‘Cranky’ F1 chief Ecclestone ‘calls mayor’s canceling Australian Grand Prix bluff’
By ANIFriday, January 28, 2011
LONDON - Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone has hit back at calls for the Australian Grand Prix to be moved away from Melbourne.
Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Robert Doyle had recently said that the annual Albert Park event was no longer value for money for the Victorian state taxpayer.
He speculated that one possible outcome was that the sport’s “cranky” chief executive will replace the race by taking “the dollars of either an Asian or oil-rich Middle Eastern state”.
Ecclestone hit back by warning that even though there is a contract in place to 2015, he would be “happy” to scrap the race.
“If the mayor thinks I’m cranky, I can probably be able to help him by proving it. If he’s not happy with the event in Australia, if he wants to cancel the contract, we’d be happy to talk to him about that,” the Age quoted Ecclestone, as saying.
He was adamant that his own personal fee would not be reduced to cut the cost of the race, and said that “quite a few countries” would be happy to take the race off Australia’s hands. (ANI)
