The Silverstone Contract

[flood1]

This is the same 17 year agreement that Donington suppossedly had. The contract offer seems a bit daunting to me, especially if I am a club of mostly old racing drivers who have never calculated a single transaction that had more the five digits in it.

Continued

[sportsman]

Big numbers indeed. The escalator is the killer blow.
17 years ago one litre of petrol cost 38p in the UK.
The average hourly minimum pay rate was £2.40 per hour.
Using those figures as yardstick a doubling of the fee over 17 years wouldn't look so bad.
But a tripling of the fee whatever the fee actually is seems to be economic suicide.
One other point does spring to mind however.
The drivers gargantuan salaries are frequently defended by their fans by saying but look at the TV exposure they bring to their teams,

[flood1]

The total contract value over 17 years would be - £370m with the final year being 2026 @ £35.43m.

I suspect the guys are ok with a five year deal at these fees, but cannot bite the bullet for a 17 year committment. I probably would not either.

[Red Andy]

But Silverstone have already said that without a long term deal, they won't commit to their facilities upgrade, which would be a condition of any contract signed with Bernie. Basically they're caught between the proverbial rock and hard place.