Silverstone open to hosting more than one race to help F1

Silverstone is willing to help Formula 1 “in any way” possible and would be open to hosting multiple races at the British Grand Prix venue when the 2020 season can begin.

The start of the 2020 campaign has been decimated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the opening eight rounds being either postponed or cancelled in the wake of the crisis.

A new start date for the season is currently unknown, although F1 chiefs hope to get the championship underway as soon as it is safe to do with the target of holding 15-18 events amid a possibility that the season could stretch into January next year.

In revisions confirmed by the FIA this week, the commercial rights holders can now forge ahead and make changes to the calendar without needing to hold a vote including the teams.

"All I've done is say to Formula 1 we are willing to work with them in any way, shape or form that they think is in the best interests of the championship,” Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle told Sky Sports.

"The majority of the teams are within a stone's throw of the circuit, so operationally it would be pretty straightforward.

"We've got the fixed infrastructure, the staff could go home to their own beds of an evening in large parts, so if that's how we can help then I'd be delighted to do that."

Silverstone announced this week that it had set a new end-of-April deadline to decide upon the fate of this year’s British Grand Prix and whether it can still go ahead as planned on July 19.

The original date looks increasingly unlikely after the Wimbledon tennis championships - which were due to finish the week before the British Grand Prix takes place – were cancelled on Wednesday.

"There are two reasons [for the extension from mid-April],” Pringle explained. “Number one is that Silverstone is one round in a world championship and our colleagues at Formula 1 are trying incredibly hard to piece together a season that will start much later [than planned].

"There have been a number of postponements and one cancellation and they are trying to reknit that calendar together. We are one element of that and it's important that Formula 1 get the chance to try and get a world championship season away.

"We can give them the time we need to do that. That is also because we're a fixed venue. We're not like a street circuit, we've got fixed set-up and infrastructure and we've also got an incredibly experienced team, we know what we're doing, so we can allow ourselves the month of April to make a decision which is sufficient for Formula 1 I hope to get their plans together.

"We could run all the way through but there's a reason we run [F1] in the British summer which is because it's the most civilised time of the year,” he added.

"It is no coincidence that Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix and The Open golf are sandwiched in a pretty tight window because that's the best chance of decent weather. We'll take the four weeks to review whether our July 19th date is suitable or not."