Formula One may still go east

The city failed last year in a bid to bring the championship to Russia, but Moscow's first deputy mayor Valery Shantsev is still hopeful.

"We're planning to build a top-class circuit, good enough to host Formula One races, in the next couple of years and then hopefully we'll be able to stage the Grand Prix," he said

We haven't broken our dealings with Ecclestone completely Shantsev on his F1 hopes

Bernie Ecclestone, who controls Formula One's commercial rights, has called for Russia to be added to the calendar.

He came to the Moscow to sign a contract with mayor Yuri Luzhkov last year and had expected the city to host a race as early as 2004.

But a deal was scuppered at the last minute when the two sides could not agree on a seven-year television contract, valued at around $250m.

Luzhkov blamed Ecclestone for the failure to reach an agreement.

Russia hit by F1 fever

"He wanted to keep all the rights for the event - ticketing, television, advertising - which would leave us with only engine smoke. That's why the negotiations failed," the mayor said at the time.

"That's what happens when somebody tries to impose unreasonable conditions on us," Shantsev said recently.

"I have to say that we're used to a much more favourable approach. But we haven't broken our dealings with Ecclestone completely and negotiations are still going on from time to time.

"By now he has been able to take his Formula One business to almost every major city in the world and I'm sure sooner or later he will come to us as well."