Silverstone, home to the British Grand Prix, is on the verge of being sold to a luxury car manufacturer, believed to be Jaguar Land Rover, in a £25million deal and has invited its shareholders to discuss the potential sale next week.

Built on the site of a former airfield, Silverstone hosted the first race of the Formula One championship in 1950 and has a contract to stage the British GP until 2026.

The track is owned by the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC), a group of 850 racing luminaries including Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jenson Button and the current F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton.

Silverstone is on the verge of being sold to luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover in a £25m deal

The home to the British Grand Prix, which was won by Lewis Hamilton in 2015, has a contract until 2016

Over the past six years the BRDC have tried to sell a long lease on Silverstone to reduce the club’s exposure to risk.

The British GP is the only race on the F1 calendar to receive no government funding. Silverstone has to survive on the proceeds from ticket sales and has had to raise prices to match increases in the F1 hosting fee, which is an estimated £17.6m this year.

The track has also suffered from a loss of rental income after leasing 280 acres of surrounding land in 2013 to business park operator MEPC to clear debts. In a letter to members, BRDC chairman John Grant said on Friday: ‘Our balance sheet is still too weak to support a high-risk £50m-plus turnover business and we have no cash reserves to fund future development of the circuit.’

The track is owned by the British Racing Drivers Club who are keen to reduce the club's exposure to risk

In September Silverstone’s managing director Patrick Allen said he would ask the BRDC to seek new investment.

‘What you really need is somebody who wants to buy a trophy asset and is willing to put a large amount of equity in,’ he said. In 2014 the track was valued at £22.9m by property experts Jones Lang Lasalle.

A sale to JLR would see Silverstone become home to offices for up to 1,000 of the firm’s staff, along with a hotel and heritage centre. To sell the track the BRDC needs a mandate from its members, who will meet at the track to discuss the deal a week on Wednesday.

A BRDC member said anonymously: ‘No one can be 100 per cent sure that (the deal) will get the go-ahead but from what we are hearing there is a potential upside of what is being proposed.’

F1’s billionaire boss Bernie Ecclestone ultimately holds the keys to any deal as the British GP contract states that he needs to approve any change in control of the track.