Several concerns were raised as to whether the two parties will agree on the terms of the contract forwarded by Ecclestone to the Silverstone officials. Given the big amount of time the Silverstone bosses took to look over Ecclestone's proposal and, additionally, the F1 boss' cold relationship with the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC currently owns the circuit), it looked like negotiations would reach a dead end.
Nevertheless, Phillips today told the media that the lateness in responding to Ecclestone was due to the fact that the proposed deal for Silverstone was based on a multi-year contract. Consequently, it takes longer to evaluate such a deal as compared to a one-year or short-term contract.
“I don't think there are any real stumbling blocks, we're going through the last details of the deal. I'm pretty convinced that it will be run at Silverstone next year,” Phillips told the BBC Radio Northampton.
He insisted that reading the smaller letters of the contract was the main reason for Silverstone's taking longer to respond Ecclestone. In addition, he announced the circuit wants the British GP for a minimum 10 years from now.
“There is a lot of detail to go through, so if you make a mistake, there's a long time to repent. You can come to high level agreements quickly, but the devil is in the detail. We're very, very close. We certainly would like the contract to be for more than 10 years – that's the minimum,” added Phillips, who also assured Ecclestone that Silverstone will have the necessary updates on its facilities up and ready by the 2011 race.
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