Bernie Ecclestone says he is hoping to work out a deal which will keep Formula One at Istanbul Park in Turkey.
A doubling of the race fee is said to have been demanded by the 80-year-old for the organisers to retain F1 at the circuit, however, the head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Murat Yalcintas, has bluntly said that the ‘figure is very high’, leading to comments that the contract won’t be extended past 2011.
“It looks like the Formula One race will not be held in Istanbul next year,” tweeted Yalcintas from a confirmed account.
“Because it [the government] found this figure very high, it looks like it will not make the payment.”
The spectator numbers at the circuit make it very difficult to return a profit for the organisers. In 2005 over 200,000 attended, but recently those numbers have plummeted to below 40,000.
Ecclestone though, whose company owns the circuit, is hoping to work out a deal which will see the sport remain in Istanbul.
“The race brings a huge amount of people, trade and publicity to the city,” he said. “I am a bit disappointed and I hope we can work out a deal.”
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