A cloud is hanging over the long term future of the Chinese Grand Prix according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf who report that Shanghai’s current contract expires after 2017.
The original 2004 contract has been extended a few times, but reports early in 2011 claimed that the latest deal came only after some wrangling over the fee.
The Shanghai race at the imposing Hermann Tilke-penned facility has been on the calendar since 2004, shortly after it was built at a cost of $240 million, and F1 drivers say it is one of the better Tilke creations.
“Yes, it’s a good track to drive and quite technical where you can use different lines and quite a lot of (corner) combinations which are quite tricky,” said Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson. “I think it’s a good track to have on the calendar and I would miss it if it goes away.”
2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen agrees: “I think it’s a good circuit for making good races.”
“For the driving it’s nice but we go where the races are, we don’t decide it. I think Bernie decides where the money comes from so we go, we follow,” Raikkonen added.
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