Bernie praise from Whitmarsh

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been praised by McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

The 82-year-old Formula One boss has had a tough time of it lately, for legal reasons that are much better explained elsewhere.

But as the boss of Formula One, Bernie has been as sharp as ever in organising the sport for the future.

A new Concorde agreement has been provisionally agreed and new deals with race tracks for future Grand Prix’s have been approved and signed off.

The Hungarian Grand Prix has signed a recent extension, whilst Formula One will also be returning to Austria next season to the Red bull Ring, whilst new tracks at New Jersey in USA and Sochi in Russia are also set to be added to the calendar.

It’s a constant juggling act, with India coming off the calendar for 2014 to return in 2015 in a much earlier slot in the schedule.

Expanding the sport into new markets is not an easy task, especially in the middle of a global recession which changes the landscape on a monthly basis.

Question marks remain on whether or not the tracks in New Jersey and Russia will be added to the FIA Formula One calendar whilst Korea’s viability has also been brought into question.

‘Formula 1 needs some of these new venues – Russia is an interesting market, But with questions marks over some of the venues we have, you have to keep the conveyor belt rolling, and he’s been pretty good at orchestrating it so far. Whitmarsh said to Sky Sports.

The chairman of FOTA added: ‘Personally I don’t think there will be more than 20 [races] next year, but it is for others to speculate on which races will be on the calendar.’

‘In fairness to Bernie he has been pretty good at finding new venues, In this [financial] climate there are always locations in doubt, so therefore having some back-ups is not a bad idea,’