F1 2010: Donington hands over

The owners of the Donington Park circuit had until Monday midday to find a way to raise sufficient funds (135 million pounds) to renovate the circuit to accommodate the Formula 1.

On Friday, they admitted that this fundraising had failed. “ Donington Ventures Leisure Limited confirms that search for the sum of 135 million pounds to cover the costs of upgrading the circuit to F1 standard has been unsuccessful » the operator had specified.

This Monday, the deadline to find an agreement passed with no news from Donington. The event even disappeared from the list of 2010 events on the circuit's website.

Bernie Ecclestone should therefore turn to Silverstone, even if the financial agreement has yet to be found. And this is the main point of disagreement between the representative of FOM (Formula One Management) and the English circuit. Last week, Ecclestone declared that he would not sell out the British Grand Prix (see elsewhere), and that F1 could do without this test.

In addition to not hosting Formula 1, Donington Park could have to pay a hefty bill to the FOM (from 12 to 15 million pounds according to The Times) for breach of contract.