Breach of security casts more doubt on Silverstone's future

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger must have been impressed. And perhaps even he could not have done a better job of trying to save the British Grand Prix.

The fabled "Terminator'' actor with a penchant for extraordinary deeds joined a disbelieving gallery as a demonstrator ran on to the fastest part of this circuit to promote the Bible. A stream of cars went by him, accelerating to almost 200mph, before he was bundled over by a marshal and arrested.

Almost as startling was the racing that followed the incident. As the safety car was deployed, most of the drivers took the opportunity to pit and, when they returned to the track, the revised running order made for an enthralling spectacle.

Toyota's Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis occupied the first two places, while Michael Schumacher, the championship leader, was relegated to 14th. Schumacher's controlled aggression lifted him to fourth at the end of another damage limitation exercise.

Still more stunning was the driving of his Ferrari team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, who became the seventh winner of this unpredictable season after hustling his way past Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. At virtually every turn, the action was unrelenting and compelling.

All this, just a few hours after Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula One's commercial affairs, issued a declaration that Silverstone had a month to find sufficient money to upgrade its facilities and keep the British Grand Prix. Ecclestone, who along with Max Mosley, president of the FIA, international motor sports governing body, has conducted a pressure campaign for improvements at Silverstone, told the British Racing Drivers' Club, owners of the Northamptonshire circuit, that they should borrow £14m and must satisfy him that they have a deal in place within the next four weeks. If they cannot meet those requirements, Turkey will replace Britain on next year's calendar.

"They should borrow £14m and add it to the £13m they've got in the kitty and get on with the work that's needed here," Ecclestone said. "I don't want to drop the British Grand Prix, but I want it to be the best. They should want it to be the best in the world.''

Mosley, too, leaned on the BRDC, saying: "They get £8m a year rent as landlords for this race. Where does all that money go? The circuit itself and the safety standards are fine, but we should be asking why the facilities for the spectators and the teams are not the best in the world.''

Jackie Stewart, president of the BRDC, was patently flummoxed by Ecclestone's ultimatum and admitted he was not sure whether the British Grand Prix could be saved.

Now the guardians of Silverstone and Octagon, the promoters of the British Grand Prix, have another headache to deal with. The intruder, wearing what appeared to be a kilt or a tricolour and holding a placard, ran against the direction of the cars as they sped down Hangar Straight. The cars passed him to his left, although the Dutchman Jos Verstappen had to swerve his Minardi and Britain's Jenson Button abandoned plans to overtake when he was suddenly confronted by the figure.

The man was eventually knocked down by a marshal and led away. The FIA are awaiting a report from their observer, Herbie Blash, and an investigation has been ordered. Ecclestone said: "Security here obviously wasn't up to it. You can imagine if he had got himself killed with millions watching on TV - we would have been crucified. We clearly have to look into this. We have to be thankful it wasn't worse.''

Button, one of those who lost places in the rush to the pits but finished the race a creditable eighth, described his harrowing experience as he turned out of Chapel. "The car in front of me moved to the right and I thought he was blocking me, so I pulled to the left to line up a pass and then saw this madman running towards us," he said. "It was a very scary feeling. I looked into his eyes and thought, 'how weird is this?' He doesn't care but we do. I missed him by about three metres. He would certainly have felt the wind in his hair. I was up to 185 by that point, I dread to think what would have happened to him - and to me - if I had hit him. The pity is that this will take all the attention from a brilliant race.''

Barrichello, who also won after a protester appeared at the side of the track at Hockenheim, Germany, three years ago, had no such disconcerting experience. The Brazilian said: "Can you believe I was concentrating so much on the race that I didn't see him? That's the second race I've won when this kind of thing has happened so they will be saying it was a Brazilian!''

Kimi Raikkonen said he saw the man - who has apparently contacted the media in the past and revealed his religious zeal - climbing over a fence. The inquiry will doubtless consider ways of intensifying security around the perimeter fencing, but Ron Dennis, team principal of McLaren-Mercedes and a board member of the BRDC, insisted there could be no bullet-proof resistance to a fanatic.

"This kind of thing can happen at any time, anywhere in the world," Dennis said. "It happened at Hockenheim, it's happened at horse racing. If he had been committed to hurting himself he would have run in front of the cars. He was committed only to bringing attention to his cause.

"It was a great race and I don't think it's accurate to say it was caused by this intruder because you could have a safety car situation for all sorts of reasons. What better way to demonstrate Silverstone's case for keeping the grand prix than by putting on a race like this? This is a real race circuit, providing opportunities for real racing and overtaking.''

Police said a 56-year-old man from County Kerry, living in London, was "arrested in connection with an offence of aggravated trespass and will be interviewed in Northampton."

RACE DETAILS

(Race distance: 60 laps, 308.355 km/191.644miles)

1 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1hr 28min 37.554sec (average speed 208.757 kph; 129.725mph)
2 J P Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW 1:28:43.016
3 K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:28:48.210
4 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:29:03.202
5 D Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:29:14.381
6 J Trulli (It) Renault 1:29:20.621
7 C Da Matta (Br) Toyota 1:29:22.639
8 J Button (GB) BAR-Honda 1:29:23.032
9 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW 1:29:35.586
10 J Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda 1:29:41.123
11 O Panis (Fr) Toyota 1:29:42.781
12 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber-Petronas 1:29:43.118
13 R Firman (GB) Jordan-Ford one lap behind
14 Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar-Cosworth +1 lap
15 Jos Verstappen (Neth) Minardi-Cosworth +2 laps
16 J Wilson (GB) Minardi-Cosworth +2 laps
17 N Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas +2 laps

Not classified (did not finish): F Alonso (Sp) Renault 52 laps completed; G Fisichella (It) Jordan-Ford 44; A Pizzonia (Br) Jaguar-Cosworth 32.

Fastest lap: Barrichello 1:22.236 on lap 38.

Constructors' Standings:
1 Ferrari, 118.
2 Williams-BMW, 108.
3 McLaren-Mercedes, 95.
4 Renault, 55.
5 BAR-Honda, 14.
6 Jaguar-Cosworth, 12.
7 Jordan-Ford, 11.
8 Sauber-Petronas, 9.
9 Toyota, 7.