Formula One to focus on India, track foundation in Oct

Brushing aside government's stand that Formula One is not a sport, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone today said the foundation stone of the race track in India would be laid in October for the showpiece event next year.

Ecclestone said it's been long time that they have signed the contract with the promoters in India and there was no question of the event being shelved despite the Indian government's refusal to give concessions.

Asked specifically whether the F1 race in India would go on, Ecclestone told PTI from London, "It's been on for a long time. There's never been any doubt. The contract has been signed long time back."

Ecclestone, the President and CEO of Formula One Management, said that the foundation stone for the project in Greater Noida would be laid at the end of October.

"We are waiting for the circuit to be constructed. The foundation stone would be laid in late October. I will be in India to lay the foundation stone," he said.

Ecclestone made light of Sports Minister M S Gill's view that Formula One was not a sport.

"Everybody is entitled to their views. That's the good or the bad part of democracy. If the Sports Minister doesn't think it's a sport, I can't do much about it. That's his view. The rest of the world thinks it is a sport," Ecclestone said.

Motorsports administrators in the country have reacted sharply to the Sports Minister's views against Formula One with Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya questioning the basis of Gill's assessment for F1 being "expensive entertainment".

Gill had insisted that it was technology and not any sporting skill that determines the outcome of Formula One races.

The 2011 Indian Grand Prix has run into rough weather after the Sports Ministry denied JPSK Sports, promoter of the event in India, approval to the remittance of $36.5 million to Formula One Administration in UK.

Adamant Sports Ministry officials maintain Formula One does not have the social relevance of an Olympic sport and have refused to give their nod to the transaction, which comes under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (GEMMA) because it's not desirable.

On how he planned to make F1 popular in India, Ecclestone said he would try to meet people and see how it can be done when he visits the country in October.