French Grand Prix Gets Green Light

The troubled French Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead as scheduled this year, Bernie Ecclestone and team bosses said on Friday.

"It's on. There will be 18 races," commercial supremo Ecclestone told Reuters after a meeting in London.

The confirmation of the July 4 race at Magny-Cours meant that the 2004 calendar will have more races than ever with new circuits in Bahrain and China making their debuts.

France, which hosted the very first Grand Prix in 1906 and ranks with Italy and Britain as a cradle of motor racing, risked losing its slot in the Championship due to financial problems.

The race was listed provisionally on the original calendar and organisers had to sign a contract and secure the agreement of all 10 teams by last December 31 to prevent cancellation.

"They've met all their obligations, all the financial obligations according to Bernie, and therefore the teams have agreed and there's no problem," said International Automobile Federation (FIA) head Max Mosley.

Financial Compensation

Under the confidential Concorde Agreement, teams are obliged to attend a maximum of 17 races.

Team bosses have consistently said that they will only agree to an 18th round if they receive sufficient compensation, reported to be around $2 million per team. Canada, which was dropped from the calendar and then reinstated after local organisers agreed to compensate teams for running without tobacco branding, was to have been the 18th race.

But France, which also bans the tobacco advertising that half the teams display, signed their contract after Montreal. Outgoing Toyota team boss Ove Andersson said Canada was still considered the 18th race but Ecclestone and Mosley brushed the controversy aside.

"They (the teams) are getting the 18-race financial deal. It's really down to Bernie. He gets money from all sorts of people," said Mosley.

"I welcome it," said Jaguar's Tony Purnell. "But I think 18 races is the absolute threshold. When you get to 19 or 20 you are just going to burn people out."

Mosley said the decision for Magny-Cours could have gone either way.

"It was very close. There were certain detailed arrangements that they had to follow with Bernie and it wasn't completely in place until a day or so ago. We did give them perhaps longer than we should have done but the FIA was very reluctant to see the French Grand Prix come off the calendar if it could be avoided."

Mosley was confident there would be 18 races, despite continuing speculation about the security situation in Bahrain.

"At the moment I am completely confident," he said. "Obviously nobody can predict what is going to happen in the world but as things are at the moment no race is in danger."