Formula 1 is worth £12bn a year to the UK economy, according to new figures released ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, with the four-day event at Silverstone alone injecting more than £100m into the local economy.
The scale of the sport’s contribution reflects Britain’s near-total grip on elite motor racing. Ten of the 11 teams on the 2026 grid are either headquartered in the UK or maintain operational bases here, clustered in the so-called Motorsport Valley corridor that has become the global centre of high-performance engineering. with motorsport and engineering services contributing an estimated £16bn to the wider UK economy and supporting more than 50,000 jobs.
That cluster continues to expand. Cadillac established its new Formula 1 facility at Silverstone in 2025, while Aston Martin, which has committed to the sport until at least 2030, and Mercedes are both pressing ahead with major expansion projects at their UK campuses.
“The British Grand Prix is Formula 1’s biggest event and is expected to welcome the largest crowd in the sport’s history,” the Formula 1 dataset states. “It generates more than £100m annually for the local economy and is expected to contribute well over £1bn over the life of its current contract through to 2034.”
Roughly 500,000 fans attended the 2025 British Grand Prix, and some estimates suggest as many as 560,000 could pass through the gates of the Northamptonshire circuit this year, a record for the sport.
The bumper numbers arrive just months after the sport publicly criticised the Home Office and wider government over the visa regime underpinning the race weekend. Written evidence submitted by F1 chiefs to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport Committee states that “strict rules, especially post-Brexit, can lead to significant delays in getting hundreds of personnel into the country, increasing costs and putting the successful delivery of the Grand Prix in jeopardy each and every year”.
Formula 1 says it supports thousands of highly skilled jobs and attracts global investment to the UK. “Britain has built a world-leading motorsport cluster that combines advanced manufacturing, cutting-edge research and development, engineering excellence and elite sporting performance,” it notes, pointing to heavy team investment in apprenticeships, graduate programmes and STEM outreach.
Stefano Domenicali, president and chief executive of Formula 1, says he wants the UK government and the sport to work in partnership. “As a sport, we want to keep building here, and to do that we must maintain, and enhance, the conditions that make it all possible,” he said.
His first ask is a competitive business and regulatory environment that makes the UK the best place in the world to design and build high-performance technology, from the right incentives for R&D-intensive businesses, a system currently under review by HMRC amid concerns over fraud and error, to a planning system that supports the expansion of high-tech engineering campuses.
Second, he wants a visa system that lets the world’s best engineers come to Britain quickly and without friction. “At times the process for obtaining visas for roles is too bureaucratic and uncertain. This creates unpredictability in the hiring process for what are unique and challenging roles,” he said. “Our competitive edge is built on talent and, alongside investment in the domestic talent of the future through education programmes with our universities, technical colleges and apprenticeships, our teams must be able to recruit the brightest minds, wherever they are from.”
Third, he is urging the government to back Britain’s lead in sustainable fuel. From this year, all F1 cars run on advanced sustainable fuel, and Domenicali argues the UK has an opportunity to adopt the technology alongside electrification to cut emissions from road cars and transport. “Britain can lead as an innovator, with technology delivered in the fastest sport in the world by the best minds, and be a place where these technologies can attract investment,” he said.
Hopes are high of a home win on Sunday, with Mercedes’ George Russell battling teammate Kimi Antonelli for the drivers’ championship and Lewis Hamilton fresh from his first victory in Ferrari colours.
F1 has called Britain home for 75 years, ever since King George VI watched the first world championship grand prix at Silverstone in 1950, and the circuit holds the British Grand Prix until at least 2034.
“This weekend, as the grandstands roar and a British champion leads the field, I hope politicians of every party will look at what this country has built and resolve to protect it, champion it and help it grow,” Domenicali said.
