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Ecclestone Won't Settle for Less Money from Spa

Despite the teams' and drivers' love for Spa, Ecclestone won't ease the Belgian venue contract for the upcoming Formula One seasons.

The legendary race track managed to sell only 55,000 tickets until now for the race on Sunday. This is clearly below everyone's expectations, but due to the current economic climate, things can't be helped. However, british Formula One boss, Bernie Ecclestone, is determined to keep the cost up for the Belgian venue.

The story is the same for other traditional European Grand Prix circuits, but Ecclestone said they have to compete against other countries willing to enter the Formula 1 calendar.

"I love Belgium and I would be very happy to keep Spa, a wonderful traditional race, on the calendar", quoted the Belgian newspaper La Libre.

"The value of F1 is high. If you want to drive a Mercedes, you have to earn your money and pay dearly", said the 78-year-old Briton.

It is rumored the Spa-Francorchamps venue has a contract with Ecclestone until 2012 to host Formula One. The Walloon government isn't believed to step in and pick up the losses in question. "That's normal. Governments in other countries pay much more and I have at least five requests for new races outside of Europe", mentioned Bernie Ecclestone.

One of the sollutions speculated by the sports media proposes Spa-Francorchamps to annually alternate the race hosting rights with other venues from 2013. One of the venues rumored for this possibility is the German Nurburgring track.

"We are thinking about this solution, but nothing is decided", concluded Bernie Ecclestone.
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