Even though he is the owner of Paul Ricard, Bernie Ecclestone admits that he is surprised that the French Grand Prix is back on the Formula 1 calendar for the first time since 2008, with a five year deal signed and sealed.
Ecclestone told L’Equipe, “It’s taken a long time but eventually we got there. I am very, very happy — the French grand prix is back. I am surprised that we got a new chance to bring it back. The reason for the previous failures was mainly because they didn’t have a suitable circuit.”
“Everything with Paul Ricard is very good. We’ll just have to install more grandstands, but the circuit has been kept in excellent condition,” added the F1 supremo.
At one point Ecclestone was all for a grand prix through the streets of Paris but this did not transpire, instead Formula E have a round of their series in the historical city
“We talked and talked, but when you spend that amount of time talking, it goes on forever,” he revealed. “Formula E has a race in Paris but it’s not the same thing: it’s not a race. They don’t have the safety problems of a grand prix.”
Ecclestone acknowledged that McLaren’s Eric Boullier was involved in orchestrating the new deal with Paul Ricard, “Eric was not a messenger, he was someone we negotiated with.”
As for expected the date for the race in 2018, Ecclestone said, “In the middle of summer, in synergy with the other European grands prix at that time of year. We’ll settle that later. The most important thing is that the contract is signed.”
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
No comments:
Post a Comment