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Asia's F1 Dream Has to Wait to Enter Zhuhai
Zhuhai International Circuit failed again to meet international standards to hold Formula 1 race, said Bernie Ecclestone, Formula 1 boss on Thursday.
The failure was a major blow to the nine-year-effort to bring Formula 1 dream to Zhuhai for the first time, Ecclestone told Hong Kong iMail.
"We are not looking at China as a venue for now," iMail quoted Ecclestone as saying in its Friday's edition.
Zhuhai International Circuit, one of the China's best racing ground was considered unsuitable for hosting Formula 1 because the city's infrastructure has been substandard since a major international race was held there in 1996.
Despite that, Formula 1's governing body, Fia, announced at the end of 1997 that Zhuhai would get a Grand Prix the following year.
However, a few months later, Fia took the race off the calendar because the organizers were said to have been experiencing problems.
A statement by Fia at the time said: "There remains the possibility that Fia can secure an agreement with the teams to run an additional race. In this case, the Chinese Grand Prix could be held in the autumn of 1999. It will definitely be in the calendar for 2000."
But it was not to be.
"I was the first one to initiated the move to get Asia involved, " Ecclestone said. He admitted that it was tough convincing the Europeans to go along with the idea.
"And it will not be considered in the future unless they can develop a better facility capable of hosting a Formula 1 race," said Ecclestone: "I imagine that it will take at least two to three years for that to happen."
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