Fears growing for Northamptonshire's F1 fans that cash row could KO British Grand Prix

Fears are growing among Northamptonshire's Formula 1 fans a cash row could KO this year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone — even if it gets the green light during the Covid-19 crisis.

Reports of a stand-off between the historic circuit and Formula 1 bosses over hosting back-to-back races without fans in July has put plans under threat.

Accordng to the BBC, F1 owners Liberty Media believe Silverstone's demand for £15million to stage races on July 19 and 26 is unreasonable,.

F1 has reportedly offered to pay enough money to ensure the circuit is not out of pocket covering the costs of hosting the two races plus some compensation for lost earnings.

A Silverstone statement said: "Silverstone and F1 remain in close dialogue with each other and the relevant authorities to try to make a British Grand Prix happen behind closed doors."

But F1 chairman Chase Carey said on a call with investors last week: "Whether it's the teams or promoters or sponsors, we're not going to be handing out candy to everybody.

"We're going to expect to be treated fairly, but we're going to deal with it as adults and with the expectation that 2021 is going to look like the business that we all knew four months ago."

Around 350,000 fans flock to Silverstone over British Grand Prix weekend, giving a massive boost to the Northamptonshire economy. Last month, the circuit announced plans to issue refunds to those who with tickets for this year's race after admitting any race in 2020 would need to be behind closed doors.

The former RAF bomber base first staged a grand prix in 1950 and has hosted the British round of the F1 world championship every year since 1987.

Ten grands prix have already been postponed or cancelled this year but F1 hopes to finally start the 2020 season with two races in Austria on July 5 and 12 followed by two at Silverstone. It then hopes to move on to a number of other races in Europe, probably four, in August and early September, from a selection of tracks in Spain, Hungary, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.

Time is running out to make a deal because F1 needs to know this week whether there will be a race at Silverstone as it seeks to finalise arrangements for the European part of the season.

This is complicated by talks with the Government over plans to make travellers self-isolate for 14 days after arriving in the UK.

F1 has a plan it believes will ensure the races are coronavirus-safe, with extensive testing and social distancing measures, which it hopes will justify an exemption for travelling staff.