South Korean Grand Prix chiefs are "making a bid to secure the return of
their race" in '16, despite a "dispute over its contract with Formula One
Management," according to Jonathan Noble of AUTOSPORT. Officials from the race are due to meet F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone soon to "discuss the future of the event." Ecclestone's Formula One Management group is "understood to be seeking
damages for breach of contract after the event was unable to return to
the schedule this year." The issue reportedly "relates to the
payment of a sanctioning fee" of £27M ($42M) per year that was in "an
option that Ecclestone took up for the race to take place." Despite the contractual problem, "the
Koreans are trying to put together a new financial package" that will
allow the event to return in '16 with a "much better footing." A
senior Korean GP official said that
rather than "being put off by the dispute with FOM the hope was that a
fresh contract could be sorted." The official, who did not wish to be identified, said, "We would like to get the race
back, and believe we can do it for 2016, but not at any price. It must make financial sense in terms of the sanctioning fee" (AUTOSPORT, 2/20).
