Bernie Ecclestone will not be present at the opening Formula One race of the season, according to Melbourne’s Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker.
Instead, the 80-year-old has jetted into New York at the invitation of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Walker speculated that the recent talk about Melbourne dropping the race at the end of its contract had prompted Bloomberg to invite Ecclestone to New York to hear their proposal for a race on Staten Island – something the F1 supremo has been wishing for for some time.
“As a result of what has happened in the last couple of weeks Mayor Bloomberg has been on to Mr Ecclestone,” Walker told the Herald Sun newspaper.
“It’s not just a fight against New York, it’s a fight against everybody. Delhi is opening up, there will be one in Russia, Korea has come on stream… the other Arab states want it, so there will always be a fight [to keep the race].
Whilst Walker is keen to keep the race at Albert Park beyond 2015, or at least within Australia’s borders, he admitted it wasn’t his decision.
“I could be as confident as hell but if the Premier doesn’t want it he doesn’t want it.”
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