It has finally happened. Yesterday’s ELMS calendar reveal was headlined by the return of Silverstone, a move that was years in the making. It answered the prayers of sportscar racing fans across the UK – and teams – who have felt starved of ACO-rules racing at the ‘Home of British Motor Racing’ since the last WEC-ELMS double-header back in 2019.
Silverstone’s return comes at a hugely important moment for the ELMS and its future. This is more than just a simple calendar tweak. It represents a statement of intent from the series organisers, who are looking to seize the opportunities that bumper grids and a growing fanbase currently present.
Behind the scenes, LMEM has been looking at a return to Silverstone for a long time. When Frédéric Lequien took over as CEO of the WEC and ELMS back in 2021, he was known to have immediately questioned why the annual races in the UK had dropped off the calendar and has been pushing for a way back ever since. He has always recognised the circuit’s appeal to drivers, teams and fans and the heritage it has as a venue for endurance racing.
But taking the ELMS – or the WEC for that matter – back to Silverstone gradually became a more complex task both financially and logistically, as the sport navigated its way out of the COVID pandemic and economic challenges that followed and persist to this day.
2025, though, proved to be an ideal opportunity to trial a standalone ELMS weekend at Silverstone (run out of the National pits) with its full support package for the first time. Principally, the stars aligned because Mugello’s inclusion on the calendar this year meant the ELMS held two races in Italy, something which DSC understands LMEM wanted to avoid going forward.
Holding six races in six countries in 2025 was always the target, and with the majority of the paddock believed to be open to a trip across the Channel, both sides reached a compromise.
When taking into account existing contracts between LMEM and its regular circuits, it came down to a straight choice: Mugello or Silverstone, rather than Imola or Silverstone. The negotiations were lengthy – DSC understands they dragged on for months – but the UK circuit’s management team and LMEM found a way to make the sums work in the end.
Racing at Silverstone isn’t cheap, and LMEM will almost certainly be banking on making back some of its investment through ticket sales during the weekend. The sharp increase in attendance during the ELMS meetings this season will have given LMEM confidence that fans in the UK will also vote with their wallets.
LMEM will almost certainly be banking on making back some of its investment through ticket sales
All of this is not to say that Mugello is a venue that the ELMS’ higher-ups don’t appreciate. The Ferrari-owned circuit and its facilities proved to be a smash hit last weekend with the entire paddock. The racing was spectacular, and the drivers DSC spoke to were universally positive about the experience behind the wheel.
The fact that LMEM waited until yesterday to announce the calendar is also telling; holding back the news that Mugello wasn’t on the 2025 calendar until after it hosted its race in 2024 was a calculated move, made out of respect for circuit management and for owners Ferrari.
That leaves us with the million-dollar question: what does it mean for the future of the ELMS and the WEC in the UK?
Conversations with senior paddock sources last weekend made the picture clearer. This is not a single-year trial for the ELMS before a return to the UK for the FIA WEC in 2026. That’s not to say that Silverstone is off the table for the future, but adding Silverstone to the WEC’s schedule will be no simple task.
In an ideal world, it would already be on the calendar as part of a nine or 10-race WEC schedule, that’s what the organisers desire. But we don’t live in an ideal world, and the financial risk involved in expanding the calendar beyond eight races is huge.
With budgets increasing substantially year-on-year, a significant number of the current teams remain opposed to adding more races
With budgets increasing substantially year-on-year, a significant number of the current teams remain opposed to adding more races. Not because they don’t see the marketing value or because they don’t want to race more than eight times a year, but because the financial commitment required to take on a globe-trotting campaign – particularly for the privateers in LMGT3 – is already verging on unsustainable. The cost of operating a single GT3 car in the WEC next season, DSC understands, has crept up to around the five million Euro mark. It’s tough out there.
For that reason, the FIA and ACO have taken what they believe is a sensible approach to this. They want a presence in the UK, but they also want to maintain steady, sustainable growth for the WEC in this current era.
Returning to Silverstone with the WEC, put simply, comes at a cost for the championship and for the teams, unlike the rounds held in Qatar and Bahrain, for instance. And with both Spa and Imola tied up in multi-year contracts, there’s no room at the inn without an additional European race. That’s partly why a standalone ELMS race has been booked, as the WEC’s organisers are set to hold off on expanding the calendar, at least in the short term.
But that shouldn’t take the shine off the news. The ELMS making its long-awaited return to Silverstone is something that should be celebrated. It’s going to be a cracking weekend.
