Bernie Ecclestone on Sunday confirmed reports France is definitely heading back to the F1 calendar.

Reports earlier this weekend said authorities had “finally agreed” a figure for the sanctioning fee with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

It is expected that the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard will share an annually alternating grand prix date with Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.

“Yes,” the 81-year-old Briton told French daily L’Equipe in the Bahrain paddock on Sunday.

“The deal is done,” said Ecclestone.

“We agreed the financial terms with the sports minister David Douillet, in my office on Tuesday.

“We are still discussing a few things about money: ‘You give me this, I want that’,” he added.

“But, for me, there is no doubt, we will sign it now,” said Ecclestone.

He said the outcome of the forthcoming presidential elections in France will not spoil the deal.

“Whatever happens, I don’t care,” said Ecclestone. “That’s a local issue that doesn’t concern me.”

 Organisers of the Spanish grand prix are set to propose once again that Valencia shares a single annual date on the formula one calendar in future.
Both the Barcelona and Valencia venues have admitted to financial troubles amid Spain’s dire economic situation.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is pushing the Spanish organisers to agree a deal whereby they open up a date to a new host country by annually alternating their races.

Valencia, however, is believed to have rejected a proposal along those
lines made by the Catalonian government last year.

“They said they were happy with how formula one had developed to date in Valencia and believed they could continue doing it the same way,” Barcelona official Germa Gordo, reportedly close to Catalonia president Artur Mas, told the DPA news agency.

“We understand that although there was the rejection, the new Valencian government is prepared to consider a proposal,” he added.

“The offer will be made in the coming weeks.”

Marca newspaper, meanwhile, quoted a Valencian official as reiterating that “the issue of major events” is “under review”.

“What we want is an agreement that is good for everyone,” the unnamed official said.

It is believed informal talks between the regional authorities have already taken place.

Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, a United Nations war crimes expert, thinks Bahrain is ready to host formula one again.
Last year, the Egyptian led the high-profile independent investigation that found the Bahrain authorities were heavy-handed in reaction to the civil unrest.

But now, media outlets including London’s Telegraph newspaper have seen a letter Bassiouni wrote to grand prix circuit chief Zayed Alzayani, who is determined to host April’s Bahrain grand prix at Sakhir as scheduled.

Bassiouni, whose letter was copied to F1 chiefs Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone, said the race can be used to promote “national healing and reconciliation”.

He said it will be “an important point of departure for the people of Bahrain to forge ahead in their national efforts towards reconciliation”.

 Organisers of the Bahrain grand prix have admitted disappointment with being bumped from the head of the 2012 calendar.
Following the cancellation of its 2011 race and test over the civil unrest early last year, Bahrain was provisionally scheduled to return to F1 by opening this season’s championship.

However, when the calendar was ultimately published, Bahrain was given a late April date, making it the fourth round after Australia, Malaysia and China.

Reports at the time said Bernie Ecclestone had “responded to teams’ fears over the uncertain political landscape” in the island Kingdom.

So as tickets go on sale this week, the Sakhir circuit’s chief executive admitted he is disappointed Melbourne will be kicking off the sport in less than a month’s time.

“I think formula one should start the world championship in a timezone that makes sense,” said Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa.

“We have a lot of support in Europe for our grand prix and to start in Australia, where it is 2am or 3am in Europe, that to me doesn’t make sense,” he is quoted by The National newspaper.

In addition to not being the season opener, Bahrain is also the second leg in a logistically-difficult ‘back to back’ pairing with China.

“Hosting the first race, you benefit obviously by people talking about you in the lead up to the start of the season,” continued Al Khalifa.

“Now we are going to be after China so our event will come into play only after the third round. For us, it is important to host the race and we plan to make it a success,” he added.

The slogan for Bahrain’s 2012 return to F1 is ‘Unified, One nation in celebration”.

On the continuing security fears in Bahrain, Al Khalifa insisted: “I don’t see an issue.

“Obviously, there are always concerns and the authorities are aware of that, but my main concern is that everybody is secure in and around the circuit and I am confident we can provide that.”

Contrary to recent reports, vertical construction at the 2012 US grand prix venue in Texas is still yet to commence.
It was reported earlier this month that, just over a year before the Circuit of the Americas is due to host its inaugural race, work at the Austin site had finally recommenced after lengthy a delay.

But the local Austin American Statesman newspaper reports this week that permits to construct buildings and grandstands on top of foundations have not even been granted.

The news was confirmed by a Travis County official, who reportedly said the authorities have “been working with circuit organisers to issue the next round of permits”, which should be happen “soon”.

Circuit officials were unavailable for comment.

France on Sunday made another clear step towards returning to the formula one calendar.
The L’Equipe sports daily said race-day at Spa-Francorchamps was a “great day for French motor sport”, after Bernie Ecclestone apparently agreed to reinstate a French date on the 2013 calendar.

The report said the plan is for France, probably with a race at the Ecclestone-linked Paul Ricard circuit, to alternate a single annual date with Spa.

“We have a contract until 2013,” said Belgian grand prix organiser Etienne Davignon, “and we feel that there is a strong tendency at present for an alternation (in future).

“So we went to see who might be interested and we found a public interest group,” he added, referring to French prime minister Francois Fillon’s delegation.

Davignon said on French TF1 television that the plan is “with the knowledge of the authorities”, and that Bernie Ecclestone “has agreed”.

“It looks like a concrete proposal,” he added.

Hundreds of angry Indian farmers have threatened to sabotage the new Buddh circuit.
With the New Delhi venue scheduled to host the inaugural Indian grand prix in October, over 300 farmers on Wednesday staged a protest near the site.

DNA India said they are angry at how their lands were acquired to make room for the project.

Calling themselves the Bhartiya Kisan Union, they are threatening to “dismantle the racing track with force if necessary” if their demands are not met.

They reportedly drafted a letter to authorities demanding money, educational placements and the establishment of industries to generate employment.

“We are warning you that if our demands are taken casually, we will be forced to launch an agitation,” the farmers wrote.

Boss Vijay Mallya has admitted Adrian Sutil could lose his Force India race seat due to the Shanghai nightclub incident of last month.
The Force India team owner revealed to reporters in Monaco that German driver Sutil would be in breach of contract if Renault co-owner Eric Lux, injured in the neck with a broken glass, successfully prosecutes for criminal assault.

But Mallya insists that, as yet, Lux has not taken the matter beyond a press release.

“We have not heard of any formal complaint being registered in any country for any sort of misconduct by Adrian,” he said. “So it would be highly inappropriate for us to presume that he did something.”

Mallya admitted, however, that Force India will take “appropriate action” if a complaint about Sutil is formally filed.

“You know, contracts do not supercede misconduct so unless I’m convinced that there is misconduct the contract shall prevail,” he said.

“I don’t know what happened there (in China), none of my people know what happened so there’s a due process of law.

“If and when he’s charged, I will assess the situation,” he added.

Sutil’s manager Manfred Zimmermann confirmed in Monaco that they are yet to hear anything official from Lux, his lawyers or any authorities.

“The situation is unchanged,” Zimmermann, who last addressed the media in Spain a week ago, is quoted by DPA news agency.

“We are still awaiting a response from the other side. So far we have not heard anything.”

The FIA is sticking to its May 1 deadline for the possible rescheduling of Bahrain’s 2011 grand prix.
With the date fast approaching amid reported continuing problems inside the island Kingdom, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday indicated he is now willing to wait for Bahrain until “early June”.

“We need to wait a little bit to see exactly how progress is made,” he is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

Daily Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary said Ecclestone’s new position caught the FIA “off guard”.

“As far as we are concerned a decision is still due on Sunday,” said a spokesman for F1′s governing body.

“Because it’s a weekend it may be Monday morning that we announce the decision, but we haven’t spoken to Mr Ecclestone about any delay,” he added.

Especially as Ecclestone indicated on Thursday that there have been discussions with Jean Todt, the comments are an indication the 80-year-old remains at loggerheads with the FIA president.

The FIA spokesman concluded: “The decision will be a joint one between the FIA, Formula One Management (Ecclestone) and the Bahrain authorities.”

Despite the opposition of Monza, Ferrari and an apparent majority of local residents, promoter Maurizio Flammini has vowed to push ahead with his plans for a Rome street race.

“The first race?” he asked rhetorically during an interview with the Il Riformista newspaper. “I expect it to be in 2013.”

However, Monza and Ferrari want F1 to limit itself to one annual race per country, and a survey published this week shows 80-90 per cent opposition to the Rome event from residents who live near the proposed layout in the capital’s EUR district.

But Flammini said the final plans will be reviewed by authorities by the end of December. “According to the standard procedure this will take at least 60 days,” he said.

“If the project would have been approved by the end of the year, we would have been ready for 2012,” he said.

“In Italy everything is ready (for 2013),” continued Flammini, “and the formula one circus is ready to welcome us. A few days ago I spoke with Bernie Ecclestone and he asked me to go ahead.

“When we are ready, we will close the final agreement.”

It had been reported earlier in 2010 that a final agreement had already been signed.

“We signed a preliminary agreement for at least two years,” Flammini clarified. “(F1 chief executive) Ecclestone is helping us but he is concerned about the delay.

“The competition is fierce, there are at least 30 other circuits that are pushing (to be in F1). If we don’t hurry we may lose this opportunity,” he insisted.

Flammini dismissed some of the criticisms of the Rome project, including fears of increased pollution in the city.

“You must be joking,” he hit back. “We should be thanked that instead of thousands of cars, for a few days there will be only 24 on a 5 kilometre circuit.

“Traffic? A study has shown the increase to be 25 per cent, but we are talking about August, when the presence of cars is well under 50 per cent of the annual average.”

Sao Paulo authorities reportedly suspect that the attempted robbery or kidnapping involving Jenson Button’s entourage last Saturday was a hoax.

According to Tuttosport newspaper, based on a report in the Brazilian news weekly Epoca, the authorities are investigating the matter and have discovered irregularities in the story.

“Various elements do not add up,” read the Italian report.

Among the discrepancies is that the off-duty policeman driver did not make an official report about the incident, and no calls to emergency phone numbers were made.

Epoca, suspecting that the incident was staged for publicity by the security team protecting Button, wrote: “What really happened?”

A spokesman for the security organisers of the Interlagos race said: “We have no hard data to say what happened, if it happened.”

Korea’s plans for a futuristic city to be built in the middle of the new formula one circuit in Yeongam are on track.

Current aerial photos of the harbour-side venue depict a bland and messy setting, with much of the surrounding area resembling a construction site.

But the plans for the final section of the 5.6 kilometre is layout are grandiose.  The idea is that the Hermann Tilke-penned venue will eventually be part-permanent and partly a city street course.

According to the local Korea Herald newspaper, the government announced on Monday that it has approved plans for the leisure-themed corporate city.

The $1.67 billion plans, to transform the area into a motor sport and tourism city by 2021, were lodged by the provincial authorities and race promoter Korea Auto Valley Operation.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said construction is likely to start in the second half of 2011.

Bernie Ecclestone is in Russia on Thursday for a ceremonial signing of a seven year formula one race contract.

Earlier, it emerged that Russian president Vladimir Putin has travelled to the resort city Sochi to approve the plans for a $200m circuit and to sign F1 chief executive Ecclestone’s race promotion contract.

But the state owned Ria Novosti news agency, and the Vedomosti business daily, said 79-year-old Briton Ecclestone is also in Sochi for the signing.

Officials of the local Krasnodar Krai authorities confirmed the reports.

The inaugural race is slated for 2014.

A director of the Monza circuit has reacted angrily to Friday’s news that Rome will begin hosting a formula one race in 2012 or 2013.

The contract was reportedly signed at the famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza by Bernie Ecclestone on Friday, guaranteeing at least five street races if an agreement can be found with the authorities of the Italian capital’s EUR district.

“Where once it was difficult to find sponsors, now it will be impossible,” Monza director Enrico Ferrari is quoted by La Stampa newspaper.

“The big companies have a budget, so if today they were giving us 100, tomorrow they will give us 50 and Rome 50,” he said.

Previously, Monza and another Italian venue – Imola – shared an annual presence on the F1 calendar, but Ferrari insists that times have changed.

“Take the example of Spain: Barcelona has been in crisis because of Valencia.

“The old Catalan race lost 9 million euros in 2010. All of Europe is in distress with F1.

“Germany has abandoned having two races and Spa-Francorchamps were 8,000 spectators down compared with last year,” he complained.

Abu Dhabi has denied reports it is helping Bulgaria join the formula one calendar.

It emerged earlier this week that an economic cooperation agreement has been signed between the Bulgarian economy minister and the Emirates Associated Business Group, a state-owned Abu Dhabi company.

Bulgarian authorities, as well as local agencies and publications, claimed the agreement involves construction of a formula one circuit at the former air base at Dobroslavtsi, 15 kilometres from the capital Sofia.

The agreement would reportedly see Abu Dhabi pay for construction of the circuit, with the land provided by Bulgaria.

But according to the Bulgarian daily Sega, Abu Dhabi has denied the reports.

A statement also said the Emirates Associated Business Group was so disappointed with the incorrect information that it will cancel its Bulgarian investments altogether.

Sega quoted the company’s chief executive Raid Abu Hudra as saying the officials had acted so unprofessionally that he would advise others against investing in Bulgaria.

He said a mediator from the Bulgarian prime minister’s office had invited Abu Dhabi to invest in an F1 track but “We told him we would not be interested”.