The FIA has re-opened the selection process to allow a 13th team to join the grid in 2011.

US F1’s bid to join the Formula One failed to materialize this year, leaving an empty space in the paddock that will be filled next year if a suitable candidate can be found. The team wanted to delay its entry by a year but could end up facing a sanction instead.  An FIA statement read: “With regard to the US F1 team’s non-participation in the 2010 championship, the world council mandated the FIA president, in full compliance with the new code of practice for disciplinary matters, to take forward the most appropriate action.”
Meanwhile Bernie Ecclestone pointed the finger at US F1 for denying F1 hopefuls Stefan GP a place in this season’s championship.

“It was difficult because the other people [US F1] had an entry and kept saying that they were going to be here, that there is no problem and everything is fine,” he told the official F1 website. “As they had an entry we could not say sorry we don’t believe you. I said that, and got a lot of criticism. I said that, and it turned out to be the truth. Unfortunately it was not possible to get Stefan GP in at the last minute. You need to do such things a bit more sensibly.”

The 2011 position is now open to all the teams that failed to gain an entry last year, including Lola, Epsilon Euskadi, Prodrive and N.Technology.

Formula One impresario Bernie Ecclestone has made no secret of his desire to see his series make a stop in the Big Apple – Manhattan, in point of fact. To that end, our friends at 0-60 Magazine thought they’d help him out by drawing up a suggested courses – in fact, in an oddly prescient move, they had already done so, publishing the fantasy circuits in the pages of their Winter 2008 issue.

In any case, with Ecclestone reportedly reaffirming his interest in the Big Apple last week, 0-60 has decided to publish the story and the routes online. The routes through Central Park are inspired, although we suspect that more than a few of NYC’s anti-car intelligentsia would take issue with that notion.

This idea is certainty strengthened by the Formula One Teams Association’s interest in returning the the United States.

Personally I love the idea of more Grand Prix exposure here in the States, and the idea of a Manhattan street race is awfully fun to dream about. Logistically I just don’t see this happening. The tarmac on Broadway isn’t exactly FiA-spec, and I just doubt that the city of New York will support the idea – say the way Singapore has.

What do you think of the idea? If not New York, where would you like to see a US Grand Prix held?

The obstacle standing in the way of a final deal for the Canadian Grand Prix is tax, according to Montreal’s French-language daily La Presse.

The report said Bernie Ecclestone wants to receive the payments of the Quebec, Ottawa and Montreal authorities over the next five years but not pay federal tax. It is said the F1 chief executive is holding back his signature until he receives a written guarantee about the issue from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Additionally, Ecclestone, who will certainly become the event’s promoter, also wishes to take all the money generated by ticket sales and refund the sales tax portion at a later date. Canadian law stipulates that such amounts should not leave the country before the government’s portion has been paid.

Raymond Bachand, handling the governments’ F1 negotiations, said last Friday that “there are always complicated elements with a tentative agreement – which we have with Mr Ecclestone – when the lawyers put it down on paper… problems sometimes arise.”

La Presse cited a well-informed source used to dealing with Ecclestone: “At one point he’s going to say ‘I give you 24 hours to sign the agreement’ and he will arrange to be unreachable before the deadline.”

“Politicians always end up with blood on their knees,” the source added.

Federal Public Works Minister Christian Paradis however indicated he wanted an agreement “which respects the Canadian taxpayers,” while a spokesman for the Minister indicated that “taxation rules do not depend on a politician’s good will.”

The path is now clear for the Canadian Grand Prix to return to the Formula One calendar, the promoters of the Montreal event announced in a media statement on last Monday.

Grand Prix F1 du Canada Inc president Normand Legault said a “commercial dispute” with Bernie Ecclestone has been settled, and an “announcement is forthcoming” about the return of the race next year.

“I’ve always been confident of being able to resolve the dispute,” said Legault.

“I never doubted the Canadian race would regain its rightful place on the FIA schedule, and my discussions with F1 management led me to believe the event would return soon.

“The race is important not only for Formula 1, but also for the teams, manufacturers and sponsors.

“I am also happy for the Canadian Grand Prix’s many fans because they are true F1 enthusiasts who appreciate the real value of the spectacle and the competition.”

The Canadian GP, which had been part of the F1 World Championship since 1967, was dropped for this season as a result of a financial disagreement.  The race has been provisionally agreed for 6 June 2010.

The calendar is not expected to be confirmed until October and Ecclestone has yet to comment on Canada’s return.

Legault also announced on Monday that he is not planning to stay on as the race’s local promoter due to the “economic model currently prevailing in Formula One.”

Two years ago, Lewis Hamilton won his maiden F1 victory at the Canadian GP in only his sixth race, while last year Robert Kubica also clinched his first F1 win in Montreal.

The fallout of Bernie Ecclestone’s ‘Hitler’ interview continued on Tuesday as it emerged the F1 chief executive reportedly called off a scheduled appearance at the Nurburgring circuit this weekend.

After describing the outrage sparked by his Hitler comments as a ‘big misunderstanding’ in the German press, Ecclestone has now turned to the English-speaking print media to apologize for his comments.

“What I regret is people who have taken this the wrong way and have been offended, I’m really, really sad about because I have done an awful lot for the Jewish community, charities and whatever,” Ecclestone said.

For obvious reasons, a leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party could not at this time be meeting with a man accused of sympathizing with tyrant Adolf Hitler.  The decision of German state premier Gunther Oettinger to cancel his meeting with Ecclestone this weekend was interpreted as a blow to Hockenheim’s hopes of retaining its F1 race.

But Auto Motor und Sport reports that the alternate Nurburgring meeting on Sunday is still to take place, with a lawyer or another representative of the Baden-Wurttemberg state to join Ecclestone instead.

“As far as I’m concerned I am to meet him at 12 o’clock on Sunday. Nobody has said anything to the contrary to me,” Ecclestone said.

photo credit ©DPPI