Friday March 22nd, 2002

The proposed Moscow Formula One Grand Prix will now not take place until 2004, the sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Friday.

The race on a circuit yet to be built had been set for 2003 but a signing ceremony was delayed at the last moment on Friday.

"We have postponed the signing for a month because we do not agree on several points in the contract," Moscow's mayor Yuri Luzhkov said. The hitch came as a hoard of television crews and journalists gathered to witness the signing ceremony.

"It's only this morning that we decided to change the date, therefore four documents had to be changed and it may have resulted in differences in interpretation," said Ecclestone, who had arrived in Moscow on Thursday evening.

He explained that both sides had to be satisfied that everything was in place before the Moscow race would be put on the FIA calendar.

"We need to be safe, we need at least six months (for the circuit to be ready and tested) before the race could go ahead," said Ecclestone.

Luzhkov said there were four different contracts -- for construction, management, advertising and television -- which had to be rewritten before any deal could go ahead.

"We have to rework these four issues before we would be able to sign the whole package," the mayor said.

Moscow Tourism Minister Grigory Antyufeyev, who is responsible for the project from the Russian side, said no work on the circuit will begin until the agreement is signed.

"Obviously, no construction can start until the whole deal is in place," he said.

The circuit, projected to cost more than $100 million, is due to be built at Nagatino on a bend in the Moskva river a few kilometres southeast of the city centre.

But the country's second motor sport federation (FAST), which is fighting for control of motor racing in Russia with RAF, blamed the delays on a lack of efficiency on behalf of their rivals.

"RAF failed to fully inform the Moscow mayor of all the contract details, which is why the contract was not signed," they said in a statement on Friday.

RAF officials responded by saying that FAST were just annoyed at not being invited to take part in the negotiations.

Not Disappointed

Despite the setbacks, the Formula One chief said he was not too unhappy.

"I'm not disappointed at all because we have a contract and we have a handshake," said Ecclestone.

On his first trip to the Russian capital last May, Ecclestone promised Luzhkov that Moscow would host a Formula One Grand Prix as soon as a suitable circuit was built.

"The deal was agreed a year ago and there is no going back on the agreement, it's only a postponement," he said.

Arrows team owner Tom Walkinshaw, who signed a $100 million deal with the Moscow government in November 2000, told Reuters that the differences were not straightforward.

"Of course, it's going to be complicated when you have many different partners involved," said Walkinshaw, who accompanied Ecclestone on the trip to the Russian capital. "The design (of the track) is continually being refined, but we hope that within 28 days the whole deal will be signed."

Walkinshaw added that, despite the fact that the construction company had not yet been chosen, he was optimistic the project would be a success.

"It's going to be a very modern track and when it is built we can be very proud of it," he said. Ecclestone also dismissed the notion that the whole process was taking too long. "It took us six years for the Indianapolis Grand Prix to go ahead," he said.

Ecclestone was asked in which month he thought the Moscow race would be held in 2004.

"We don't know yet, but not in the winter," he said with a smile.

Published at 08:31:47 GMT