"We have a contract which we will respect - so up until 2015 we are in good shape," Bernie told The Age. "After then, we really don't know. If we were to have a divorce from our friends in Melbourne we would probably be walking away from Australia. Because I can't see how Adelaide could make it happen, or anywhere else, if Melbourne can't. The race itself, from our point of view, is probably the least viable of all the races we have."
"We have other races ready to take the place of Australia - which we don't want to happen," he said.
"But it would be wrong of me to have to report to our board, 'Terribly sorry about this but we have to walk away from wherever to retain Australia'.''
F1 boss said Mark Webber was the only driver who could beat Sebastian Vettel to the title this year.
"I just hope, I really, really, genuinely hope that Mark has a good crack at the title this year because it would be nice to see," Ecclestone said.
"I even think perhaps, in a funny way, Sebastien would be happy as well if he won the title - provided he couldn't," he added with a chuckle.
"I think Mark will be the guy who will threaten him if anybody. The last time I spoke to him about it … he's really motivated now. I think he realises. I said to him, 'Sebastien is quick. You've got to be quicker. Keep your head down and don't make mistakes you could manage to get the job done'."
Red Bull has dominated the championship for the past two years and Ecclestone was adamant for the sport to continue to progress, Ferrari, McLaren and most importantly, Michael Schumacher must perform to bring uncertainty and awe back to the track. "Mercedes have actually been performing quite well so with Schuey, hopefully you'll see him on the podium this year a few times."
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