Categories: CircuitsF1 News, Reports and Race Results

Austin given breathing space by Ecclestone

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Bernie Ecclestone has given the United States Grand Prix some breathing space after funding for the race was cut.

Circuit of the Americas (COTA) has received significant funding to host the race since it joined the F1 calendar in 2012, with the circuit receiving $25million per year from the State of Texas. However, the future of the race is now in doubt after the state informed COTA it would only be contributing around $19m this year following a review of the grand prix's impact on the local economy.

With the race fee escalating each year - as Ecclestone does with the majority of venues - the F1 supremo has allowed COTA extra time to make this year's payment.

"We said they can pay late this year," Ecclestone told the Austin American-Statesman. "They get money from the state, and the money from the state is late, so that’s why they are late."

And Ecclestone is hopeful the delay will allow more of an opportunity for COTA chairman Bobby Epstein to find the required funding to pay the race fee.

"The person who dealt with this in the first place is no longer there. The governor is no longer there. So they have got new people, but they should pay what was agreed ... I think we will get the funding back on track again."

However, Epstein still warns there is a real danger of the race being unable to pay the fees in full due to the state's decision to reduce its contribution.

"It’s OK paying after the race, but if they don’t give you enough to pay the sanction fee, you still can’t do it," Epstein said.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.