Formula One looks to the streets of Asia

Formula One has Monaco as its jewel in the crown, but another glamorous street circuit would always be welcome.

There is no shortage of candidates and three of them have attracted attention in the last week as teams began their annual ritual of unveiling new cars and putting on a show for the sponsors.

Would-be promoters from Delhi, Singapore and Valencia have all been whispering in the ear of Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One supremo who makes things happen, about their plans.

The 76-year-old was in Valencia, the Spanish Mediterranean city that hosts the America's Cup yacht race this year, on Monday for the circus and fireworks spectacular that launched McLaren's new car.

Valencia already has a circuit, where double world champion Fernando Alonso tested his new McLaren for the first time on Wednesday, but more recent talk has been about racing in the city streets.

Alonso gave a hint of what that could be like when he and team-mate Lewis Hamilton blasted their cars along the roads around the futuristic Arts and Sciences complex on Monday. Some estimates put the crowd at more than 200,000 strong.

Yet Ecclestone, who has cut this year's calendar to 17 races while talking about as many as 20 in the future, refused to raise hopes.

"We have a race in Spain already," he told reporters. "Valencia's suitability as a grand prix venue has nothing to do with what went on at the McLaren launch. Either the place is good or it isn't. And we still have to see."

No country has two races this year, although Ecclestone would undoubtedly like a second in the United States and many in Formula One long for a return to California and the streets of Long Beach.

With the exception of Japan's Fuji, returning after a break of 30 years, there are no new circuits either but that could change next year.

The Singaporean media have been getting increasingly excited about the prospects of the country hosting a grand prix as early as 2008 on a street layout drawn up by Hermann Tilke, Formula One's leading circuit designer.

Tilke told the Straits Times this week that he had visited Singapore seven months ago to begin work on designing a 4.8km circuit that, like Monaco, passes a roll-call of local landmarks.

He said nothing major needed to be done to get the track ready, beyond some re-surfacing.

Unlike Monaco, the race would be held at night - making it an ideal fit for European TV schedules and adding a glamorous event to a region of prime importance to the manufacturers who now dominate the sport.

But nothing has been decided yet.

"We are on the lookout for investors and event organisers who wish to bring major events, such as the F1 Grand Prix, to Singapore," said a spokesperson for Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry.

"Several parties have expressed an interest in bringing Formula 1 GP to Singapore, although no firm proposal has been received."

Delhi determined

Singapore's prospects in Formula One sounded stronger still last week when the chairman of Malaysia's Sepang circuit, only an hour by plane from Singapore, said on a visit to Britain that there was no guarantee his country would seek to extend the contract beyond 2010 because of the cost.

However, Malaysian newspapers later quoted Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dismissing those doubts.

Malaysia, a major sponsor of the BMW-Sauber team who launched in Valencia on Tuesday, has been given March and October dates in the past and it could be that there is room for both south-east Asian neighbours in a future set to include South Korea also from 2010.

India hopes to have F1 cars roaring past the president's palace and parliament before that.

Flamboyant brewing billionaire Vijay Mallya declared at the Toyota launch, where his Kingfisher Airlines was announced as a prominent new sponsor, that he was hopeful a Delhi street race could become reality in 2009.

"Mr Ecclestone is a great personal friend of mine and has been for many years," said the bejewelled entrepreneur.

"He is very, very keen about bringing Formula One to India.

"He is willing to make every possible concession from his end to see Formula One in India. He has expressed that to me many times.

"I think he will bend over backwards to realise a Formula One race in India because he recognises the growing importance of India," said Mallya.

With support like that, anything is possible in the world of Formula One racing in future.