The long-awaited deal to revive the French Grand Prix is "done", Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has announced.
The birthplace of Grand Prix racing has been without a race since Magny-Cours dropped off the schedule for 2009 after losing local backing but reports for months have suggested the country was on the brink of returning to the sport in 2013 with the race being staged at Paul Ricard in a share arrangement with Spa in Belgium.
Ecclestone has previously indicated that alternating the two countries was on the cards owing to what is already a tightly-packed calendar, and the 81-year-old has now confirmed that an arrangement for France's return is agreed and the contract now just needs to be signed.
"The deal is done," Ecclestone is quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.
"We actually agreed on financial terms with the sports minister, David Douillet, in my office last Tuesday.
"We are still discussing a few points about money around the race, 'You give me this, I want that' and so on. But, for me, there is no doubt that we will sort it all out."
Paul Ricard last hosted a grand prix in 1990 prior to Magny-Cours winning the contract for the race and the circuit in southern France has since been taken over by Ecclestone himself and turned into a high-tech test facility, staging some F1 tests in recent times.
The lack of grandstands at Ricard is an issue that would need to be addressed for any race return next season, however.
After several years without a full-time French driver on the F1 grid, the country has witnessed a revival this year with young stars Romain Grosjean, Jean-Eric Vergne and Charles Pic all being handed drives - and last weekend in Bahrain the former became the first Frenchman to stand on the podium for 14 years.
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