RED BULL MARCH ON
Team boss Christian Horner vows to continue
F1 BOSS Christian Horner rallied the troops this weekend and told his Red Bull staff they would race next year - but wouldn't confirm which series that would be.
The last-minute meeting followed the shock announcement that the eight members of the Formula One Teams' Association are planning to set up a rival championship next year.
This weekend at the last official British GP at Silverstone, news broke that all of the major manufacturers would leave F1 and start their own pirate series away from F1 and the FIA.
Manager Horner - whose team currently lies second in the championship - gathered his employees in the garage early Friday morning and confirmed Red Bull Racings' departure - but assured his employees they WOULD be on the track next year.
Horner said: "We are here to race in the pinnacle of motorsport - whatever the pinnacle may be.
"Be assured jobs are safe and we will be racing next year, we just want to race the best cars with the best people and the best sponsors."
Opinion in the Slverstone paddock is divided - half believing an agreement to keep the aggreived manufacturers in the fold will be reached, with others thinking this is the end of F1 as we know it.
However one man unaffected by the wrangling was Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima. And relaxing in the paddock wirth a game of his beloved baseball paid off for the Japanese driver who rorared into a career-best positon of fifth on the grid after Saturday's qualifying.
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JENSON BUTTON'S IN GEAR
BRITISH race fans proved they are a fickle bunch as swarms of racegoers flocked to purchase bookies favourite' Brawn GP gear in favour of last years winners McLaren.
As underdog Brit Jenson Button steams ahead in the championship fans ditched thier luminious orange Lewis Hamilton shirts for the white and neon yellow of the rebranded Honda F1 team Brawn GP.
Cash-ready Silverstone spectators qued for up to an hour to get their hands on the newly launched Button gear - in stark contrast to the sea of Hamilton fans at last year's event.
Race fan Adam Ross admitted: "Button is the boy done good and that is why I have put the Hamilton shirt to the back of the wardrobe.
"Everyone wants a Brit to win and this year it looks like Button could swipe the chamipionship - so that is why I brought his shirt and cap - backing the next British Champion."
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SILVER LINING
SILVERSTONE campers are celebrating this weekend as the talk of a breakaway series means their favourite teams could return to their beloved circuit.
Instead of saying a tearful goodbye to their much-loved track and mourning the end of an era - fans are welcoming the possibilty of a new elite motorsport series at the Northamptonshire circuit.
Camper Gary Milward said: "I thought I would be devastated this weekend as the curtain is closing on Silverstone - but the news of a breakaway series means that it could be here next year and that can only be a good thing!
"We come here year after year and whatever name it goes under we will still return - I would love a championship especially if it means coming back to good old Silverstone."
With the bombshell news that the majority of teams will spilt from the Formula 1 series and the FIA - Silverstone have said that although they are committed to F1 they would consider hosting the maverick championship.
British Racing Drivers' Club chairman Robert Brooks said: "We're a business, and if there was another race we would have to consider it, but we are very much part of the family.
"This is still a pretty good set-up, in pretty good shape. It's profitable, run well, has a capacity crowd, people like it, teams like it, drivers like it. It's a successful grand prix."
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