Austria to be cut from F1 calendar

Austria will host its final Formula One race this year because of plans to bring forward a tobacco advertising ban to 2005, according to a report.

F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that the A1-Ring at Spielberg, which only returned to the grand prix calendar in 1997, will lose its grand prix even though it had a contract until 2006.

“We’ll be racing for the last time in Spielberg on May 18 this year – then it’s over,” Ecclestone is quoted in an interview in Austria’s Kronen Zeitung newspaper today.

“Of course we had a contract with Spielberg until 2006, but with an exit clause that’s now come into effect. Your (Austria’s) health minister is the one to blame because he agreed to bringing forward the ban on tobacco advertising.

“In 2004 we’re racing in Shanghai and Bahrain, 2005 in Istanbul, then in Russia. It’s possible that we then only have five or six races in central Europe.”

Asked whether Austria would could win back its place, Ecclestone added: “The decision is final.”

Motorsport bosses had agreed to a worldwide ban on tobacco advertising to take effect from 2006, but this was thrown into doubt when EU ministers voted to impose the ban a year earlier in 2005.

Belgium’s place on the calendar was scrapped this year in a separate row over tobacco and is unlikely to be awarded another race.

The axing of races in Belgium and Austria, which had been one of the favourites for the chop, will create gaps that will be filled by Bahrain and China next year.

Other European races, including the San Marino Grand Prix, are under threat as F1 takes in venues that would not be subject to a ban on tobacco advertising.