Australia 'assured' opening slot for 2007

That is the view of Melbourne race boss Ron Walker, who is adamant that Australia's move down the calendar to accommodate the city's hosting of the Commonwealth Games this year is a one-off.

"Mr. Ecclestone and I had an agreement to move the race for the first time in more than a decade to number three, and I am assured it will go back to number one next year," he told autosport.com.

Ecclestone fuelled speculation that Australia may not get its opening slot back on Wednesday when he suggested that the European television figures for the Bahrain Grand Prix were much better than the sport ever got from the Australian Grand Prix.

He said: "We got very, very good television ratings (for the Bahrain GP), whereas from Australia, we get lousy (early morning) television ratings in Europe."

Walker believes, however, that Ecclestone may have been trying to be deliberately mischievous in his comments in a bid to improve his bargaining position when it comes to negotiating who gets the opening place on the schedule.

"Well, I saw that (the quotes), and Mr. Ecclestone loves to stir me up. From 20,000km away he gets his feather out and stirs me up. Eventually it is up to the FIA I suppose, but Bernie is my closest friend in life and I have such fun being with him because he inspires me."