Silverstone chasing ‘festival feel’ for new long-term F1 deal

Silverstone intends on making the British Grand Prix have a festival vibe, as it chases a new long-term deal with Formula 1.

Silverstone’s current deal with F1 comes to an end after the 2024 race, but the venue for the first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix is hopeful of securing a new long-term deal going forward.

With ‘event’ Grands Prix becoming the norm and Liberty Media introducing the Miami and Las Vegas events, Silverstone is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Australia – Melbourne recently signed a new 10-year deal with F1.

With Silverstone’s location being away from major cities, based out in rural Northamptonshire, the circuit’s managing director Stuart Pringle said F1 has come to expect a certain level of non-racing entertainment over the course of a GP weekend.

“To recognise that in Miami and with Las Vegas coming online, there is an expectation to a level of entertainment that is something that has not previously been seen at Silverstone,” Pringle told Motorsport.com.

“It is becoming a different sport. There’s a whole new load of people coming into it. The challenge I set our team here at Silverstone is how do we keep pace with that? How do we do that in our own distinct style?

“How do we do that in our own way without being becoming some homogenised American-based product, but we keep the unique identity of the British Grand Prix?

“The answer is we make it more of a British summer festival. You’re going to see a big upscale in the quality of the music acts over the next few years.”

The goal is to create a mini-music festival, to try keeping fans on site and entertained. This will also have the effect of reducing fan travel – a key aspect of F1’s current plans to become net-carbon zero by the year 2030.

“We’re also going to address F1’s other really significant concern, which is about the sustainability of the championship,” Pringle explained.

“We are going to be, if not the most sustainable round that Formula 1 goes to, we will be in the top two or three. I think it’s likely that we will be the most sustainable round.”

This is helped greatly by the fact that seven of the 10 teams are based in the United Kingdom, with Aston Martin almost within walking distance of the garage in which they’ll set up for this weekend.

The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC), which owns the circuit and its facilities, is also set to increase the amount of solar panels on-site to boost the amount of energy…