Originally Posted by SkySports.com

The fight to save the British Grand Prix appears to be lost on Wednesday morning as Bernie Ecclestone is widely reported to have given up on a Silverstone Grand Prix in 2005.

Discussions between Formula One chief Ecclestone and the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) have been ongoing for over a month now, but Ecclestone appears to have heard enough, and will go elsewhere to complete his 2005 calendar.

"As we have been unable to reach agreement on the length of the commitment or the financial terms, we have to admit defeat and end the discussions," Ecclestone said in Wednesday's Daily Express.

"It looks certain that there will not be a British Grand Prix in 2005.

Ecclestone said: "You cannot keep trying to sell something to people who don't want to buy - it is a fact of business.

"I have a country knocking down my door for a race who are prepared to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to build a state-of-the-art circuit for F1 in the 21st century, and make a guaranteed commitment to pay substantially more than we have agreed to accept from the BRDC.

"I can't make a sensible business case for turning them down in order to give the BRDC a two-year deal at a significant discount, which they want while they try to make up their minds what they want to do.

"As much as I would like to have a British Grand Prix, I have done more than I have for any other race in the world to try to keep it on," Ecclestone added in The Times.

"But I cannot make a deal without the other side and I have to move on."