McLaren driver Sergio Perez on Wednesday said it is a "shame" that Indian Grand Prix "would not be part of the F1 calendar next year and hoped the event makes a return" in '15, according to the PTI. Perez: "Hopefully, we return later on. The market is growing, when we come here every year, the interest is getting better." F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, in a reshuffle of the '14 calendar, "chucked out Indian GP which is expected to be part of the 2015 season in the first half" (PTI, 10/23). IANS reported the customs and tax issues notwithstanding, the organizers of the Indian GP, Jaypee Sports Int'l, "have a five-year contract and the race is on the provisional 2015 calendar." Whether the race "will return to India, is another question." Perez:
"India is a difficult place to get in, to get out, to get things and to get any updates during the weekend. It's got more to do with that kind of stuff than anything else. Otherwise we all enjoy coming to India. It is a great country and it is a place which we will miss next year. About 2015? Well you never really know in Formula 1" (IANS, 10/23).
