25 August has been earmarked as the debut race date for the Rome grand prix in 2013.
That is the claim of organiser Maurizio Flammini, who insists that despite speculation to the contrary, everything is on schedule for the inaugural event in the EUR district.

“All the procedures are fully in line with the time needed to organise the grand prix,” he told the Rome daily Il Tempo.

Flammini said Italy’s sanctioning bodies have “expressed interest” in the event, and once Roman city authorities approve the project he will “formalise the request to the FIA”.

Ultimately, however, “the one who decides is Bernie Ecclestone”, he insisted.

“I have read that for nearly two years the name Formula 1 Gran Premio di Roma has been registered by (him),” Flammini added.

Last Sunday’s Abu Dhabi season finale was a significant moment in the history of the F1 safety car.

The first deployment of the sport’s permanent safety car was 250 grands prix ago, at Magny Cours in 1996.

“That was my company car,” recalled current safety car driver Bernd Maylander, referring to the C36 AMG used for that race in France.

According to Motorsport-Magazin.com, the car deployed for that debut race even featured Maylander’s personalised number plate ‘S-BM 300′.

Of the 250 races, the Mercedes safety car – spanning nine separate models and currently the gull-wing SLS AMG – was deployed 135 times.

2014 could be the last time Melbourne hosts the Australian grand prix, state Victorian premier John Brumby has admitted.

The race’s annual taxpayer-funded losses have grown to almost $50 million, moving the ruling Labor Party to consider not renewing the current contract.

“I know there’s a range of views in the community and it is a costly major event, but we’ve got it until 2014, and really we’ll look at whether we go beyond that,” Brumby told the national radio broadcaster ABC.

He added that the debut race in 1996 was amid a broader major events programme for the state.

“Certainly when we first won that (event) in Victoria it had a newness and a freshness and the longer you go with these things that freshness can obviously diminish a little,” said Brumby.

The other side of state politics is also questioning the value of the grand prix, with opposition leader Ted Baillieu saying the cost is “a real worry”.

Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina venue can stay on the F1 calendar “for ever”, F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has enthused.

“If only all the venues were as superb as Abu Dhabi I would be one happy man,” the Briton told Gulf News.

Abu Dhabi joined the tail-end of the F1 schedule last year, with the more than billion-dollar venue situated on the harbour of the superb tourism island Yas and straddled by a colour-changing five-star hotel.

Said Ecclestone: “After last year’s debut race there I just sat back and wallowed in all the compliments that were heaped on the place from people all over the world.

“How long is their arrangement to hold a grand prix? For ever. For as long as they want it. That’s how satisfied I am with the entire setup,” he added.

The 80-year-old’s enthusiasm might of course be coloured by the premium annual race fee of $40 million paid by the organisers.

Ecclestone replied: “I am well aware that I am regarded as hard, uncompromising and uncaring and that I am driven by money. I don’t care.

“There are plenty of people in F1 who are very wealthy because of the way I am and my attitude to business and the sport. And they should be thankful for the positions I have taken, not always popular, over the years to give F1 an international profile.

“Sure, I have benefited personally, but so, too, have the teams. I have put a lot back. A lot of effort. Between us we have a duty to be sure that F1 survives at all levels as an enhanced spectacle,” he said.

Ecclestone said F1′s other Middle Eastern host, Bahrain, is also one of his favourite stops on the calendar.

“I have nothing but the highest praise for the people behind both venues. They have been absolutely brilliant, a total treat to deal with, and have achieved everything I have asked without a single word of disagreement,” he said.

The addition of Bulgaria to the F1 calendar could mean the end of the sport’s Hungarian and Turkish rounds.

That is the claim of organiser and Bulgarian motor racing official Bogdan Nikolov, who said this week that a contract for a debut race in 2012 could be signed as soon as next month.

The news follows a scandal earlier this year, when Abu Dhabi investors reportedly reacted furiously to funding claims about the Bulgarian event.

But Nikolov insists the Arab investors are still interested in the project, suggesting that the scandal was more due to “competitive” interests.

“If there is formula one grand prix in Sofia, there won’t be races on Istanbul Park (in Turkey) and (the) Hungaroring. We will be the only grand prix in eastern Europe,” he told the Sofia news agency Novinite.

September 21, Touted as the belated final inspection date for Korea’s new F1 circuit, passed without notice.

That’s because it has been agreed with the struggling race organisers that the inspection can take place next week instead, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

Charlie Whiting’s inspection will now take place next Tuesday, despite the FIA rules requiring circuits to be given the green light several months before their debut race date.

But according to the German media report, it is only next week that the final layer of asphalt will be laid on the surface of the Yeongam layout.

Also to be inspected by Whiting will be the run-off areas, fences, walls and tyre barriers; crucial details that mere days ago were essentially incomplete.

Auto Motor und Sport said that, from a commercial point of view, the organisers have fully paid their race sanctioning fee.

“I believe it (the Korean circuit) will eventually be signed off because Bernie (Ecclestone) is desperate for it to be signed off.

“But it’s not great PR for the circuit or the FIA,” said Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary.

Jean Todt does not sound confident about formula one’s return to America.
A ten-year contract for a race at a purpose-built circuit in Austin, Texas, was signed recently with F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

But some experts are sceptical the organisers can succeed where the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the last US GP venue, failed.

Ecclestone said last week the promoter risks penalties if the debut race is not delivered in 2012, and he is now being quoted as revealing he is in talks about a separate event in New York.

And while a guest of NASCAR at Daytona last weekend, FIA president Todt sounded less than optimistic about F1′s chances in America.

When specifically asked about Austin, the Frenchman told a Fox Sports reporter: “At the moment, it’s just a project. I don’t think something will happen next year.”

Todt said part of the reason for his US visit was to learn about NASCAR’s success in the US versus formula one.

“Of course, there are reasons why NASCAR is so big in America and why formula one has never really been able so far to do something out here while doing a lot in other countries around the world,” he added.

The Valencia street circuit is now a “home” for formula one, according to F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.

Ahead of its debut race in 2008, it is believed a seven-year contract was signed.

But the venue has met with criticism, including a 5.4 kilometre layout that has hosted processional races, and a lack of atmosphere due to the absence of many boats in the marina.

There were, however, a healthy 50,000 spectators for Saturday’s qualifying session, and Ecclestone is quoted by the local news agency EFE: “I’m very proud and pleased with Valencia.”

The Briton said he once thought setting up a circuit in the America’s Cup port area was “almost impossible” and a “20 year project completed in two”.

“It’s a miracle,” Ecclestone laughed.

“This is now a home for us.  Today a journalist told me ‘this is another Monaco’,” the 79-year-old added.

However, Telegraph writer Simon Briggs on Saturday described Valencia as “a poor man’s Monaco”.

(GMM)