Tavo Hellmund, managing partner of Full Throttle Productions, the company which has secured the rights to host the United States Grand Prix from 2012, has said that Hermann Tilke's company has been hired to design the venue.

Ever since the shock announcement on Tuesday evening that Full Throttle had secured the deal, F1 fans around the world - and probably many F1 drivers if truth be told - have been holding their breath, fearing that Tilke (above) might be involved. Hellmund's comment is therefore bound to pour a certain amount of cold water on the project.

In a brief statement, Full Throttle promised the purpose built road course would be one of the finest permanent road course facilities in the world.

"Fans should expect the craftsmanship Tilke is famous for, with a priority placed on green building and a track similar to the great Grand Prix tracks of previous generations."

It is also claimed that a suitable location has been found, though, once again, Full Throttle is giving little away other than claiming that it is more than 700 acres.

The fact that Full Throttle's website is nothing more than a holding page, giving no information other than a e-mail address, is worryingly reminiscent of the still-born USF1 project and adds to growing speculation - certainly amongst the Pitpass team and its readers - that the Austin project is a red herring, with Bernie Ecclestone playing much the same game as he did with Donington.