Ferrari Mailing List: Bernie: American races in teams' hands

[red5hilser (red5hilser]

Sounds like that little weasel is holding North America hostage again!  --  
Bubba

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Bernie Ecclestone says the future of Formula 1's North American grands prix 
depends on the teams' willingness to accept more races.

With Montreal following Indianapolis off the calendar, there are no North 
American races on the 2009 schedule.

The teams have repeatedly expressed their frustration at this, insisting that 
America is a vital market for their sponsors.

Ecclestone says he is willing to revive the American dates, but not at the 
expense of other venues as he wants F1 to continue visiting new destinations 
such as Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

He therefore believes that if the teams are so keen to race in the USA, they 
should be willing to drop their long-standing objection to the calendar being 
extended to 20 races.

"The trouble is that the teams don’t want to do more than 17 races," Ecclestone 
told Motor Sport magazine.



"If they don’t want any more than that then we cannot put on a race in America 
or get Montreal back."

He confirmed that efforts were underway to get Montreal back on the schedule as 
soon as possible.

"We are trying to get that back on again," said Ecclestone.

"The government is interested."

Ecclestone is less certain about America's prospects, as he believes 
Indianapolis is the only current US track capable of hosting F1.

India
napolis replaced F1 with MotoGP last season after failing to agree a new 
contract with Ecclestone.

"Apart from Indianapolis, where we have been, there is nowhere in America we 
could go to and hold our head up and say, ‘This is comparable to other circuits 
we are building around the world,'" said the F1 supremo.

He said his preference remains for a new track to be constructed in New York.

"It is the one place where someone could make a business out of it," he said.




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