Monday, October 04, 2004
Stewart Urges Tony Blair to Help SilverstoneWritten by: RACER staff London, UK – 10/4/2004
Jackie Stewart has appealed to Tony Blair for government assistance (LAT photo)BRDC president Jackie Stewart has written to British Prime Minister Tony Blair asking him to step in and help save the country’s grand prix.Formula 1’s commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone struck the race off the 2005 provisional calendar last Thursday because the BRDC couldn't afford his sanction fee and had been unable to secure outside funding.On Friday, UK sports minister Richard Caborn ruled out the possibility of the government plugging the $5.3 million gap between the BRDC’s offer and Ecclestone’s asking price, saying on BBC Radio Five Live, “Is it right that a cash-rich, asset-rich sport should take money out of [the government’s] sport budget?”The Department of Culture, Media and Sport pointed out that it had already invested $28 million to support the British motorsport industry and $14 million on the road system to improve access to the Silverstone circuit. A statement insisted that “the current commercial negotiations about the promotion of the GP are a matter between the British Racing Drivers Club and Formula 1.”However, amid the furor which erupted in the wake of his decision, Ecclestone appeared to partially relent by offering to split the difference with the government and reinstate the race provided that the teams agreed to an 18-race season. In reality Ecclestone knew his bluff was unlikely to be called, in view of the clear position previously staked out by Caborn.But Stewart has now decided to appeal directly to Prime Minister Blair in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the race. There is some support in Labour Party circles for his cause, as Caborn’s predecessor Kate Hoey backed the BRDC’s plea for government support.“It’s not just about sport,” she said. “It’s actually about the future of the motor industry in this country. It seems to me [ministers] haven’t actually thought through the repercussions of losing it. What message does this send to the world and to our competitors in terms of an Olympic bid?“I do think that while we hope Bernie Ecclestone is playing hardball and that something may get sorted out, we can’t go on year after year having this [uncertainty over the British GP’s future]. This government has to decide whether it cares about the whole industry enough o actually put some tangible support into it.”In a letter to one of Blair’s Downing Street policy advisors, Stewart claimed that it was impossible for F1 events to survive nowadays without government backing - especially since the only revenue stream open to them is from ticket sales. All income from hospitality, trackside advertising and sponsorship is recycled into Ecclestone’s own companies.Stewart wrote, “What seems to have been missed is that there has been simply no money coming back into the sport from Mr. Ecclestone’s large rights fees and commercial rights contracts.”He added that a circuit could not upgrade its facilities to the standard of state-of-the-art new venues like Malaysia, Bahrain and Shanghai “unless a government, such as is the case with almost every other grand prix around the world, is supplying the finances to build exciting, glamorous and expensive facilities.”The flaw in Stewart’s case is that most of his complaints stem from the financial structure of the sport itself - specifically, Ecclestone’s slice of the cake - and the government is likely to regard that as an internal matter for the interested parties to resolve.But if the Blair administration has been consistent in anything over its seven and a half years in office it is in its pragmatism, and even if it doesn’t accept Stewart’s argument it may decide that a comparatively minor outlay of $2.65 million is a price worth paying to secure the race’s future for another year.Another potential stumbling block is that if the British GP is reinstated there will be 18 races on the 2005 schedule, while F1’s governing document, the Concorde Agreement, stipulates a limit of 17 races in a season. This can only be waived with the agreement of all the teams, which usually involves them being given financial compensation by the race organizer.A similar deal secured an 11th-hour reprieve for this year’s Canadian GP after it was originally dropped from the calendar, although in that case the money came from the provincial Quebec authorities and compensated teams for the loss of revenue resulting from a tobacco advertising ban introduced by the Canadian government.Having been unable to afford the race in the first place, the BRDC is unlikely to be in a position to offer teams compensation. However, the Club’s immediate aim remains to galvanize the government and/or local businesses into action before the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on Oct. 13, which will formally approve the 2005 fixture list.
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Jackie Stewart has appealed to Tony Blair for government assistance (LAT photo)BRDC president Jackie Stewart has written to British Prime Minister Tony Blair asking him to step in and help save the country’s grand prix.Formula 1’s commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone struck the race off the 2005 provisional calendar last Thursday because the BRDC couldn't afford his sanction fee and had been unable to secure outside funding.On Friday, UK sports minister Richard Caborn ruled out the possibility of the government plugging the $5.3 million gap between the BRDC’s offer and Ecclestone’s asking price, saying on BBC Radio Five Live, “Is it right that a cash-rich, asset-rich sport should take money out of [the government’s] sport budget?”The Department of Culture, Media and Sport pointed out that it had already invested $28 million to support the British motorsport industry and $14 million on the road system to improve access to the Silverstone circuit. A statement insisted that “the current commercial negotiations about the promotion of the GP are a matter between the British Racing Drivers Club and Formula 1.”However, amid the furor which erupted in the wake of his decision, Ecclestone appeared to partially relent by offering to split the difference with the government and reinstate the race provided that the teams agreed to an 18-race season. In reality Ecclestone knew his bluff was unlikely to be called, in view of the clear position previously staked out by Caborn.But Stewart has now decided to appeal directly to Prime Minister Blair in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the race. There is some support in Labour Party circles for his cause, as Caborn’s predecessor Kate Hoey backed the BRDC’s plea for government support.“It’s not just about sport,” she said. “It’s actually about the future of the motor industry in this country. It seems to me [ministers] haven’t actually thought through the repercussions of losing it. What message does this send to the world and to our competitors in terms of an Olympic bid?“I do think that while we hope Bernie Ecclestone is playing hardball and that something may get sorted out, we can’t go on year after year having this [uncertainty over the British GP’s future]. This government has to decide whether it cares about the whole industry enough o actually put some tangible support into it.”In a letter to one of Blair’s Downing Street policy advisors, Stewart claimed that it was impossible for F1 events to survive nowadays without government backing - especially since the only revenue stream open to them is from ticket sales. All income from hospitality, trackside advertising and sponsorship is recycled into Ecclestone’s own companies.Stewart wrote, “What seems to have been missed is that there has been simply no money coming back into the sport from Mr. Ecclestone’s large rights fees and commercial rights contracts.”He added that a circuit could not upgrade its facilities to the standard of state-of-the-art new venues like Malaysia, Bahrain and Shanghai “unless a government, such as is the case with almost every other grand prix around the world, is supplying the finances to build exciting, glamorous and expensive facilities.”The flaw in Stewart’s case is that most of his complaints stem from the financial structure of the sport itself - specifically, Ecclestone’s slice of the cake - and the government is likely to regard that as an internal matter for the interested parties to resolve.But if the Blair administration has been consistent in anything over its seven and a half years in office it is in its pragmatism, and even if it doesn’t accept Stewart’s argument it may decide that a comparatively minor outlay of $2.65 million is a price worth paying to secure the race’s future for another year.Another potential stumbling block is that if the British GP is reinstated there will be 18 races on the 2005 schedule, while F1’s governing document, the Concorde Agreement, stipulates a limit of 17 races in a season. This can only be waived with the agreement of all the teams, which usually involves them being given financial compensation by the race organizer.A similar deal secured an 11th-hour reprieve for this year’s Canadian GP after it was originally dropped from the calendar, although in that case the money came from the provincial Quebec authorities and compensated teams for the loss of revenue resulting from a tobacco advertising ban introduced by the Canadian government.Having been unable to afford the race in the first place, the BRDC is unlikely to be in a position to offer teams compensation. However, the Club’s immediate aim remains to galvanize the government and/or local businesses into action before the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on Oct. 13, which will formally approve the 2005 fixture list.
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