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Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he is "surprised" that the French Grand Prix has been revived.
The race will return in 2018, being hosted at Circuit Paul Ricard - a facility Ecclestone owns.
"It's taken a long time but eventually we got there," the F1 supremo told L'Equipe. "I am very, very happy -- the French Grand Prix is back."
"I am surprised that we got a new chance to bring it back," said the 86-year-old, who has done the deal with promoter Christian Estrosi.
"The reason for the previous failures was mainly because they didn't have a suitable circuit.
"Everything with Paul Ricard is very good. We'll just have to install more grandstands, but the circuit has been kept in excellent condition," he said.
Ecclestone also revealed that the race will take place in the summer.
"In the middle of summer, in synergy with the other European Grands Prix at that time of year. We'll settle that later," he said. "The most important thing is that the contract is signed."
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Its very nice to see the French GP back.
talktohenry
Posts: 362
Think it's more to do with the fact Bernie has seen too many so called: ''new markets'' fail in Countries like Turkey, where they have no local interest, and I'd say he will have cut his fees to make it happen, plus if he's sold F1, he won't care so much about his fee.