Turkey expects 'tough' fight to retain GP

Mumtaz Tahincioglu, head of TOSFED, reckons the Istanbul Park venue will face tough opposition from a host of new countries hoping to join the F1 roster.

"It won't be easy to come to an agreement," Tahincioglu was quoted as saying by the Today's Zaman newspaper. "There's tough competition, like when we started.

"Notification is given as a reminder that the contract will finish on January 12, 2012. The contract only provides for races through the 2011 season. It means if we want to continue we have to come to an agreement with Mr. Ecclestone before then, and of course he has serious candidates, some of whom have committed to expensive construction."

Tahincioglu has expressed some frustration about the way Turkey has not embraced F1 as much as he had hoped and suggests that one option for the future could be for the country to host a grand prix on alternate years.

"I worked hard to bring F1 here and am very happy to have done so, but it's not been much appreciated," he said. "Even our prime minister would want to keep F1 here; it's one of the best tools for promoting Turkey and Istanbul. I would have preferred better circumstances, but most people are after their own self-interest rather than the interest of the country."

He added: "We could end up having alternate years, as I recommended for the World Rally [Championship], which everybody initially objected to but which in the end they adopted."