Next year's British Grand Prix will go-ahead on July 11th but its French counterpart was given the task of raising £20million by the end of this month to save its place on the calendar.
The change of date from a week earlier was confirmed by the World Council of the
The council has given the French Grand Prix a provisional date of July 4th but have set two conditions which have to be met by December 31st for the event at Magny-Cours to take place.
FIA must receive confirmation that a contract is in place between Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management and the FFSA, French motorsport's governing body, while all 10 F1 teams must agree that the race can be reinstated on the calendar.
That leaves the organisers needing to raise around £15m to compensate teams for including an 18th race - contrary to the maximum of 17 stipulated in the Concorde Agreement, the secret agreement that governs the
The race, the oldest grand prix in history, was originally put in doubt when it was revealed that race organisers owed money to FOM. It would appear there is little chance of the race taking place given the amount of money needed and with little sign of a major commercial backer stepping in so far.
But the change of date will delight organisers of the British round of the championship who were desperate to avoid a clash with the men's singles final at Wimbledon and the Euro 2004 climax in Lisbon.
sport 's governing body, the FIA, in Monaco today. sport - and pay the £6m it owes to Ecclestone.