I'm pretty sure the question of Silverstone's future has been coming up around this time every year since the mid-2000s.
The race hasn't been lost yet, despite all the posturing, so I'm pretty confident it's not going anywhere, especially when you factor in that so many teams are based here.
I turned up and just found it was some patches of tarmac with very little else.
Silverstone has improved a fair amount over the last few years.
As somebody who used to go every year, I agree and disagree with that.
While access to the circuit was one of the most critical changes they made some years back now, I still spent eight hours stuck in a queue of traffic trying to get into the circuit in 2012. There hasn't been the level of rain since that year, but they had no contingency plan, they couldn't manage the roads and the traffic marshals were absolutely useless. It was such a farce that I was very close to never going to Silverstone again after that.
While they have made some cosmetic improvements around the circuit, I feel a lot of these aren't really something the average fan experiences. You can't go to the Wing unless you are on a VIP ticket; they've also built all the university/academy type buildings, but again this is no benefit to the race goer. I seem to remember back when they last secured a deal, before the Wing was built, there was talks of adding lots more improvements, entertainment, a hotel etc but none of that has come to fruition. The grandstands could also be a lot better; as they are mostly temporary structures, they tend to have lots of supports at the front of the covered ones, which get in the way of the view. The PA system is also antiquated and in need of upgrading.
In terms of track side entertainment for the fans, while they have done more with the stage, making it a festival-esque experience and started booking some known bands, I feel that in other areas there is less. In the 90s and 00s, pretty much every team had a stand, which usually had at least a car on it that you could go and see; they would typically have time slots where members of the team or drivers would come and do a talk. Additionally there were also other entertainment, such as when BMW had an arena track that had drivers doing spins, where you could then meet the drivers afterwards. For instance we met Sebastian Vettel, back before he started his F1 career.
I no longer feel like I need to go to Silverstone every year.
