Coronavirus: Silverstone set end of April deadline for British Grand Prix

F1 hopes to resume racing in the European summer and is working on a reduced and rejigged calendar of 15-18 grands prix

Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix for a record sixth time in 2019. Silverstone has offered to host back-to-back races to help the championship amid coronavirus. PA

The Formula One British Grand Prix will wait until the end of April before making a decision over whether the July race goes ahead amid the coronavirus crisis.

Like all major sport, motorsport and F1 has been heavily effected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the first eight races of the season either postponed or cancelled, and organisers at host track Silverstone are waiting until the end of the month to make a final decision on the status of the British Granr Prix.

"Silverstone and Formula One remain in close dialogue regarding the ongoing situation and are assessing the feasibility of holding the British Grand Prix on 17th–19th July," Silverstone said on Wednesday.

"We fully appreciate that other UK sporting events in July have taken decisions regarding their events," the statement continued.

"But it is important to highlight that their logistics and sporting arrangements differ from Silverstone’s and, therefore, our timeline gives us until the end of April to make a final decision."

The British Grand Prix, a highlight of a British sporting summer that looks likely to be wiped out by the pandemic, has been the best attended on the F1 calendar in recent seasons with a total crowd of 351,000 last year.

Sunday's turnout was 141,000 in 2019, with the race close to home for seven of the sport's 10 teams including six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, who won at Silverstone last year for a record sixth time.

Britain has strict social distancing measures in place at present, with all sport on hold and the authorities asking everyone to stay at home except for essential travel.

Silverstone said the safety of all involved remained a priority.

The circuit is owned by the British Racing Drivers' Club and requires some temporary infrastructure, although less than in the past, which depends on workers and contractors being available.

Formula One has said it hopes to resume racing in the European summer and is working on a reduced and rejigged calendar of 15-18 grands prix that could run into January if necessary.

The British and Italian Grands Prix are the only ones to have been held every year since the world championship started in 1950, with Silverstone hosting the first.

Monaco, a glamorous fixture since 1955, has already been cancelled for this year however. Italy's race at Monza is scheduled for September.

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