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| Ecclestone bombshell: Indian GP promoters have not complied with contract | | | Agencies
NEw Delhi, Mar 11: In a sensational twist to the Indian Grand Prix controversy, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has blamed its promoters Jaypee Group of not fully fulfilling its contractual obligations to see through the five-year deal.
Jaypee, in a polite yet firm retort, refused to discuss the contractual terms in public and promised to sort them out with the Formula One Management (FOM), thus by inference confirming that the whole issue has now boiled down to financial matters.
Ecclestone said that he and his organisation was still committed to see through the five-year contract provided, what he calls some "surmountable obstacles" are sorted out.
He said the Indian GP promoters have not fully complied with the race contract to put the 2015 race in jeopardy. It now transpires that the tax and bureaucratic hurdles for the uncertainty of the race returning to the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) were only a facade and not the only reasons.
Ecclestone's startling revelations come days after he said that he wants the race to be pushed to 2016 so that the country "gradually gets over all the bureaucratic and the tax issues to improve the general financial conditions". His statement fuelled speculation whether the race will ever see through the remaining two races of the contract.
Ecclestone hastened to add that he was still hoping India to be back on F1 calendar next season.
"I was hoping that things would get better in India but they haven't unfortunately. The race promoters there have not been able to comply with parts of the contract and they are mostly money related. I must clarify here that we still have very good relations with the promoters and we still want to see through the remaining two years of our contract. But that can happen only if we get the financial guarantees," said the 83-year-old Monday night, adding that Jaypee did meet most of the terms of the agreement in the first three years (2011-2013).
For his part, Jaypee Sports International CEO Sameer Gaur told IANS that it would not be prudent to make the contractual details public and reiterated he would soon meet Ecclestone to bring the race back next year. "It would not be right for me to talk about the contract with anyone else other than Ecclestone and FOM. "India is among the few new F1 venues where people understand the sport and want to understand it better. That is why I have greater faith in India than China," he concluded. |
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