Ecclestone says US Grand Prix not vital to F1

[The Stig]

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has told US Grand Prix organisers that he could take the race elsewhere if he cannot agree a new deal with Indianapolis.

"It is not vital to Formula One to be in the United States," the 76-year-old told Britain's Daily Express newspaper yesterday, three days ahead of this season's US Grand Prix.

"There are bigger markets for us to be in other parts of the world. We could be in India soon instead of the United States. We don't have a lot of sponsors from the US, no American teams and only one driver," he added.

Indianapolis is in the last year of a contract for the Formula One race it has hosted since 2000. Ecclestone has talked in the past of taking Formula One to street circuits in Las Vegas or New York.

However, he also faces a squeeze on the calendar, with Valencia and Singapore confirmed as new races for next year while Abu Dhabi is due to make its debut in 2009 and South Korea in 2010.

Despite Ecclestone's comments, similar to ones he made last year before agreeing a one-year extension with Indianapolis, the United States is a key market for the car manufacturers who dominate the sport and own most of the teams.

"The automobile market in the USA is the biggest one for Mercedes-Benz outside Germany," said Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug, whose company owns 40 per cent of championship leaders McLaren.

"For the BMW Group, the USA Grand Prix is of key importance in so far as the United States is our biggest market," said BMW Sauber boss Mario Theissen