Vietnamese GP rumours played down

The 52-year-old Austrian is the former managing director of the A1 Ring and Bahrain circuits, and visited Vietnam recently to meet with officials from the country.

It was rumoured that investors were planning to build a race track in the Nha Trang bay area in the country's south - just over 200 miles east of Ho Chi Minh City - but Geist denied that his visit was the first step in attracting Formula 1 to Vietnam.

"My mission is usually to inform interested parties about Formula 1 and what it takes to build a race track to FIA F1 standards and organise a GP," Geist said.

"I would say that of all my informative meetings maybe 10 per cent develop into a serious concept. In Vietnam, my job was purely informational."

He added that the proposed Russian GP venue near Moscow has been delayed by the global economic crisis, but that he still expects the venue to be completed in 2012.

"The track is 50 per cent ready, I would say, we can expect the opening in 2012," he said. "I will assist the Russians until then."

Geist also said he is aware of interest in F1 in Bulgaria, Romania, South Africa, Argentina and another venue in China besides Shanghai, but he admitted he did not know of any plans in the Ukraine.