Amidst talk of Miami hosting a round of the world championship as early as next year, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that he rejected a bid from Chicago to host a race.

"I got Chicago to agree five years ago," he told Forbes, "but they weren't going to pay enough money.

"The windy city... I thought I could get more somewhere else," he added.

Speaking earlier this week, Chase Carey appeared to backtrack on Liberty Media's previous claim that it was seeking to expand the calendar to as many as 25 races, the American insisting that he is looking for "quality over quantity".

However, his claim comes at a time there is increasing speculation that new events in Vietnam (Hanoi) and Miami, possibly as early as next year, are set to be confirmed.

In expanding the calendar, Liberty has made no secret of the fact that this would focus on its own American backyard, however, other than Miami and ongoing speculation over a return to Las Vegas, little has been heard.

On the other hand, Ecclestone insists that rather than the 'Windy City', he could take F1 back to 'The Golden State'. "I could do a deal this afternoon for a race in California," he says.

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1. Posted by Mark, 05/03/2018 10:30

"This seems highly unlikely. To begin, financial problems mean neither the City of Chicago nor the State of Illinois has the amount of money which would be required to host an F1 event. The only conceivable location would be in and around Grant Park, which already has the disruptions caused by the annual Jazz fest, Blues fest, Gospel fest and the Lollapalooza music fest. Motorsport in and around the park would meet with some healthy resistance from Friends of the Parks and other local groups. There is no place in the parks where they would be permitted to build permanent garage and media facilities which would satisfy F1. If there was no agreement on money, what sort of agreement could it have been? It would be great for those of us who live here but, considering it would be yet another concrete barrier lined street circuit, I'd rather make the drive to a Road America brought up to F1 standards."

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2. Posted by Toffeecup0, 04/03/2018 10:18

"What's he still doing around thought he disappeared e t go home"

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Ecclestone rejected Chicago Grand Prix bid

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