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It's understood heavyweight mayor Michael Bloomberg acted on the back of recent criticism of the Melbourne event, and invited Ecclestone to the US to hear his pitch for a race on Staten Island.
Australian Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker confirmed Mr Ecclestone would be a no-show at the Albert Park spectacle but stopped short of blaming Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle for the situation.
"As a result of what has happened in the last couple of weeks Mayor Bloomberg has been on to Mr Ecclestone,'' Mr Walker said.
"It's not just a fight against New York, it's a fight against everybody. Delhi is opening up, there will be one in Russia, Korea has come on stream... the other Arab states want it, so there will always be a fight.''
Last year's Melbourne race posted its biggest loss in five years, costing taxpayers nearly US$50 million, which prompted Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle to call for the event to be scrapped.
In response, Ecclestone said: "If we have some new races, some others will fall out - we don't need Australia, for instance."
The Victorian state government has asked organisers to cut costs at this year's Grand Prix, which kicks off the season after the Bahrain race was called off due to civil unrest.
The Australian GP is funded by the Victorian state government and has consistently lost money since Melbourne replaced Adelaide as Australia's Formula One venue in 1996.
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