F1 pledge to beat weather

Rain did not deter everyone

Organisers of the British Grand Prix are confident of a capacity crowd, despite heavy rain bringing chaos to Saturday's practice session.

Thousands of people arrived on foot as qualifying for the Grand Prix was about to start.

Officials were confident they would be able to welcome more fans and their cars for the main event on Sunday, as waterlogged car parks were cleared and filled with special material.

But police warned that conditions would still be muddy, with parking capacity reduced from the normal 150 to 40 cars per acre.

We're confident we'll be able to welcome the sell-out 90,000 crowd tomorrow

Silverstone spokesman

Peter Morris, a spokesman for Silverstone, said: "The whole point in closing the public car parks is to protect them. We're confident we will be able to welcome the sell-out 90,000 crowd tomorrow."

There was traffic chaos around Silverstone early on Saturday morning as many fans ignored police advice to leave cars and travel by train, taxi or on foot.

By midday, however, the tailbacks had eased as more fans followed police directions and left their cars a safe distance from the circuit.

"It's been amazing how many people have managed to get to Silverstone today," said Mr Morris.

"Everyone has made their way without getting to park in public car parks.

"They're a hardy bunch. Clearly, there are people who have not come but how many we will never know."

He said that 300 tonnes of hardcore material were being laid on major in-routes and car parks in preparation for Sunday.

Race organisers were aware that poor weather might damage the 200 acres of grass car parks after moving the Grand Prix event from July to Easter, but said conditions had been "exceptional".

Police were advising fans to arrive early for Sunday's event. Some overnight car parking would be available, but making the journey by train, taxi or foot would still be preferable.

Saturday's car ban caused much consternation among fans, who were already unhappy about the decision to switch the date of one of Britain's premier sporting events from mid-July to Easter.

The move to the Easter weekend will cost Silverstone almost £4m in reimbursements and lost revenues.

Tough decision

Silverstone chief executive Denys Rohan apologised for the car ban, saying: "It was a tough decision. But we had no alternative."

Fans were further angered by the fact that the sale of tickets for Friday's practice races and Saturday's qualifying heats had been curtailed to help protect the car parks.

By Saturday afternoon, all traffic information points had been removed from roads around Silverstone - allowing people to collect their tickets for Sunday.

Fans' apology

This is the date it was scheduled on the calendar and it could not be avoided

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone

Silverstone issued an apology to fans and promised refunds for those who did not make the Saturday qualifiers.

"This is the date it was scheduled on the calendar and it could not be avoided," he said.

"Silverstone have done what they normally do, but they have not taken the weather into consideration because they didn't know it was going to be raining. They should have prayed!"