Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that Donington Park has a September deadline by which it must prove its 2010 British Grand Prix plans are on course, or risk losing the event.
While event organisers expect to be given the green light to start their £100 million redevelopment of the Leicestershire track on Thursday, scepticism remains in some F1 quarters as to how the major upgrade will be financed in light of the global financial downturn.
Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd chief executive Simon Gillett talked of setting up a debenture scheme for companies and wealthy fans when he pulled off the coup of luring the British GP to Donington last July, while also using the new buildings to generate additional rental income throughout the year.
But given the tightening of belts within the corporate sector since, doubts have been raised as to whether firms will now be willing to enter into such a debenture scheme.
And while Donington chiefs remain confident plans are on course, F1 supremo Ecclestone says he expects organisers to have a plan ‘B’ in place should it be necessary and that he will assess the circuit’s progress in the autumn.
"They [DVLL] have a contract with us that I am sure they understand, and I would imagine they have considered the state of the market and have a fall-back position,” he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"I am relying on what they told me they will deliver, and we have a September deadline, from memory, to see that all is as it should be.”
And he reiterated his warning that other countries were queuing up to take over from Britain should the Donington plan fall through, saying: “If it is not then we have four or five venues ready to stage a race."
Gillett’s planned debenture scheme will be similar to the one successfully used to complete the construction of Wembley Stadium, when bank loans were secured against the potential sale of seat licenes to corporate customers.
ISG, a joint-venture project involving stadium and arena marketing experts IMG, has been hired to structure the scheme and while acknowledging the challenges involved amid the financial climate, the firm stressed it wasn’t insurmountable.
“Would we rather have been testing the market and putting together this product a year ago? Of course we would,” ISG chief executive Andrew Hambel said.
"Now is neither the best time to be persuading people to part with money for a new sporting proposition, nor is it the best time to be asking banks to back an offer of this sort.
"Of course we would have been more confident of being able to do this 12 months ago, but the project has a lot going for it.
“Formula 1 remains a huge draw, and the Lewis Hamilton effect is very positive.
“Whether it all stacks up to deliver the kind of financing we need is uncertain, but we would not be devoting the time we are to putting this package together if we were not confident that we can deliver."
Donington signed a 10-year deal to take over from Silverstone as the new home of the British Grand Prix from 2010 and say construction work will begin immediately should it gained planning permission from the local council tomorrow.