Brazil GP axe ’quite possible’ - Massa

Felipe Massa has warned that Bernie Ecclestone may be serious in his threat to axe the Brazilian grand prix.

Given that Interlagos has a contract until 2020, some Brazilian reporters had played down the F1 supremo’s warning that November’s race could be the last.

"We know how Bernie works with his negotiations," Williams driver Massa told Brazil’s UOL in Baku.

"He likes to put pressure on, as we have seen with Monza and what has happened with some other places. When something is not going the way he wants, he says what he says.

"On the other hand, we know what the situation is," Brazilian Massa added. "What is happening in Brazil at the moment is very difficult.

"So it’s not impossible that F1 in Brazil will be over. It is quite possible.

"We live in a situation where everything is reaching the limits in many ways," he said.

UOL said the Interlaogs promoters had issued a statement saying that renovation plans were on track and there is no legal reason the contract should be broken.

Ecclestone, meanwhile, was up to his old tricks with reporters on Thursday, saying the 2017 calendar could be anywhere from 18 to 22 races long.

"They (Monza) are still looking," he said. "Brazil has got a few problems — they haven’t got a proper president at the moment so they can’t worry about small technical things like getting paid."