Zonta joins Sao Paulo chorus of disapproval

The Jordan test driver wants the race moved to Rio de Janeiro. He says Sao Paulo, where members of two teams have been attacked at gunpoint this week, is "dirty and dangerous" and the event is disorganised.

In a stinging attack, Zonta said the track would probably not be ready until the day after Sunday's race.

On one notable occasion in the past Grand Prix officials were finishing off the winner's podium as the race was being run and this year they were still laying the car park surface and doing construction work the night before the race.

Zonta said the only positive point was the challenge of the circuit itself - which most drivers enjoy.

The former BAR driver, who was born in Curitiba, directly north of Sao Paulo, says the city does not do the country any favours.

"Sao Paulo is not the best place to hold the race in Brazil," said Zonta, who has only raced twice at the Interlagos track in a Formula 1 car.

"Sao Paulo is not a good representation of Brazil. It is too big, too dirty and too dangerous. I don't like it. I like the track because it is demanding, but that is about it. It challenges you as a driver, but the race, for example, is not organised properly.

"The track will probably not be ready until Monday," he added. "That is obviously too late."

Instead, Zonta would like the sport's governing, the FIA, to switch the race back to Rio de Janeiro, which last hosted a Grand Prix in 1989.

"I wish the race would go back to Rio," he said, "but unfortunately the people in Rio are not that interested in F1. They are more interested in going to the beach."