Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone Gives Austin Race A One Week Deadline
Next year’s U.S. Grand Prix could be in jeopardy if organizers of the Austin, Texas race do not agree on a contract and pay fees by the end of next week. Formula One’s head honcho Bernie Ecclestone’s patience is clearly wearing thin with negotiations and does not want to wait beyond the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix race in San Paulo on November 27th for a decision to be made.
The first race to be held in the United States since 2007 has been hyped up and highly anticipated but Ecclestone has no problems calling it off if no deal is done. Some might believe that Ecclestone isn’t so focused on working out a deal for the Austin, Texas race since a deal has been settled for a grand prix in New Jersey for 2013.
As with everything else that makes the world turn, negotiations have come down to money, Ecclestone exclaiming that “they can’t bloody well pay,” and “the teams want paying.”
Ecclestone claims that the deal has been ongoing for 18 months now, and that he doesn’t have any contract with anybody concerning the race in Austin. As of Tuesday, construction at the Austin track was halted but Steve Sexton, Circuit of the Americas president, remains optimistic.
At the end of the day though, Ecclestone is clearly becoming impatient and frustrated with the negotiations. “Since we’ve been talking to the people in Austin we’ve done two or three deals with different countries. I don’t know what the problem is for America really.”
[Source: Reuters UK]
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