Silverstone prepares to say farewell

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London: Nigel Mansell seemed to own the place, Damon Hill has been going there since he was a baby and Britain's latest champion Lewis Hamilton says it simply feels like home.

Silverstone, the windswept former World War Two airfield that hosted Formula One's first championship grand prix in 1950, is loved by drivers but this weekend must reluctantly say farewell to the sport.

The British Grand Prix is due to move north to Donington Park next year, although many paddock sceptics continue to question whether that track will be ready in time and whether Silverstone has really reached the end of the road.

Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who once damned Silverstone as a country fair masquerading as a world event, has made clear that whatever happens with Donington, there is no going back.

If the work at Donington is not finished in time, we would be happy to skip a year, he said last month. I don't want to lose the British Grand Prix, that's the last thing we want to do, but we aren't going to Silverstone for sure.

The circuit is owned by the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), a not-for-profit organisation that Ecclestone has pilloried in recent years as lavish new circuits emerge elsewhere in the world.

Silverstone is one of the historic races, on a par with Monza in Italy, but modern Formula One has little room for sentiment with its expansion to lucrative new markets in the Middle East and Asia.

SPECIAL CIRCUIT

Montreal and the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours disappeared this year, with the Canadian race much missed by competitors. Silverstone's loss will also be painful.

It hurts me more than (losing) Canada to see that Silverstone could not be on the calendar next year, said Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who hopes to beat Brawn team mate and championship leader Jenson Button to the chequered flag this weekend.

Canada for me is horrible not to be there, but Silverstone hurts me more -- not just for the feeling, but Silverstone is fast and safe and that's all we want, said Barrichello, a winner with Ferrari in 2003.

Hamilton triumphed last year for McLaren but Button, chasing an astonishing seventh win in eight races, will be the crowd favourite this time.