Bernie hopes Donington honors GP contract
"Absolutely not," he said. "Everything is still fully on-stream."
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| Donington Park |
Subsequent to the Gill news, however, London newspaper The Times suggested that finance director Peter Edwards may have departed, while PR company Sidhu and Simon also left the project.
Simon Gillett, the remaining chief executive, reportedly dismissed fears Gill walked out over a disagreement about the F1 project and accusations – again in The Times – that plans are being devised "on the back of a fag packet".
But also on Friday, the plans to upgrade Donington for formula one, including slight modifications to the layout itself, were lodged with the North West Leicestershire District Council.
The timeline for the development to be completed before 2010 is short, as official approval from the council is expected only in November.
The spokesman continued: "Everything is in motion — there is no threat at all to the 2010 grand prix being staged at Donington."
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| Donington from the air |
09/05/08 (GMM) Another dark cloud has moved above the future of the British grand prix.
While some hailed July's announcement of the 2010 switch from Silverstone to Donington Park as the rescue of the embattled event, others questioned the likelihood that the latter venue can get up to scratch in time.
Questions of time and money aside, it then emerged on Friday that a slight exodus of leading figures has occurred at Donington in recent days — most prominently the former joint CEO Lee Gill, but possibly also others.
Bernie Ecclestone said days ago: "If there is no Donington, there is no British GP."
The F1 chief executive was questioned about the latest adverse reports about Donington's grand prix plans in the Spa-Francorchamps paddock on Friday.
"We've a contract with them, which I hope they honor," the 77-year-old said.