Silverstone is ready to begin selling tickets for next year's British Grand Prix if crucial talks taking place today fail to save Donington's faltering bid to host the race.

An action plan has been drawn up by Silverstone chiefs as doubts continue to grow about the ability of entrepreneur Simon Gillett to secure funding of £100million necessary to transform Donington into a first-class venue with the facilities capable of hosting a round of the world championship.

Last year, Gillett shocked motor racing by securing a 17-year deal for Donington to take over from Silverstone as the venue for Britain's round of the Formula One title chase. But a series of deadlines, set by the sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone, for Gillett to prove he has full financial backing for his scheme has come and gone.

It is understood that Gillett was talking with his Citigroup bankers in London this morning ahead of a showdown meeting with Ecclestone who has already expressed his concern that a revamped Donington will not be ready to open its doors to British Formula One fans for the first day of grand prix practice on 9 July next summer.

The view within Formula One is that if Gillett cannot come up with sufficient financial guarantees to satisfy Ecclestone then the overly-ambitious Donington project will be seen as dead in the water. Silverstone will then be offered a new contract for the British Grand Prix if it can satisfy Ecclestone's demands for improved facilities for teams and for spectators.

Former world champion Damon Hill, president of the British Racing Drivers' Club who own Silverstone, stressed that the circuit was not interested in being a stop-gap venue while the Donington fiasco was sorted out.

Anticipating a call from Ecclestone, he said: "We need to work together so there is not a question every year about the future of the British Grand Prix."

However, given the lack of time to promote next year's race, it is believed an interim agreement could be reached between Ecclestone and the BRDC ahead of negotiations taking place over a longer deal.

Silverstone, which attracted a record three-day crowd of 250,000 to this season's Grand Prix won by Jenson Button's title rival Sebastian Vettel, has already told Ecclestone it has £25m ready to invest in new pits and grandstands.

For his part, Ecclestone expressed disappointment that Gillett's hopes for Donington were in real danger of being dashed. He said: "Even if they get the money, I cannot see how it will all be ready in time. They could still come to us saying they have the money, but there is no way the circuit would be ready at this late stage."

Meanwhile, Felipe Massa was today set to drive a Formula One Ferrari for the first time since the Brazilian driver suffered a horrific head injury during practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.

But ahead of Massa's test run at the Fiorano circuit in Italy, Ferrari revealed that he was unlikely to race again this season.

He had hoped to contest the final championship round in Abu Dhabi next month, but a Ferrari spokesman insisted: "Talk of a proper return to Formula One can wait until the start of the 2010 season."