75th Anniversary of Formula 1

Lord Jopling Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I fully echo the noble Lord’s comments on Formula 1 as a British success story and completely agree with him about the accessibility of Silverstone. When I did a track day at Silverstone, the only option was to drive—on and off the track, obviously. In terms of next steps, the Government are always pleased to see sports venues explore new ways of improving transport access and we look forward to Silverstone and others developing such plans. If the noble Lord would like me to continue to have conversations with the Department for Transport, I will be more than happy to facilitate.

[Lord Jopling (Con)]

My Lords, if the Minister has any intentions of recognising the 75th anniversary, is she aware that I would be very glad to help? I suppose I am almost the only Member of your Lordships’ House who was present at the Grand Prix of Europe in May 1950, which was won by Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo 158.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, I was born in 1979, so that would be a challenge. I thank and celebrate the noble Lord for his work with grands prix and for ensuring, with his work then, that grands prix have been such an incredible success story, both here and internationally. I am more than happy to work with the noble Lord and I will go back to the department and ensure that he is involved in the conversations the department has about celebrating the grands prix going forward.