Ecclestone defends Silverstone

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has defended Silverstone over the problems that have beset British GP weekend.

Continuous rain on Friday turned car parks into quagmires and left many spectators stranded in traffic jams outside the track.

That led Silverstone chiefs to advise up to 30,000 fans with public car park passes for yesterday’s action to stay away from the circuit, which has been hit by further rain yesterday afternoon following a dry start to the day.

Ecclestone has been one of Silverstone’s harshest critics, but he admitted there was little that could be done in the circumstances.

He told Sky Sports F1: “I’m not a big supporter of Silverstone, but in all fairness they’ve done a good job and the rain is not their fault.

“England has been flooded; people’s houses have been flooded and they’ve been left stranded in the streets.

“So it is no different here than anywhere else.”

He added: “If the weather was suitable for the car parks then things would be perfect. But because of the rain things are not dangerous but if you got in there you might not get out.

“It is difficult for them to do what they could have done, which was to cover all the car parks.”