Mosley Confident Britain, France Will Stay on Calendar

FIA president Max Mosley is confident both the British and the French Grands Prix will be included on the final 2005 Formula One calendar.

The troubled British Grand Prix was listed provisionally on a calendar on Wednesday along with an inaugural Turkish race in August. The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) published a draft calendar with more races than ever - an unprecedented 19 - after intense speculation about the fate of the British round.

France and the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, both races also shrouded in uncertainty, were listed with an asterisk against them. The final calendar, likely to be issued in December, could have fewer races with teams contractually committed to just 17.

"Britain and France have a date and it's simply a question of getting a contract but also there is this problem of the number of races," FIA president Max Mosley told Reuters Television after a meeting in Paris.

"So there are one or two hurdles to jump but my personal view is that I'd be surprised if we don't have a French and a British Grand Prix. Certainly the FIA would not be in favour of either of those events coming off the calendar because they are both great traditional events which really are part of the structure of Formula One."

Turkey, making its first appearance on a Formula One calendar with a new circuit being built near Istanbul after the debuts of China and Bahrain this year, was pencilled in for August 21.

"It is a country where motorsport is growing very fast with dynamic leadership and I think there is great interest in that area," said Mosley of Turkey. "Certainly the experience of the rally shows that it's a country where it's very worthwhile having a championship event."