Ecclestone wants Russia on the Formula 1 calendar

2014 is the year Russia could finally join the F1 calendar. F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said in April that there were three venues that could host the Russian event, but the favorite would be the tourist city of Sochi. Located just north of the border with Georgia and overlooking the Black Sea, Sochi will host the Winter Olympics in 2014.

“Ecclestone suggested that the first Grand Prix could be organized in the autumn of 2014,” Deputy Minister for Regional Development Yuri Reilyan told the Vedomosti publication.

The politician confirmed that Russia is ready to start construction work on the new circuit as soon as Ecclestone is able to “guarantee that the race will definitely take place and that the track will not be abandoned in the future.”

The costs of the facility, which will be built in the area of ​​the Olympic Park in the Imeretinskaya Valley, are estimated at 200 million dollars.

A draft of the project has already been commissioned from Hermann Tilke, Ecclestone's trusted architect.

“It's still early to talk about budgets. The final design is yet to be determined, and will be finalized by an organizing committee to be established later this year,” Reilyan said.

André Cotta