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Liberty should buy Silverstone to secure future, says Brown
Formula 1's new owners should buy Silverstone to help secure the long-term future of the British Grand Prix, reckons McLaren chief Zak Brown.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jul 8, 2017, 5:23 PM
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With Silverstone poised to announce next week that it will activate a break clause to terminate its British GP deal beyond 2019 so it can renegotiate terms, the fate of the event has been thrown into doubt.
One of the key issues that has threatened its future is a heavy escalator in its F1 rights fee which will make it impossible to break even in the future.
While there has been talk of the British GP finding a new home – potentially with a street race in London – the financial reality is that a reduced rights fee for Silverstone over the long-term would help pave a better way forward.
But Brown, who is executive director of McLaren and recently met with Liberty to discuss the future of F1, thinks perhaps the best way forward would be for F1's new owners to take over Silverstone from the British Racing Drivers' Club.
"My view is Liberty should buy Silverstone," said Brown. "Much like the NFL – which is a pretty successful sport - they own their own Super Bowl which moves around.
"I think Silverstone is a great track. I sympathise if, with the escalator, it cannot make money, so we need to figure out a way for them to make money. So we either create new revenue streams or re-cut the deal."
Brown thinks that a way to make Silverstone more financially attractive would be for it to become an F1 hub, featuring museums, more testing and other attractions for fans.
"You could do an F1 Hall of Fame, you could do racing schools, and eSports.," added Brown. "If you owned the property yourself there is a lot of incremental activities.
"Testing too. Maybe instead of it all being in Barcelona for eight days, you could do it at Silverstone – and really open it up to the fans. Personally I think it would be a great acquisition."
Brown said he had voiced his opinion to Liberty's chiefs, and suggested that it had not been rejected.
"I have voiced my views on that," he said. "They listen. They will be quick to tell you if they disagree, and they didn't disagree with the logic.
"But I wouldn't want to put words in their mouth that they are going out to buy it. The nice thing about Liberty is that you can just share your views, take them on board, see them register and they have a lot of stuff going on. It is easy for me to say just go buy it."
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