Monday marks the announcement of the fate of the British Grand Prix. The Grand Prix has been held at Silverstone since the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship in 1950. England is one of three countries to have hosted a Grand Prix in every F1 season, joined by Italy and Monaco.

Recently, Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1's commercial rights holder, has been in favor of introducing new venues into F1 that will generate more revenue instead of better racing. Ecclestone announced at last year's British Grand Prix that the race would move from Silverstone to Donnington Park. The owners of Donnington were supposed to remodel the track to fit the FIA safety standards.

Donnington's owners, however, could not come up with the necessary funds to finance the redevelopment, and plans have fallen through.

Silverstone continued to hold talks with Ecclestone behind the scenes in case Donnington could not provide the necessary funding.

So the other day I was wondering what makes the British GP so special and I came up with a list of what makes the Grand Prix so important to England:

1. National Pride: The Brits have always been very proud of the show that they put on at Silverstone.

2. The Teams: Of the 13 teams that will be in F1 next season, eight are based in England and within a 150-mile radius of Silverstone.

3. The Drivers: Next year, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will come together as teammates. This team is all British and the two drivers have won the last two World Championships.

4. The history: There have been numerous fantastic races at Silverstone. Whether it be Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, or Lewis Hamilton, many great battles have taken place at Silverstone.

5. The fans: Lately, the new racetracks put together by Ecclestone have been dull, processional races that have drawn minimal crowds. Take Turkey and Valencia, for example. In Turkey, less than 20,000 fans showed up for practice and qualifying. The organizers were so desperate to get rid of tickets that they gave them out for free. Even with free tickets, they couldn't attract more than 35,000 for the race. In Valencia, less than 30 percent of the tickets had been sold less than three weeks before the race. Only Michael Schumacher's attempted return had people buying tickets, and once Schumi aborted his return, the stands again did not fill up. But for the Silverstone weekend, the stands were at max capacity for all three days. The fans turned out in force to support their countrymen and enjoy the spectacle of Formula 1.

6. The media: Of all of the media coverage at a Formula 1 race, most of it is from the British media. Almost all of the F1 websites are British, and every British news station runs a piece about F1 news and events.

So here’s a big plea to Bernie Ecclestone: Please save the British Grand Prix, Bernie. All of the F1 community wants the race. We don't want any more races in Bangladesh or Cameroon. We want races in England and Italy and France and the USA!



Sunday, November 15, 2009 By Paul Kessler

It was announced this morning that reigning Drivers and Constructors champions Brawn GP have sold 75.1 percent of the team to the Daimler Corporation and the Brackley-based squad will be immediately re-badged Mercedes Grand Prix.

What this means for the sport is that the Mercedes brand will officially become a constructor after a prolonged period as only an engine supplier. Toyota and BMW recently pulled out of Formula 1, leaving the sport with only two car manufacturer backed teams (Ferrari and Renault) and two independent engine suppliers (Mercedes and Cosworth).

By renaming Brawn GP, the new Mercedes name will be its third name change in as many years.

This is a move that had been rumored for months since the incredible rise of the Brawn team. Along with the re-badging, a whole new driver line up is expected. As I reported in my previous posting, Rubens Barrichello has left for Williams while World Champion Jenson Button and his agents have been locked in a battle over a pay raise since the season ended. Taking each of these into consideration, it is expected that young German phenom Nico Rosberg will assume the number one role at Brawn next season...if Button does in fact depart. Previously unsure, Nick Heidfeld seems to be Mercedes's choice for number two driver, pairing a "Super Germany" team. If this line up does in fact come to fruition, it would seem that Kimi Raikkonen would be left in a boat without a paddle, as Button would naturally line up a McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton. This would mean the only vacant spots for 2010 would be one at Renault, both at Force India and the four new teams (plus Sauber).

Involved in the deal as well, McLaren renewed their engine contract with Mercedes through the 2015 season while buying out the 40 percent shareholding Daimler held in the company. Ron Dennis doesn't seem to mind this at all and is praising the new freedom the team will have without Mercedes breathing down his neck.

Mercedes's re-entrance into Formula 1 is the best possible news. Now instead of having 11 customer teams for 2010, four run by Cosworth engines, we will have 10 lined up in Bahrain. As long as that number continues to shrink in the upcoming years, my allegiance will continue to stay with Formula 1. I say this only because F1 is the pinnacle of motorsports, and without car companies the sport seems mundane. This is the place for car companies to test their engine programs and aerodynamic efficiency; Formula 1 is where they need to be. I don't condone spending hundreds of millions of dollars per season but I don't want to see the sport humbled by cost-cutting rules. I think the teams should get together and cut extraneous costs without implementing rules that detract from the racing.

I will post updates as the Mercedes situation continues to unravel, so check back soon.

For more of Paul's blogs, check out http://flag2flagaction.blogspot.com/