Ecclestone extends Donington's F1 deadline

Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday said he is prepared to slightly relax an end-of-September deadline for Donington to have its plans all in place for the 2010 British Grand Prix.

The F1 chief executive said recently that the circuit has until the end of this month to guarantee its funding, and it is believed that the September deadline is also enshrined in Donington's F1 contract.

"Their problem is a financial one, it is (a matter of) them getting the money together," Ecclestone told reporters at an event in Singapore.

"Everything was done and ready and when this (global financial) crisis arrived the banks pulled the plug on them.

"It (the deadline) was the end of September but I think we may extend it a bit, by two or three days. I think we have given them until October 3," the Briton added.

Ecclestone has said that if Donington cannot be ready to host Britain's F1 race next year, the sport will instead remain at Silverstone.

Also on Thursday, the 78-year-old also said he is still hoping to see America soon return to the Formula One calendar, preferably with a street race in New York.

"Obviously Manhattan," Ecclestone answered when asked about his preference. "I will tell when it happens if I can do it or not. We were told we couldn't do a race in Singapore..."