Tavo Hellmund held a press conference this afternoon to dispel myths and rumors and to actually offer up the truth.

“We don’t have a contract. As a project we have failed to fulfil our financial obligations to Formula 1.”

They breached multiple issues since as late as May. Bernie Ecclestone would send requests on how they could fix things, but the failed to do so.

He is worried, but hopeful that there will still be a grand prix.

Hellmund said the money part is not his role. When a reporter asked who is supposed to pay, he answered, “the partners of COTA.”

What on earth is his role then at this point? He really couldn’t answer this, just that there’s been an offer to buy him out of the situation, his group has tried to buy out the investors. Of course then the bombshell came out: it’s underfunded – not on purpose, however.

Hellmund’s lawyer stepped in when he started saying he had accepted a buyout. His lawyer said they are negotiating about it.

Hellmund said he would be willing to step out of the way to let the project continue. He would not say how much money this buyout would pay him, but it sure as hell would be interesting to know, considering the lack of money.

He said they met with Bobby Epstein and other COTA people with Bernie Ecclestone a couple weeks ago to try to work something out. They couldn’t come to an agreement, which is why Ecclestone made all his comments.

There’s a rumor out there that when the contract made with Hellmund’s Full Throttle Productions was thrown out, one was written for Circuit of the Americas, and the officials refused to sign it. Hellmund said there is a new unsigned contract now….which must be that one.

The race date was changed to November, not because of the hot weather, but because construction was not on track at that point. The race was always supposed to be on the calendar with Montreal.

And yet despite everything going on, he claims that there’s a greater than 50% chance of 2012 happening. Huh. Yet there isn’t money for the sanctioning fee, and he has no idea about the finances. Meanwhile COTA people have not said a word.

Questions get answered and create more questions. What a bizarre situation.

One fact remains: the track is going to be built. Tavo Hellmund holds contracts for a MotoGP race and an Australian V8 Supercars race, both in 2013. Neither of these contracts are affected. If it takes until 2013, 2014 to sort out with Formula 1 and Ecclestone, so be it. But the track will still happen, and it will definitely get a contract, how could you let Tilke design something and not run Formula 1 cars on it?

Well, after the truth’s come out, you can’t really blame him.

Bernie Ecclestone says officials with the Circuit of the Americas have until next weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix to get it together or lose the race for the 2012 season.

Organizers would have to agree to a contract AND pay the race sanctioning fee by that time.

“If they had the money, I’m sure there would be no problem,” Ecclestone said in an interview.

And you can’t disagree with that, sadly. Money talks in F1. And money says we’re going to have to wait for 2013 and get two races.

Bernie looks to the sky, questioning why he even bothers with us.

Oh yes, it just keeps getting better. Bernie Ecclestone has now revealed that Tavo Hellmund, the promotor who secured the contract for the United States Grand Prix, was in breach of the terms. Ecclestone says there is absolutely no guarantee he will get paid the funds required to run the race. The investors and people in charge of the Circuit of the Americas do not have the contract, and Bernie says he gave Hellmund SIX months to fix the situation.

The office of the comptroller of Texas has said the race will get no funds ahead of time. The addition of the race in New Jersey doesn’t help that situation, and the track is apparently not subject to get any money until it actually has an economic impact on the area.

If the people with COTA can get proof of credit, this might appease Bernie. He says if there is just a guarantor that the fees would be paid, this wouldn’t be a problem.

Regarding the possibility of the race being pulled from the calendar at the WMSC meeting on December 7, Ecclestone says “yes, it will be, for sure, 100%.”

My head hurts. This is more ridiculous than a soap opera.

UPDATE: Susan Combs, the comptroller mentioned above, is getting into serious WTF territory now. As stated, she made a statement saying funds wouldn’t be given in advance. Adam Cooper just posted this letter she sent to Bernie Ecclestone back in May 2010. He also spoke to her at that year’s British GP where he asked her about taxpayer criticism. Her response was “the legislation is a done deal.”

And now she’s taking the side of the taxpayers while completely blowing it with what she promised several months ago.

Additionally it looks like EVERYTHING is being removed from the construction site, as you can see from this tweet and picture.

Thanks a lot, Texas politics.

 Photo from Flickr user Nick J. Webb.

Well….it looks like Bernie was half right. (Never admitting to Bernie being fully right, to be honest.)

Construction has been halted indefinitely at the Circuit of the Americas site outside Austin, Texas. Work will not continue until the promoter, Tavo Hellmund, and circuit officials resolve their problems.

Supposedly this won’t affect any events happening in the future.

In an official statement, Red McCombs, one of the investors in the circuit says, “It is in the best interest of all parties to reach a timely resolution. Local businesses, fans and the State of Texas are counting on us.”

It’s been well reported for the past couple months that Hellmund and investors and officials such as McCombs and Bobby Epstein have had quite a divide. Hellmund at one point contacted the state comptroller’s office to find out how a change in management would affect the funds from the state of Texas.

Clearly they do have to work out their problems. More as it comes in.

Obviously there’s no need to really worry about whether or not a race will happen. As it’s been said many times before, it’s not like Austin doesn’t have perfect construction weather, plus a year of time. It’s just obnoxious and annoying to watch a bunch of grown men not be able to work out their problems (and the NBA girls over here could probably tell you even more about that). It’s also very, very irritating to see Bernie not look like a crazy spouting off nonsense when it’s an official statement that has nothing to do with him.

Even if it’s not with the parties at hand, it’ll work itself out. I do not believe there is any cause for alarm over a race happening next season unless funds absolutely stop. But this is not a case of funds, this is a case of being bratty children.

Here’s a link to the full statement thanks to Austin Statesman.

Circuit of the Americas paddock area construction as of November 1.

If you follow Formula 1, you know Bernie Ecclestone likes to talk. He most definitely says things to manipulate or to deceive. While talking at the Indian Grand Prix last week, a race he claimed was actually on the line even with two weeks to go, he tried to say he wasn’t sure about the work going on at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

My personal reaction? A basic “oh.”

While Bernie is yapping away last weekend at India, the Circuit of the Americas Facebook page has been keeping people updated on construction with pictures, as you can see above. Local permits were approved for construction to begin on buildings and grandstands.

Track designer Herman Tilke told Autosport magazine that everything is on schedule, and he hopes the track will be very fast thanks to the natural elevation changes present. Tilke will also be working on the Port Imperial Street Circuit for the New Jersey race, although that involves far less need for design when the streets are pre-existing.

Ecclestone later said were more based on worries regarding the promotional company, and not work on the track. Backtrack all you want, buddy, but I’m pretty sure there’s a reason the phrase is “don’t mess with Texas.”

If the track is still questionable two weeks beforehand like Buddh International Circuit, I’ll buy a Ferrari shirt and wear it on Friday at the inaugural race. That’s how sure I am that they will have no problems completing the work.

For more pictures of the construction, and to keep up to date with future work, head over to the Circuit of the Americas page on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the city of Austin has chosen not to annex the land where the track is located. By annexing this land, the city would be able to collect property taxes on the area. Right now, it’s rather pointless as there is nothing really there, but in the future it could be more likely to happen.

Aerial photo of the Circuit of the Americas, July 22 - via the COTA Facebook page

On Friday, the Austin Statesman reported that work on the Circuit of the Americas had slowed down tremendously, and Tavo Hellmund called up the state comptroller to find out what would happen with a change in management.

Subsequently, this led to plenty of stupid comments from across the pond about how we can’t have F1.

Right.

Today, work resumed. Statesman says it was due to an additional $100 million in funding being received, but the Austin Grand Prix Facebook page says the following: groundwork construction deadlines were met quickly due to the lack of rain, and vertical construction would start in October.

Their Facebook page also mentions that the call to the comptroller probably had to do with making sure the project would be funded under the proper name, as Hellmund started the project under one name, different from the track’s name, and it’s probably just a logistical issue that needed to be sorted out.

So, back to the track. New equipment was brought in today and work on the grandstand will begin shortly. The track needs to be filled in, but they will need to bring in new soil because the kind at the site is somewhat unreliable for paving over.

The race is just over 13 months away, and I highly doubt there will be many more problems, considering the weather probably stays nice enough until next April or May for them to work through the winter.

Don’t just believe anything you read. And don’t you dare believe that Formula 1 isn’t happening in the United States.

In 2 days, we’re racing again!

First, Senna movie news: if you are in New York City, you can purchase advanced tickets online now on Landmark Theatres’ website. Congratulations! My local theatre doesn’t even give off the impression that they’re showing the film so far…

After royally screwing up Felipe Massa’s final pit stop on Sunday, Ferrari says they need to work on their stops. The team says they lost 1.5 seconds to losing the connection between the wheel nut and gun.

You know what’s funny though? This along with several Fernando Alonso errors during the race came after Mr. Alonso said Red Bull will make more errors now that teams suchh as Ferrari are putting pressure on them. Ferrari had perfect pit stops up until that last one, which was a race against Red Bull, putting pressure on Ferrari because of the possibility of losing a position. And look, they lost that position.

(Apologies to those who like Fernando but that has been driving me crazy since Sunday. Don’t trash talk other teams if you cave in too.)

On the bringing back in-season testing front, Pirelli would like to see testing done immediately after a race at the same track.

Finally today, Circuit of the Americas is celebrating the one year anniversary of the announcement of the United States Grand Prix and also the location of the track. Since then, deals for V8 Supercars and MotoGP races have also been announced. As for funding of the track from the state government of Texas, it looks like the money has still not been released.

After last week, I could not bear to spend any of my time listening to all the members of the public talking on the issue. There were hours worth of people signed up to speak. I’m sure I heard it all last week from how awesome of an opportunity this is to how sporting event funds should be used for education. It came down to one thing for me: the vote.

Circuit of the Americas Rendering

And vote they finally did this week, with new council member Kathie Tovo now on board. Considering she ran her campaign as someone against the race, it was obvious to just throw her vote right out the window.

The council voted 5-2 to endorse the race, allowing the organizers access to the Texas Major Events Trust Fund, which will allow them $25 million in subsidies this year. The environmental deal agreed upon yesterday was also approved. Councilwoman Laura Morrison also voted against the measures.

State Comptroller Susan Combs says she is committed to making sure the organizers at the Circuit of the Americas can access the funds by the end of July. This will enable them to be able to pay the FIA sanctioning fee for the race.

Fans in America, we can rest easy now that there are no monetary dangers to the race for the time being. Time to start making those hotel reservations.

Earlier today, the city of Austin, Texas, along with the backers of the Circuit of the Americas signed a huge environmental deal. This hopefully means the city council will be endorsing the track tomorrow. Council member Chris Riley hopes that this tentative agreement will make the track in Austin the greenest racing track in the world.

First and foremost, the US Formula 1 race will be carbon neutral. The organizing committee behind the circuit has agreed to a number of things in order for this to happen, such as investing in renewable energy local carbon offsets, building to Austin’s green standards, and hosting cycling and foot races in addition to alternative energy automobile races. The organizers are also promising to work with local universities and organizations on research and development on a variety of subjects, from green racing to green technology.

Austin news articles and comment boards are still filled with naysayers, who seem to think this is probably not going to happen. For the most part it seems people think the organizers will never actually do these things. May I point to the American Le Mans Series for an amazing example of doing green racing right? Yes, yes I will. When this track is built, I can see them having a race in Austin by 2013.

There seems to be a ridiculous distrust for Bernie Ecclestone, and yes, he is a tool, but he does not own F1 on his own. Let’s ignore the fact that people will be working, big spenders will be coming to visit, and the whole world is watching. People from all over want to come to the city of Austin for this event.

There seems to be misinformation all over the place. The METF, or Major Events Trust Fund, is money specifically set aside by the state government of Texas for large sporting events. I have seen articles claiming that Texas Motor Speedway has never needed these funds: wrong. The organizing group will be paying the $4 million necessary to get $25 million from this fund. Austin taxpayers are not involved. Those who complain that the money should be spent on education have no business whining at a city council meeting over money meant for this sort of thing.

I don’t think it can be said enough: this is HUGE. Just watch this video from Montreal, with SPEED F1 pit reporter, Will Buxton.

The city council meets tomorrow at 10:00am CST.

Make it happen, Austin. I want F1 a couple states away.

If you want more information, The Austin Grand Prix is a ridiculously amazing site with a full explanation of the METF tax chaos.

Austin City Council decided to postpone voting on the issues related to the track until 10am on June 29.

It would figure that a city in the United States would have an issue with using government money in relation to a Formula 1 race before the race even happens. Nevermind the fact that there will be an economic benefit to the city of Austin and the state of Texas from holding a Grand Prix worth more than $25 million dollars.

Kathie Tovo won a runoff election this weekend for her place on the Austin City Council. Today, the council is to vote on whether or not to endorse the track. If endorsed, the project could be eligible for $25 million in state subsidies. She thinks the vote should be delayed until she is in office. Problem is, this is the last meeting of the summer, and funding is desperately needed to get the track finished on time. The subsidies would be used to pay for the sanctioning fee charged by the FIA.

Austin, listen to me, this is NOT just about Formula 1. You are building a HUGE tourism piggy bank. Formula 1 is not the only thing happening here. You will draw PLENTY of other races, I would imagine Indycar, American Le Mans, and several smaller racing series would absolutely love to race at a track associated with Formula 1.

What about the fact that it could draw businesses? The reason a US Grand Prix needs to be brought back has a lot to do with advertising.

Many of the citizens who took the floor to talk in favor of the race knew what they were talking about. Those not in favor of it make some strange arguments, telling the city council that the money should be spent on education. I sat there and scratched my head, wondering how a city council was going to do anything about education funding. In fact, one citizen who spoke at the meeting said that there is no reason to make this relation, and the people of Austin should be so proud that the city was chosen for Formula 1.

As one man said, “It takes money to make money.” Let’s do this, Austin. It would be immensely disappointing to see a huge, half done worksite. The world is watching, and will see this decision. If countries around the world, from India to Brazil, can hold a race, why on earth can’t one of the largest states in the US get this done for the greater good of your economy and  your people?

Don’t talk about how Indianapolis failed. The Indy road course is terrible, and different people were in charge. It was a different time, different place, it does not deserve to be compared to Austin. It is not going to “ruin Austin.” Don’t make this about Bernie, either.

Austin, I trust you. I was in shock when it was announced that you were the city. All this stuff about contracts can be worked out later, that is not what this is about. This is about the current state of the track and what it needs. This is not about what will be done in the future. Please focus, and do the right thing. You have THOUSANDS of people waiting for this.