Ecclestone and George agree July deadlineIndianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George is hopeful the US Grand Prix would remain on the Formula One schedule and on his famed track following talks with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
The two met twice ahead of Sunday's
US Grand Prix and discussed a new contract for the race to return. The first deal signed in 2000 expired last year when a one-year extension was signed.
George wants a long-term deal while Ecclestone has said a US race was not vital to F1. Both have agreed upon a July 12 deadline to strike a new deal.
"We still don't know the future but I'm hopeful that we'll be able to announce soon that we'll be continuing," George said. "I am positive about the discussions we've had.
"I just wish I could control all of the aspects of it, which I don't. I genuinely think that Bernie and 90 percent of the people involved in Formula One would like to see it work out so that we can continue here."
George wants long-term assurance the race will stay in Indy so he can build upon the framework established since it was revived here in 2000 on a specially made course incorporating some of the famed facility's 2 1/2-mile oval.
"I'm not just talking about the economic impact, but it would be a terrible thing to lose it. There's more to it than just that, more to it from our standpoint, from Formula One's standpoint," George said.
"We want the community to embrace this race and we want to give it the kind of attention it deserves, but we need to know where we are. We can't just keep going and we need to know what it is we're building on.
"The United States is trying to understand Formula One more and Formula One is trying to understand the United States more. It has been a challenging seven years but a very worthwhile seven years.
"We've learned a lot and I think we know what we need to be successful and now we need just to pull all the pieces together so that we can be successful in the future."
George said a reason for not making a longer deal sooner was to see how the F1 series would handle other issues, such as shifting race venues and a rival bid to stage a world-class race series.
"If they didn't want to work with us they wouldn't have had to," George said. "Everybody wants long-term because it's good for planning purposes, but in this case we wanted to see where things were going and they recognized that.
"I'm happy to work with them and I think they're happy to work with us."
Source AFP
