Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that a Grand Prix in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar is “looking up.”

The plans to host the race were first revealed in Britain’s Independent newspaper last year but it soon came to light that the organisers of the rival Grands Prix in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain have a veto over it.

In December Mr Ecclestone said “I have got a bit of problem which nobody knows about really but I’m sure they soon will. When I went to Bahrain I made a deal and they said ‘since we are going to be something new in this area, which we are, give us a guarantee that you will not put another race on in the Gulf.’ I said ‘yes’. Typical Ecclestone handshake deal with the Crown Prince.

“Then we wanted a race in Abu Dhabi and I explained to them the position I was in and said ‘you had better ask the people in Bahrain. If they are happy, I’m happy.’ So they got together and that’s what happened. Then this other race has been proposed and I put the people together and said ‘can you sort this out between you?’ They haven’t managed to do it.”

However, progress seems to have been made since then as Mr Ecclestone says “It is looking up. Qatar want to do something if they can.”

Qatar today hosted the season-opener of motorcycling’s MotoGP championship at its 3.4-mile Losail circuit. A Grand Prix would build up the sporting legacy in the country which controversially won the right to stage the 2022 World Cup. It would also bring F1’s tally of races in the Middle East to three and there is a premium price for becoming a member of this exclusive club.

Sources suggest that Qatar would have to pay around $70 million annually for a race and could even tip the current record of $80 million paid by rival Abu Dhabi. It would bring Qatar’s total fee to around $700 million as F1 contracts typically run for ten years.

Losail already has a connection to F1 as it has hosted its feeder series GP2. However, Ecclestone isn’t ruling out a street race in Qatar which would differentiate the Grand Prix from the others in the Middle East.