The Indian Grand Prix will not feature in the 2014 F1 calendar but is expected to return in 2015. According to Bernie Ecclestone the change will come so the race can switch from its October date to March.
The 2013 Indian Grand Prix will take place as scheduled on 27 October.
“The circuit in India is fantastic,” Ecclestone told the Times of India. “We are really disappointed that we can’t have the Grand Prix in India in 2014. But we have now agreed to return to India in March 2015.”
Jaypee boss Sameer Gaur said they would prefer a date later in the year, but will accommodate Eccelstone’s request.
“The October-November period suits us better both weather-wise as well as it being the festive season in India,” Gaur said. “But if Formula One Management wants us to hold our race in March, 2015, we don’t have any problem with that.”
In 2014 two new races are expected to be added to the calendar, in Russia and Austria. The highly anticipated addition of the New Jersey Grand Prix, with the Manhattan skyline as a backdrop, has been pencilled in for next year, but fresh doubts have emerged suggesting it won’t go ahead.
Bernie Ecclestone has said the F1 calendar will not exceed 20 races, so for next year at least, the loss of the Indian race will make scheduling a bit easier.
[Source: ABC Grandstand | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
5 replies on “Indian GP to be dropped from 2014 F1 calendar”
That’s ok, it really was a vapid circuit. The filth in the air made it look bad too.
Should this make us concerned about the 2015 Australian GP?
That’s a good question, but it seems as though the change was made to bring the fly-away races that are roughly in our neck of the woods closer together.
Alas, you never know with Bernie! But I think we should be right for now.
Seriously they should never have been given an F1 race. India needs to sort out it’s appalling human rights issues with their caste system. Anyone who doesn’t know what I am talking about and has never travelled to India you need to look it up. Basically if you were born into a family that cleans s#$t out of people poo pits then you must do that job and live in extreme poverty for the rest of your life because this has been deemed your caste.
When India can sort the problem of open sewers which are everywhere and people continually getting food poisoning from lack of hygiene practises then maybe can they tackle having an F1 race. Until then India the 3rd world country needs to improve a hell of a lot more things before it worries about the extravagant F1 showcase.
[…] Whatever happens with the 2014 calendar, there’s already pressure on the 2015 schedule with the promised return of the Indian Grand Prix. […]