“The race brings a huge amount of people, trade and publicity to the city,” said Ecclestone about the Grand Prix that he thinks benefits from “the best track in the world”.
“I am a bit disappointed (with Turkey's decision to drop F1) and I hope we can work out a deal,” he added.
It's no secret that the Turkish event has been a pain in the you know where for the organizers ever since it made the F1 calendar back in 2005. Despite the fact that the track is highly regarded by the F1 drivers, the event fails to attract the necessary money from ticketing, as not a whole lot of people bother to visit the Istanbul Park during track days.
“It was not a profitable event,” admitted Istanbul mayor Kadir Topbas in a recent interview with the Zaman newspaper. “Serious finances are needed in order for this system to work. Unfortunately there was a problem. Turkish people didn't give the races recognition.”
Under the circumstances, keeping the race in the F1 calendar would be bad enough alone (from a financial standpoint), and paying double to do it would resemble a bankruptcy-prone move. However, some rumors hint that Ecclestone holds the management rights for the Istanbul track, which would explain why he wants it in the Great Circus for the long run.
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