“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, Bernie walks into mine.”
They’re probably not the words used by the King of Morocco Mohammed VI, but after meeting with Bernie at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it’s being reported the F1 supremo has negotiated a gig for Mororcco to appear on the already crowded Formula 1 calendar.
Speculation began following a testimony given by Eccelstone earlier this week while answering bribery claims in the British High Court.
The court was presented minutes of a 2004 Formula 1 board meeting where it was alleged Ecclestone requested a press release to be issued confirming his job security.
“I travel the world making business on a handshake,” explained Eccelstone. “And all of a sudden I’m no longer in any position to do anything, so who would want to accept my signature on a contract?”
And here’s where the $600m handshake came up. “I’ve just signed a contract now for 600 million-odd with people over the weekend,” he added. “I can’t do that if people think I’m going to be fired in the morning.”
Bernie charges around $40m per year for a country to host an F1 race and with the fee increasing year on a year a new 10-year deal would come in around that $600m mark.
The link to Morocco is the photo above and Bernie revealing late last year he has previously held talks about taking F1 to the north African country.
“I met the king of Morocco a couple of years ago and talked about F1,” Ecclestone confirmed, before adding, “what reason would it be good for us? The manufacturers are not selling anything there. How many people would come?”
[Source: Autoweek | Pic: AP Photo/Luca Bruno]
