Exclusive: Ecclestone dismisses leaked 2013 calendar

22/09/2012

Mat Coch writes:

Bernie Ecclestone has moved to dismiss the 2013 calendar revealed yesterday, telling Pitpass: "I haven't seen it, and I produce calendars".

The F1 supremo was quick to deny that the calendar was accurate, or indeed that teams have received anything official, which is at odds with the information received by this particular writer.

Asked whether he was confident the new United States race would be on the calendar in 2013, he replied: "Yeah, It'll be there this year," appearing to deliberately misunderstand the question. "It's Austin this year."

However when pressed, Ecclestone gave a slightly less dismissive response. "Let me ask the questions," he insisted. "Is the New Jersey, New York race on the calendar for 2013? That was your question… I don't know."

The 81-year-old went on to suggest that the copy which emerged yesterday - "I haven't seen it, and I produce calendars" - is an old draft, and was not for publication. "It would have started from me from way back," he claimed when asked where the document would have come from. "It shouldn't have been out."

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