After it became known that because of the coronavirus not all Grands Prix could take place, Formula 1 started thinking in solutions to be able to drive as many races as possible in a shortened calendar. One of those solutions was a second race at Silverstone in the opposite direction. Silverstone director Stewart Pringle now says that this was never the case.
Never a real option
Several options were evaluated. Besides the long Grand Prix circuit Silverstone has two other layouts that were considered for the second race: the international circuit and the national circuit. The last idea was to drive in the opposite direction.
"Well it wasn't [really a serious idea] because Silverstone is about the Grand Prix circuit – you can't go the other way around", says Pringle to Motorsport.com.
Brand awareness was important
"That was just me mischievously not shutting down a journalist quickly enough, but that was great because that ran for three or four weeks and kept our name out there", Pringle continues.
Pringle also says the idea of being on the international or national job was never really a serious one. According to him you miss half of all the good turns and the layout doesn't change much for the turns you have left.