The Russian government has set aside £125 million ($200m) to build its Formula 1 circuit in the city of Sochi, which is expected to host its inaugural event in 2014.
The figure is quite a low sum for an F1 track, though much of the infrastructure will already be in place as the track will be situated in the Winter Olympic park, which will also be held in Sochi in 2014.
Concerns were recently raised that construction of the track could have an impact on the games, but Dmitry Chernyshenko, president of the Sochi organising committee, is confident neither event will suffer.
“It was decided that the IOC [International Olympic Committee] will review the final feasibility study,” he said, adding: “It [the race] will not impact on the timeframe of the preparation for the Games.”
A new race has been added to the F1 calendar each year since 2008 and the near-future looks to be no different with the confirmation that New Jersey will make its debut in 2013.
2008 – Valencia, Spain & Singapore
2009 – Abu Dhabi
2010 – Yeongam, South Korea
2011 – New Delhi, India
2012 – Austin, USA
2013 – New Jersey, USA
2014 – Sochi, Russia
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