Categories: F1 BusinessF1 News, Reports and Race Results

Silverstone boss in bizarre F1 attack

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The managing director of the Silverstone circuit has launched a bizarre attack on the state of F1, describing it as "a s**t product".

Patrick Allen has been vocal over the past few weeks in claiming the British Grand Prix could be under threat as it is in arrears in paying for its race hosting fee to Bernie Ecclestone. However, the British Racing Drivers Club - which organises the race at Silverstone - reported a £3million profit last year and hosted a sell-out grand prix this season which saw 140,000 spectators on race day.

Despite the demand for tickets, Allen bizarrely claims F1 "is not saleable" in a thinly-veiled alignment of views with Ecclestone.

“Fans don’t want to see a procession,” Allen told The Independent. “As a promoter I can only promote what you give me and if that isn’t up to standard, people aren’t going to buy.”

“Months and months back I said it to Mr E himself that I can’t sell tickets for a s**t product.

“I’ve said that people don’t come to watch guys looking at data screens. Fans want to see gladiators racing and fighting it out in a fair fight. Nobody wants to hear drivers getting told to ‘lift’, ‘coast’ or ‘we’re not going to catch the guy in front, settle for second’.

“I think it is criminal when we have got to that state of racing and that is not saleable. I think Bernie is as frustrated with it as we all are. How long is it before the technical director is stood on the top step, not the driver? You’ve just got to throw the towel in then and look for something else.”

Allen's comments come following a British Grand Prix which saw home favourite and defending champion Lewis Hamilton win a dramatic, rain-affected race which was led early on by the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.