CEO ' s MESSAGE
Silverstone has commissioned Northampton University to conduct an analysis of all these various stakeholder trajectories and map out a potential future for Silverstone on a national and even global stage . It was a fascinating day spent with a huge array of people from industry , technology , engineering , education as well as the various and regional political bodies and representatives . I was almost a lone voice in the room to hold a singular focus on the longterm sustainability of motorsport in this country and we held interesting debates on just how much Silverstone ’ s future should rely on its origins and still hold motorsport as its true north . Of course , we are reassured by the 10-year contract between Silverstone Circuits Ltd and Formula 1 , with Motorsport UK providing a close partnership in that mix . Silverstone historically has been so much more than just the Grand Prix with everything from the racing school , club racing events , and a multiplicity of international championships from World Endurance Championship to World Rally Cross . I am sure that with the opening of the new international grade kart circuit at Silverstone there will be even greater ties to the motorsport community , but I hope that the broader ambitions of a technology and entertainment hub do not in any way detract from the key role it should play in motorsport .
Talking of Formula 1 , for the first time in 75 years all the F1 teams came together for a joint launch at the O2 Arena in London , which seemed right given the UKs role as the birthplace of the championship , being the home of 8 out of the 10 Formula 1 teams , as well as the headquarters of Formula 1 Management . At its peak , their YouTube had 1.1 million concurrent viewers – this was a record with their previous peak being 289,000 . Across F1 ’ s YouTube , they had a total of 4.6 million viewers , with millions more expected to be watching across their rights-holding broadcasters around the world . The launch was followed swiftly by the first episode of Season 7 of Drive-to-Survive . The growth of F1 seems to know no bounds . I do have some concerns that for hundreds of millions of people around the world their only view of motorsport is a multi-billion-dollar industry with 20 of the most glamorous athletes on the planet , given that this doesn ’ t reflect 99 per cent of real-world motorsport . However , the challenge is to make sure we leverage that enormous power and turn it to our advantage . And so , it was only a few weeks later that I met with our Minister for Sport , Stephanie Peacock , in her office in Whitehall , London . The occasion was a roundtable of several sports national governing body CEOs , with the purpose of providing some guidance to the minister on our challenges and potential opportunities . The key point I made was that historically the government in this country has been pretty disconnected from the motorsport industry and community , this is in part due to the fact we are not an Olympic sport and therefore sit outside traditional government funding models . But nonetheless it strikes me as extraordinary that with 80 per cent of the Formula 1 teams based here , we seem so reticent to shout about it . I think if that was the case in most other countries around the world , they would be proudly telling that story in bright neon across the sky .
I promised to keep you updated on progress with our pitch to bring the World Rally Championship back to the UK with a proposed event in Aberdeen , Scotland . We were again in Edinburgh just this week and gathered further momentum
The Motorsport UK Girls Karting Academy builds on the success of the F1 Academy Discover-Your-Drive programme
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Revolution - March 2025
Lou Johnson