Tavo Hellmund: “It’s not my place to speak about the money…”

Tavo Hellmund said today that the 2012 US GP could still go ahead if Bernie Ecclestone is paid – but insisted that the finances were nothing to do with him.

Speaking at a hastily arranged press conference, Hellmund admitted that things began to go wrong when he fell out with his partners, but said that the real problem was the failure to pay Ecclestone the agreed sanctioning fee, despite being given extra time to do so.

“In late spring amongst our partners we had just a view of thinking of a different direction of the way things should go,” he said. “That happens, and no one’s necessarily right or wrong. That created the current friction, but nothing that would derail the project.

“The real reason that we’re having this press conference today, instead of announcing a huge sponsor, which I hope we can do in a couple of weeks, is the simple fact that we don’t have a contract with F1. And the reason we don’t have a contract with F1 is that as a project we have failed many times over to fulfil our financial obligations to F1. It’s literally that simple.

“I was encouraged today to see some news reports that the door is still open for us to be able to fix that, and I’ve also been encouraged in recent days to see that apparently all the funding’s in place. And so with that being said I’m really optimistic and hopeful that we’re going to get this done and we’re going to have a Grand Prix next year.”

Asked why Ecclestone hadn’t been paid Hellmund said: “To be perfectly honest, the money part has never been my role. If I’d had the money I wouldn’t have been willing 18 months ago to give up the majority of my project!”

Pushed further on who was supposed to pay, he said: “The other partners in COTA.”

Later he elaborated on the negotiations with Bernie.

“Right now we should be praising Mr Ecclestone. We were in breach on multiple issues since as late as May. He sent numerous requests and letters that we were all aware of, of how to fix it, and we failed to do that.

“More than anything this project needs to meet its financial obligations to F1. It’s just that simple. We can put a spin on it… Other people can point fingers at who’s to blame. I don’t want to do that.

“The project has been underfunded, and that’s not a surprise to anybody. I don’t think there’s any shame in that. If you budget for $150m or $200m and the project’s $300m, it’s a considerable difference. But again, I’m not party to that.

“I think the thing that’s disappointing is that the timing was just barely off. Mr Ecclestone gave us opportunities for three months, literally, and I like to think that my relationship with him, although strained and tested now, allowed us that flexibility. When they ask you for payment and you don’t do it repeatedly, over and over and over, eventually…

“And even as recently as the now publicised meeting three weeks ago he told us you can pay this now and we’ll continue with the current contract, or we can tear it up and issue a new one, or we’ll just cancel the whole thing. We didn’t for whatever reason choose to remedy the one that was in place, and to my knowledge there was another one sent that hasn’t been executed yet, but maybe it will.

“There’s a solution. If Mr Ecclestone and FOM get their money, there’s a Grand Prix next November. It’s that simple.”

He implied several times that the money is now in place.

“It’s not anybody’s fault that the project has been underfunded. No one’s done that intentionally, but it sounds like maybe that’s not the case now, and I hope everything will move forward.”

Hellmund insisted that there had been additional costs connected to the construction due to gas lines and unexpectedly challenging soil conditions, before adding once again that “…it’s not my place to speak about the money and the financing part – it’s not my role.”

He also confirmed that he would be willing to step out if the need arose and admitted that there were ongoing negotiations to that end.