Ecclestone gives ’green light’ to Finland GP - report

Finland could be the next new stop on the F1 calendar in the near future.

That is the claim of the country’s Ilta Sanomat newspaper, reporting that Bernie Ecclestone is not ruling out the concept of a street race in Helsinki.

The report said the F1 supremo had talks during the Hungarian grand prix weekend recently with the former wife of Robert Lappalainen, who in the mid-90s promoted DTM races in the Finnish capital.

"He (Ecclestone) would welcome the championship to Helsinki, and showed the green light to our plan," Marja-Leena Lappalainen confirmed.

However, Helsinki mayor Jussi Pajunen said: "I have never been to a formula one race, but judging from what I saw on TV, that would be a very ambitious project.

"I think that to organise a race like that in Helsinki is not very realistic."