“It’s like if you go to a restaurant and order a dinner, and then after you’ve eaten the meal they change the price.”
Ecclestone has optimistically spoken of having four races in America, but there is a very real chance there could be none in 2016. Hurricane Patricia caused chaos this year, making for a “financially devastating weekend”, according to Epstein.
Qualifying had to be postponed from Saturday to Sunday morning, while the return of Mexico to the calendar a week later hit ticket sales. Austin is the first purpose-built Formula One circuit in the United States.
Ecclestone has optimistically spoken of having four races in America
Meanwhile, Mercedes have insisted that Hamilton will race this weekend in Brazil, despite falling ill and delaying his travel plans by a day on doctors’ orders. The triple world champion has a fever and flew to Sao Paulo on Wednesday, rather than on Tuesday as planned.
“No, he’s not going to miss the race,” a team spokesman said. “He’s going to be a day late… the doctor advised him to cancel the earlier flight so he missed a press conference today.”
Hamilton is bidding for his first victory at Interlagos, something he believes would be a “salute” to Ayrton Senna, his great hero.