MAY 18, 2004

IOC opens the way to F1 for several cities

The International Olympic Committee has picked five candidates from the nine applicant cities which were bidding for the 2012 summer Olympics and that means that some of the others may be looking at investing in other sports, including Formula 1. The IOC has picked London, Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid as the cities which will go forward to the new round of negotiations while Havana, Istanbul, Leipzig and Rio de Janeiro have been dropped. Istanbul is already planning to host of Formula 1 Grand Prix and Rio de Janeiro had serious plans for a bid for the Brazilian Grand Prix before the Olympic idea came along. Leipzig and Havana are not considered to be likely candidates for races. However it is possible that Moscow may join the list of rejects when the decision is made in Singapore in July 2005.