Will Silverstone ever host a grand prix again?
Over the main entrance to Silverstone there is a sign that reads: Home of British Motor Racing.
For any motor sport enthusiast, it is iconic, just as the "This Is Anfield" plaque at Liverpool Football Club's home ground is to any football fan.
In essence, it makes an unequivocal statement about where you are, notably a venue of great historical significance.
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The Northamptonshire track, once the site of a former World War II airfield, this year celebrates its 60th anniversary, making it one of the oldest on the Formula One calendar.
It was the scene of the very first round of the world championship in 1950, with Giuseppe Farina taking the chequered flag in his Alfa Romeo in the inaugural British Grand Prix.
Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, John Watson, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and David Coulthard have all since taken the plaudits in front of an adoring home crowd following victory.
There can surely be no greater feeling than standing on top of the podium at your home race, while below a tidal wave of Union Jacks unfurl and fly proudly to acclaim your success.
Given Silverstone's diamond jubilee, fittingly, a record-breaking, sell-out crowd of 240,000 is to descend for this weekend's race.
Yet with just 12 months remaining on its current contract as hosts there are now doubts over it will ever host a grand prix again.
Damon Hill, president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, who own the track, this week conceded it was "50-50" whether there would be a race in 2010 and beyond.
The BRDC, in conjunction with Silverstone Circuits Ltd, had pulled out all the stops to ensure they meet supremo Bernie Ecclestone's demands for improvements.
Planning permission has been granted for a new pit and paddock complex, estimated to cost in the region of 30million, with work due to begin later this year.
You would have thought that would have been enough to appease Ecclestone, especially as he has derided the facilities for many years now.
Surely this would have been enough to show Ecclestone the serious nature of Silverstone's intent.
But there is more to it than that as state-of-the-art facilities, and all of the circuit's history alone, combined with the fact all the drivers love competing there, obviously do not guarantee a deal.
Ecclestone has his price, and in the current market that stands at 11million per race - his rock-bottom figure would you believe - with a slight percentage rise per annum over the course of the contract.
It would appear to be as cheap as chips when you consider those running the new circuit in Abu Dhabi will pay 30million to host the final grand prix of next year's calendar.
But for Silverstone's owners, it is a gulp-in-the-throat kind of sum, especially when you consider it is the only circuit that does not receive any kind of Government handout.
It means the money Ecclestone wanted has to be generated within, and when you are trying to raise the funds to bring the track up to the standards he requires, you are facing a virtual catch-22 situation.
As Hill has said: "We're in this constant cyclical thing.
"In order to get our plans implemented we need to have a grand prix contract, and in order to get a contract we have to have planning.
"So it's going round in circles, but they are getting smaller, and we're getting closer to the final stage."
History counts for nothing in an era when money does all the talking.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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