F1 will struggle in the US - Ecclestone

F1 last raced in the USA in 2007 © Sutton Images

Bernie Ecclestone does not see F1 taking off in the USA over the next ten years despite the addition of two grands prix on American soil by 2013.

Despite some concerns over funding, Austin is set to host the return of the US Grand Prix next year for the first time since the race fell off the calendar in 2007. In 2013 New Jersey will also host F1, but Ecclestone is wary that two grands prix might not be enough to crack the US market.

"We've got maximum two races in America, and when you consider the country is as big as Europe and we've got several races in Europe, it's difficult," he told Al Jazeera. "If we had a lot more races there and a lot more television, it would be okay. We've been there, years ago, and it's a little bit like the rest of America, they want to see a profit before they start something and it's not easy to do that."

But Ecclestone is not just focusing on the US, revealing that South Africa is close to an F1 return for the first time since 1993.

"We're going to be in Russia in 2014, South Africa, probably in 2013 even," he added, before warning that spaces on the calendar are now limited.

"We have enough countries waiting but I think we have to stop now," he said. "It's difficult for the people who work in Formula One with all the travelling. They never see their families, that's the big problem."

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