Silverstone circuit boss Stuart Pringle says the track would be open to hosting two F1 races this season as the sport bosses look for a way to get the season restarted.
As part of their meeting last week to determine a way forward, one of the proposed ways in which the season could get back underway involved two races in the UK.
It would see the season start in Austria, with that race to be held as initially scheduled in early July, followed by two races at the Silverstone circuit.
There was even a suggestion that one of the races would see the the Silverstone circuit flipped and the drivers would go the wrong way around the track.
Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle says they are open to such suggestions.
“We have been asked could we hold a race or two and could they be behind closed doors,” Pringle sais.
“The answer is absolutely, we are open to looking into anything and everything.”
The F1 bosses have been scrambling around looking for a way they can get the season started and make sure it can be finished too.
For the season to be declared a world championship, there needs to be at least eight races completed.
No F1 circuit has ever hosted two successive races, but Silverstone believe they can do it.
“I have complete confidence in our ability to put on these events. We have a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge, we can turn that on definitely,” added Pringle.
The French race is also expected to be postponed after president Emmanuel Macron announced there’d be no major public events until at least mid-July.
Ergo, the season getting underway in Austria on July 5 seems the best case scenario at the moment. Austria are one of a few countries who have begun to relax their lockdown.
Every grand prix up until the French GP at the end of June has already been cancelled or postponed.
The issue remains that the season cannot begin until the F1 bosses have assurances, or at least confidence, that they will be able to finish the season. Pringle echoes that:
“They can’t set this ball rolling unless they have a solution that stands a fighting chance of running successfully over multiple races,” said Pringle.
“That timescale would suit us if we didn’t have to put in the infrastructure for accommodating the public.”
Seven of the F1 teams are based in and around the UK, and Silverstone is a relatively short drive for them – so it’s logistically very sound.
As well as that, as Pringle says, there likely won’t be any fans in attendance, making the logistics even easier.
Personally, I’d enjoy seeing a double header at Silverstone. Especially if they did do one of the races the wrong way around the track. That’d be very interesting…
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