F1: Bernie Ecclestone insists Grand Prix of India still on track

From GMM

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is not ready to draw a line through plans for an Indian grand prix, despite the country's government refusing to pay scheduled fees to his company.

Following a request by the 2011 race's organisers for more than $35m in funding to be paid to Formula One Management, the Indian sports minister turned it down on the basis that F1 is not a sport but "entertainment".

"Everybody is entitled to their views. That's the good or the bad part of democracy," F1 chief executive Ecclestone, 78, is quoted as saying by domestic media on Wednesday.

The Briton said the promotion contract for the F1 race, with construction on a new circuit already underway, remains in place.

"(The race has) been on for a long time. There's never been any doubt," Ecclestone in London told the Indian news agency PTI.

"The contract has been signed a long time back."

He said he would be on site when the circuit's foundation stone is laid in October.