Friday October 25th, 2002

CART president Chris Pook has denied rumours about a possible merger between the American series and the Formula One World Championship.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been recently linked with a possible buyout of 51 percent of the CART series and some reports have claimed that both championships could be linked as a way to use CART as a training ground for Grand Prix racing in the future.

Pook admitted he had been talking to Ecclestone, a close friend, but only to ask for advice on how to rebuild the struggling CART championship.

"I'm not going to deny to anybody that I've talked with Bernie Ecclestone," Pook told the Associated Press. "He's a friend. He's also the most intelligent man in motor racing in the world. And there is no doubt that I am rebuilding this series.

"So it's logical that I would go to someone like that and say, 'Hey, am I going in the right direction?' That's what's going on. It no secret that I have said on the record that I would like to take young drivers out of this series and present them to Formula One to see if they can make their way up the ladder. That's got to be the epitome of their career.

"All these things are out there, and somehow or another, someone has tried to connect all the dots, and said, 'Ecclestone is going to take over CART.' Maybe he is, I don't know," Pook added, laughing. "But he hasn't told me that. And he hasn't told anybody else that.

"There are no formal discussions going on about our relationship with Formula One. Absolutely not."

Published at 18:48:24 GMT