British Grand Prix: F1 at Silverstone and the £16bn industry that’s ‘part of Brand Britain’

There’s a lot more to the massive motorsport industry in the UK than just the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with the sector worth billions to the economy

In Britain, Formula 1 is more than just a sport. It serves as both the pinnacle of motorsport while also sitting at the peak of a £16billion industry which contributes significantly to the economy.

That’s according to the findings of the Motorsport Industry Association’s latest review, published in the build-up to Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. That 16bn figure was the sales turnover from the motorsport and engineering services sector in 2023 – a £7bn increase compared to 2012 – with 50,000 people now employed by the industry.

A big driver in that growth is, of course, Formula 1. It is a global sport with only one race out of 24 held in Britain, but 10 of the 11 teams that will take to the grid next year are either wholly or partially based in ‘Motorsport Valley’ – the nickname for the midlands and Oxfordshire where most of those facilities happen to be, with the exception of McLaren who are based further south in Woking, Surrey.

Red Bull’s sister team Racing Bulls is based in Faenza, Italy, but has moved more of its operations to Milton Keynes. Sauber is Swiss but recently opened a new facility at Bicester Heritage, while new entrant Cadillac will retain its current Silverstone premises even when its new headquarters in Fishers, Indiana, are completed. Ferrari are the only team, currently, without any UK base.

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F1 is a massive draw for some of the best engineering talent in the world. Some 6,000 people in the UK are directly employed in the sport while around 41,000 more jobs are linked to it, through suppliers.

And there is also a prestige element, given the sport’s newfound global popularity with millions of new fans having been attracted in recent years. To the point that, ahead of this weekend’s Silverstone race, several drivers, team bosses and F1 chief Stefano Domenicali went to Downing Street for a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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It was primarily to mark the 75th year of the F1 World championship, which began in 1950 with a race at Silverstone. But while the sport had previously tried to ignore interfering governments as much as possible, the current leadership has acknowledged the need to embrace and work with politicians to form a mutually beneficial relationship.

So bosses will have been pleased to hear Starmer say at that meeting: “As Prime Minister, I’m really proud of what F1 does for our country – not just that technology, not just that innovation, not just the money into our economy and the sheer joy it gives to so many people, but the soft power and global reputation that it gives the United Kingdom. And this is really important. It’s part of Brand Britain.”

Motorsport Industry Association chief executive Chris Aylett was at that Downing Street event and said: “It was positive to hear the Prime Minister congratulate Formula 1 and the motorsport industry on the 75th anniversary of the first Formula 1 race.

“Stefano Domenicali was equally positive about the contribution to the Formula 1 story that is made by the UK’s motorsport supply chain and teams who are located here. A great event to capture the imagination of our new customers and fans.”