As news of the possible cancellation, or shift, of the 2014 Indian Grand Prix spread, there was disappointment in Indian motorsport circles. This was triggered by Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s statement to a section of media during the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend that next year’s race at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida was in doubt.

“Is India going to happen next year? Probably not,” Eclestone said at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Asked what the problem was with the race, the 82-year-old British billionaire replied: “Very political.”

However, there could be several reasons for this. Countries such as Russia and Austria want to host a race. Even New Jersey is keen on it. This year’s calendar has 19 races. Two more races to the already-crowded F1 calendar is much to the dislike of teams, who do not want more than 20 races. The 2014 South Korean race could also be in jeopardy.

The most plausible explanation of this is that the Indian GP could be hosted in March 2015 as against the usual October time. “Having a race in October 2014 and then in, say, March 2015 is not feasible. It is too close,” said Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India president Vicky Chandhok, who is father of Indian F1 driver Karun. “Taxation and customs issues have been sorted out,” he added.

At last year’s race at the BIC, Ecclestone had told dna that people need to understand the taxation system in India and not get excited unnecessarily.

Not very long ago, there were reports of hosting cost being an issue. However, Chandhok dismissed suggestions that it has anything to do with cost. “If there was an issue with money, this year’s race could have also been in jeopardy,” he said.

Jaypee Sports International (JPSI), promoters of the Indian GP, told dna that they would not like to comment on the issue at the moment. They preferred to wait till the 2014 calendar is out (usually in September). But it is learnt that they are in talks with Ecclestone and Co.

The contract JPSI signed was to host races from 2011 to 2015. If the 2014 race is not held, BIC could, in all probability, host one in 2016 for missing a race. In effect, the 2014 race will just be pushed to early 2015 and it does not mean JPSI will lose one race since both parties are bound by contract.

The 2011 and 2012 races at the BIC saw good crowds on all three days of the race weekend. Both the races were won by Red Bull’s world champion Sebastian Vettel. The facilities and the speed at which the track was completed drew accolades from officials and teams. In fact, the BIC is one of the fastest of tracks in the F1 calendar.

Viewership of F1 is very high, perhaps second after football, in the world. Hosting an F1 race is seen as something to be proud of. However, the Indian government was initially not too welcoming of this event.

This is in stark contrast to Malaysia, where the government played a big part in getting the event to the country. More and more countries are realising that hosting a F1 race is a prestigious thing and are prepared to hand out sops when it comes to things like taxation.

“It would be a pity if for these (tax) reasons we don’t go there,” Sauber’s Indian-born principal Monisha Kaltenborn told Reuters.

“India is an important market for partners who are already in Formula One or who could get into Formula One because of that market so it really would be a pity if we would not manage to sort out these problems.”—With agency inputs