F1 Management Chair Bernie Ecclestone "has confirmed" that the U.S. Grand Prix "will not take place as planned next year because of delays in the construction” of the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, according to Christian Sylt of the London INDEPENDENT. The decision would bring to an end "weeks of speculation over the future of the race.” The F1 Commission “put the race in the calendar for next year at a meeting earlier this month but now Ecclestone has conceded that the track will not be ready.” Ecclestone: "The (new) contract we proposed to them is 10 years from 2013. We said we would wait for them." Ecclestone claimed that the circuit owners “had missed the deadline to sign an agreement to stage the race next year” (London INDEPENDENT, 11/17). Ecclestone said that he needs “a financial guarantee or letter of credit from circuit officials that they will pay the sanction fee for the race.” He added that “he, not Austin-based promoter Tavo Hellmund and his Full Throttle Productions, controlled the rights to the race.” In Austin, John Maher notes the "lack of an agreement between Formula One and Circuit of the Americas was the main reason track investors suspended work on Tuesday, idling 300 workers." The work stoppage “could be a final bargaining ploy as investors try to strike an eleventh-hour deal with Ecclestone.” Or it could mean “the end of the project.” The track “has yet to be paved, and above-ground construction had just begun” (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 11/17).
FINANCIAL SECURITY: Developers of the track said that “work will not resume until they have a contract from Formula One to stage the race next year.” Ecclestone on Hellmund: “He knows full well why we’ve canceled. He’s happy, but these other people haven’t got a contract. All we’ve asked them to do is get us a letter of credit. … If people don’t have the money they find it difficult to get the letter of credit, and so we don’t issue a contract” (AP, 11/16). In London, Kevin Eason notes with a New Jersey race scheduled for ‘13, “organisers in Austin were suspicious, believing that the more glamorous location would soak up tourism income they had targeted.” Austin city officials "confirmed their fears by pulling back on their offer of a $250 million investment over ten years” (LONDON TIMES, 11/17).
A SERIOUS GAMBLE: In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel wrote, “No U.S. city should want an F1 race until F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone is dead, or out of power.” He “is a dictator, and no U.S. sports market should pay this guy the millions he requires on a circuit that has never worked in this country.” Austin “should never, ever have thought about jumping into bed with F1 until Ecclestone is out.” This style of racing in the U.S. “is a serious gamble, even in a good economy.” Engel: "NASCAR is popular, but not the way it was once. The Indy series hangs on. The few times F1 has come to America for a race, it’s never been able to sustain itself” (STAR-TELEGRAM.com, 11/16).
