Alonso sceptical about night races

Singapore is being touted as a possible venue for such a race while Australian Grand Prix organisers have said they will look into the possibility should Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone push the idea.

Ecclestone is keen to boost television audiences in the sport's European heartland, where fans currently have to get up in the small hours to watch races such as Sunday's Australian season opener.

But Alonso was not convinced that the conditions would be good enough or safe enough for drivers used to hitting top speeds in excess of 300 km/h.

"I did a demonstration in Valencia when we launched the car in January and it was at night," the McLaren driver told a news conference at the Albert Park Circuit. "And it was extremely difficult to see anything, to see the road.

"For me, it's very hard to believe that they will have strong enough lights to see perfectly okay to have a race.

"But sometimes, you know, Formula One surprises you," added the Spaniard, who will be making his McLaren race debut on the Melbourne street circuit after winning the last two championships with Renault.

"I think from a drivers' point of view it will be very difficult to say anything about this until we are driving."

Austrian Alexander Wurz, returning to racing with Williams after years as a test driver, and Super Aguri's Briton Anthony Davidson disagreed with the 25-year-old.

"I think DTM (the German touring car championship) did it and had a great success and I think if these guys can do it we should be able to see enough as well," Wurz said at the same news conference.

Davidson added: "If they can get it right it would be good. It works in America and in DTM they got it right, so surely we have the technology in Formula One to make it work."