IT has been an accident waiting to happen. Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been on collision course with the British Racing Drivers' Club over the future of Silverstone for years.

Now Ecclestone has scrubbed the British Grand Prix from next year's calendar unless a deal can be struck before the sport's governing body, FIA, ratifies the decision a week tomorrow.

F1 commercial rights controller Ecclestone drives a hard bargain is a sport awash with cash.

The former second-hand car salesman could probably dip into his own loose change and come up with the money to make the necessary long overdue improvements to Silverstone but points out that would be unfair to every other circuit in the F1 family.

Various reports reveal that the BRDC's offer of £7.5million is between £800,000 and £1.5m short of the asking price.

In F1 terms that's a bag of wingnuts, but the BRDC claim if they shell out any more they would struggle to break even. That is because the only income the BDRC would be entitled to would be from ticket sales and they don't want to risk a lower than expected attendance.

All other associated revenues to companies set up by Ecclestone, who according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List weighs in with a fortune of £2,323million.

One place the money won't be coming from is the government.

Quite rightly, Richard Caborn, the Minister for Sport, has rejected calls by BRDC president Sir Jackie Stewart, for the tax-payer to come to the BRDC's rescue.

There is enough money - not all of it tucked up in drivers' bank accounts in Monaco - in F1 to solve the problem in-house.

Many within the sport believe a solution will be found within the next few days and that the British GP will be reinstated.

But even if it does retain its 54-year status within the GP calendar, lessons should be learned from the whole sorry mess.

Both Ecclestone and the BRDC need to build bridges and come up with a vision for the future. Both camps should know it is good to talk rather than posture.

The storm that has overtaken Silverstone has hardly just slipped into view in the wing mirrors of the powers that be. This situation has been in the BRDC's slipstream for years.

In 2000, the organisation of the race was criticised when thousands were stuck in muddy car parks.

Two years later new access roads and car parks were opened at the circuit but Silverstone, repeatedly criticised for its facilities, was still bedevilled by traffic troubles.

While other countries like China and Shanghai opened spanking new circuits for 2004 Silverstone gave the impression of being stuck in the mud.

Multi-million pound plans have been on the drawing board for years to redevelop Silverstone as the major centre of motorsport.

They include a high spec wind tunnel, a centre of excellence linked to two university engineering departments and the opportunity to reconfigure the circuit if the BRDC sells a 350-acre chunk of land.

It is visionary but do the people running the sport in F1 in this country have the ability to put it in to practice?

If they don't then it could well be the end of the road for Silverstone.

Updated: 09:08 Tuesday, October 05, 2004