Zoom No trip to North America in 2009

Bernie Ecclestone says the door has been left open to reinstating the Canadian Grand Prix.

The sport's Chief Executive went on Montreal radio this week to address local anger about the axe of the annual and traditional race at the nearby Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

When negotiations recently broke down, organisers slammed Ecclestone's demands as 'unreasonable'.

"Unreasonable compared to what?" the 78-year-old billionaire told CJAD radio.

"We do business worldwide and nobody else thinks we're unreasonable. We've got a queue of people that want races. So we can't be unreasonable."

Ecclestone is maintaining his stance with regards to the current negotiations, but said he was keen to return to Canada in the future.

"Everyone in Formula One loves Montreal," he insisted.

When asked if he would like Montreal to return to the calendar, he added: "Of course we would - we didn't want to lose it. "

"I said (to organisers) you can come to my office, pull any contract out of that drawer for all the overseas races, take any one of them, cross out the name and put your name, and that's what we'll do."

"Because what was offered them was less than we get anywhere else in the world," he explained.

Ecclestone said he did not appreciate how the frustrated organisers leaked the financial details of his proposal to the media, but refused to enter a war of words, describing the tone of the failed talks as "Good, nice, beautiful."

Source: GMM
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