GreenBkk Formula 1 | Olympic committee has power to postpone Russian GP

Olympic committee has power to postpone Russian GP

The site of the 2014 Winter Olympics and the inaugural F1 race © Getty Images

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the power to delay the inaugural Russian Grand Prix for a year if it threatens to interrupt plans for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The resort city of Sochi is hoping to host both the Olympics and Russia's inaugural Formula One race in the same year and on the same site. The Hermann Tilke-designed track will be integrated into the Olympic village on a mixture of public road and permanent track.

IOC executive director Gilbert Felli confirmed that if construction of the F1 facilities puts the games at risk, the grand prix will be pushed back to 2015.

"It's something we are really looking carefully at," he is quoted by the Associated Press . "It is good to have an F1 race in Russia and Sochi in particular, but we won't want to have the facility built for the GP to put the construction or preparation of the games at risk."

He added: "If the IOC decides it is not feasible, we could stop and postpone it until 2015. The IOC will make that decision."

However, Felli is confident preparations for the Olympics are on schedule with 70% of construction expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Credit: ESPN F1 (espn.com)