Spain secures race until 2011

Spain has secured its Grand Prix until 2011, Bernie Ecclestone confirmed on Saturday at Barcelona, but only if the tobacco-advertising ban due to be introduced in 2005 can be avoided. Tracks such as Spa and Austria have disappeared from the schedule in recent years due to the ban, although Spa was reinstated after the Belgian government granted an exemption for the GP. Spain will have to do the same to keep its race.

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"I am very pleased to renew the contract until 2011," said Ecclestone. "But this is subject to legislation on tobacco advertising. We hope we can sort that out because we don't want to move out of Europe, especially not Barcelona."

"Here they have three great important motorcycle events and Formula One. If they just said there should be an exemption for 15 days a year for just inside the circuit..."

RACC president Sebastia Salvado said: "I'm very happy because F1 is showing again its trust in the Circuit de Catalunya. The challenge now is to guarantee the continuity of the facility, which is not going to be easy due to the new generation of tracks such as Bahrain and Shanghai."

Other races are under threat due to the tobacco legislation and the number of events within the European Union could dwindle away. Ecclestone said F1 wants to stay but other countries without tobacco bans are more attractive.