Formula 1 chiefs are to discuss the 2012 calendar later this year, amid concern about the status of some of the races that are on next year's schedule.
AUTOSPORT reports that F1 commercial rights manager Bernie Ecclestone informed team principals over the Indian Grand Prix weekend that there are also some questions regarding the new United States Grand Prix in Austin, while the position of the 2012 Bahrain and Korean Grands Prix also have been added to the agenda for Thursday's meeting of the F1 Commission in Geneva.
Ecclestone said that, while construction work at Austin's Circuit of the Americas is ongoing, there are issues inside the company that is putting the event together.
"I don't think they are struggling [with building the track] at all," he explained. "I think there has been a disagreement inside the company."
When asked if he was certain the race would take place in 2012 as scheduled on Nov. 18, Ecclestone said: "If you had said to me a month ago, is this [the Indian GP] 100 percent going to happen then I would have said, 'I don't know.' So ask me a month before the race is due to happen."
Ecclestone said that the recently announced deal deal for New Jersey to hold a grand prix in 2013 would reduce the negative impact if Austin's arrival on the grand prix calendar was delayed.
"We can have it next year or the year after," he said of a renewed United States Grand Prix. "It is not the end of the world."
Meanwhile, Bahrain's position on the calendar is dependent on the ongoing political situation within the Gulf state, with this year's event having been canceled because of troubles. The fate of the Korean Grand Prix rests on its financial situation, with race promoters having revealed that they want to reduce the sanction fee going forward – something Ecclestone has said he is reluctant to do.
It is understood that if either race is dropped, then Turkey is the favorite to replace it, having lost its place on the calendar. However, Ecclestone said that he hoped that both Bahrain and Korea will remain on the schedule.
"Yes, absolutely," he said. "But let's wait and see."