently displaying “black numbers relatively than pink numbers,” sufficient to assist the observe add 9,000 extra seats to its grandstands for this 12 months’s race. That is a part of the drivers’ membership’s dedication to reinvesting the observe’s earnings.

“The members, the 820 or so racing drivers or former racing drivers,” he mentioned, don’t take cash out. “They get no dividend, they get no private monetary profit. They get two passes a 12 months and a few biscuits with their espresso within the clubhouse.”

The turnaround in Silverstone’s fortunes stems from the observe’s efforts to “generate a dwelling from the opposite 51 weeks of the 12 months,” Pringle mentioned.

This contains holding MotoGP bike racing and different racing championships, in addition to attracting guests to a brand new museum and a lodge. Silverstone can also be promoting 60 track-side flats, impressed, Pringle mentioned, by “examples of one thing related in America.”

The observe had additionally been helped by Hamilton’s run to seven world titles, Components 1’s rising reputation generated by the Netflix present “Drive to Survive” and other people’s eagerness to attend dwell occasions once more after years of Covid-19 disruptions.

A document 400,000 folks attended the 2022 British Grand Prix, however Pringle hopes “one other 50,000 or so” will come this 12 months.

In 2013, the drivers’ membership offered land it owned across the observe, which led to the event of the Silverstone Park enterprise space adjoining to the observe. The park homes many motorsport companies, together with the Aston Martin crew. Its street automobile division makes use of Silverstone to check its merchandise. Pringle mentioned the park was blossoming.

Domenicali, the Components 1 chief govt, put many racetracks on discover final 12 months, saying “a few of the present Grands Prix will now not be a part of the calendar.” He mentioned he wished present races to supply extra fan leisure.

Silverstone is working to satisfy Domenicali’s aim by putting in extra music levels and holding extra fan occasions. Pringle mentioned it was a “imaginative and prescient of sport and leisure” that broadens its attraction.

As a privately run observe, Silverstone receives no authorities funding to pay its internet hosting charge to Components 1, as many different races do. Silverstone is by itself.

“It’s all we’ve ever recognized,” Pringle mentioned. “And if we don’t run the observe and race efficiently, we don’t eat.”