McLaren executive director Zak Brown believes Liberty Media should buy the Silverstone circuit and take over promotion of the British Grand Prix.

The future of the race in Britain is in doubt following the decision of Silverstone’s owners – the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) – to activate a break clause in its race-hosting contract. While there was originally a deal in place to host the race until 2027, the BRDC believes the current deal is unsustainable and has opted to end it in 2019.

Speaking before confirmation of the BRDC’s decision, Brown says Silverstone should be a central hub for Formula 1 and the sport’s new owners should take control of the venue to secure its future.

“My view is Liberty should buy Silverstone,” said Brown (pictured). “I think they should buy it and, much like the NFL… I know we do lots of NFL comparisons but it is a pretty successful sport. They own their own Super Bowl; now, it does move around.

“I think Silverstone is a great track. I sympathize if the [fee] escalator [means they] can’t make money. We need to figure out a way for them to make more money, so either we need to create new revenue streams or re-cut the deal.

“I think there should be a Formula 1 hall of fame, you can do racing schools, e-sports. I think if you owned the property yourself there’s a lot of incremental activities. Testing, maybe instead of it all being in Barcelona for eight days, maybe you could move four to Silverstone, really open it up to the fans. Personally, I think it would be a great acquisition.”

Asked if he had told F1 bosses Chase Carey and Sean Bratches about the idea, Brown says Liberty were open to hearing his opinion.

“Yes, I have voiced my views on that. They listen. They will be quick to tell you if they disagree and they didn’t disagree with the logic, but I wouldn’t want to put words in their mouth that mean they are going out and buying it. I have no idea.

“The nice thing about Liberty is you can share your views and they take them onboard, and you see them register. They’ve got a lot of stuff going on, so I think it’s easy for me to say, ‘Just go buy it.'”

When it was put to Brown that a number of other European circuits could be purchased by Liberty, the Californian believes Silverstone should be the first step.

“NASCAR owns 22 of the races that they compete in, which I think is made up of 12 circuits. IndyCar owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway… I think you’ve got to buy one before you buy three or four, so for me Silverstone, given the challenges there… England is the home of Formula 1, so for me you can do a lot with it if that extended to other races.”