British GP safe says Ecclestone

Although he was none too complimentary about the recent British Grand Prix, Bernie Ecclestone has said the race at the Silverstone circuit is safe for years to come. British GP chief executive Rob Bain quit a day after the event when Ecclestone criticized promoters Octagon, saying it was totally disorganized. The boss of Formula One Management is still not happy about the way things were.

"It's (the British GP) got a contract for the next 10 years. There's no threat," Ecclestone said but added he had a bird's eye view of problems such as hot-dog stands blocking the pedestrian and vehicular access. "I was lucky to have a helicopter ride because it meant when there was a problem I told my driver to go all the way around the circuit and I could see for myself."

Ecclestone said the FIA design signs specifically for race weekends which are issued to all circuits but Silverstone was not using them: "We give designs for signs to all the races and everyone else uses them." He was also dubious about plans Octagon has for the redesigning of the pit complex. "The thing is, we have a special architect which we use and we sent the designs to Silverstone, but they've chosen to do it their own way," he remarked.

Despite the new road system vastly improving the access to and from the circuit, Ecclestone has a point about the problems once inside. The sheer volume of visitors on race day left many thoroughfares bottlenecked and in some cases at a complete standstill. FIA president Max Mosley has supported the race to stay on the F1 calendar providing it is properly run.