Silverstone confirm they have written to David Cameron about the funding for the proposed Circuit of Wales

(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

The organizers of the British GrandPrix at Silverstone have confirmed that they have written to Prime Minister David Cameron seeking clarification as to how the proposed Circuit Of Wales will be funded amid reports that the proposed venture would receive a £30 million cash injection from the Welsh assembly with a further £20 million coming from public funding.

In a statement on their official website Silverstone stated: 'Silverstone is fully supportive of regeneration projects and the creation of new jobs, however, when Silverstone circuit was recently looking for support to secure the future of the Formula One© British Grand Prix and protect Motorsport Valley - a cluster of motor sport, automotive and high performance engineering businesses at the heart of the motor sport industry sector, comprising 4,300 companies, employing 41,000 people and generating annual sales of £9 billion - the application was denied on the basis that this would be classed as illegal state aid. In the absence of such aid, Silverstone had to sell off assets to ensure the Formula One© British Grand Prix was retained in the UK.

The statement went on to say: 'Silverstone has been advised that an injection of funds by the Welsh and/or UK government to the Circuit of Wales project could also amount to illegal state aid, as a transfer of States resources would give Circuit of Wales an economic and selective advantage over other circuits (and developments). There are currently a number of well established, privately funded circuits in the UK including Wales that feel the British motor sport industry would be threatened by the addition of a government funded circuit.

Silverstone is at the heart of Formula One as eight of the eleven teams involved in the sport are based within the vicinity of the circuit not to mention that Mercedes power units are built in Brixworth which is approximately 21 miles away from Silverstone. 

Silverstone continued by saying: 'To be clear, Silverstone has no objection to competition between UK circuits, but it has to be a level playing field.

Silverstone have a contract to host the British Grand Prix until 2026 and in recent years the circuit has under gone a complete redesign along with the construction of a brand new paddock complex. If the Circuit of Wales is given the go ahead Silverstone which hosts Moto GP would face competition for the right to host the Moto GP event as any proposed deal for the Wales circuit to get the go ahead is apparently subject to them securing Moto GP.

It will be interesting to see what David Cameron has to say about the matter. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

©Ben Johnston 2014