F1 is going to sea

Given some of the controversies of the past 12 months it would come as no surprise if accusations were levelled of Formula One sinking to new depths. It still came as a surprise though to hear that the positively Atlantis-sounding Mediterranean Grand Prix will be on the calendar next season. The F1 championship is not going submarine just yet though. Valencia is to undergo a name change from its current guise of the European Grand Prix.

The reason for Valencia’s change of name is caught up in the fallout of a dispute over the German Grand Prix. The race at the Nurburgring needs a different name because the country’s motorsport authority, the ADAC, does not want to pay for the rights to the German Grand Prix name. It will revert to being the European Grand Prix as it was last season, which as you have probably worked out by now means Valencia needs a new name. Step forward former F1 driver Adrian Campos who, by happy coincidence, owns the rights to the name Mediterranean Grand Prix and has donated them free-of-charge to Bernie Ecclestone. Phew, that was political!

[Autosport]