FIA official Charlie Whiting has inspected the reconstructed A1-Ring and approved it for events up to formula one standard.

That is the news of the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, reporting that the former venue of the Austrian grand prix has been renamed ‘Red Bull Ring’.

The track in Zeltweg was demolished after its final F1 race in 2003 and was recently rebuilt by Dietrich Mateschitz’s energy drinks company.

It is set to be reopened in mid 2011 and is slated to host a range of motor racing categories including DTM, F3 and Formula 2.

“Red Bull’s world championships are the best advertisement for the race track in Spielberg,” said the Kleine Zeitung report.

A major hurdle for the Red Bull Ring, however, is the circuit’s noise quota, with an F1 race meaning few other events could be held to make the venue profitable.

An Austrian politician is hoping Red Bull Racing will relocate its formula one team to Austria in the coming years.

Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has this year been bankrolling the restoration of the A1-Ring circuit, which was demolished after formula one last visited in 2003.

Styrian economic councillor Christian Buchmann told laola1.at that the track will be ready to host races in April or May of next year.

Earlier, it was rumoured that the track had been earmarked as a potential reserve venue for F1.

“From a technical and safety viewpoint, it’s formula one-compatible,” said Dr Buchmann. “But to talk about an F1 race in Spielberg now would be premature.”

In truth, the restored A1-Ring has not been designed for grands prix, given its spectator capacity of just 25,000.

Buchmann said: “Personally, I have a dream that Mr Mateschitz will move one of his race teams to Spielberg.

“It would be great to see Red Bull not only with an Austrian license, but also with an Austrian base.”

Ferrari escaped penalty in Wednesday’s team orders disciplinary hearing because there was not enough proof, FIA president Jean Todt has confirmed.

Former Ferrari boss Todt, whose team order at the A1-Ring in 2002 famously triggered the imposition of the ban, admitted he suspects a similar order was in effect when Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso swapped places at Hockenheim.

“I tend to agree as well,” said the Frenchman when told that many people believe July’s events constituted a rules breach.

“Before you say you are guilty, you need to be able to prove that you are guilty,” said Todt in a video interview with the BBC.

He said the Maranello based team “denied” Massa had slowed down to let Alonso past as the result of a team order.

But, away from the FIA’s headquarters at Place de la Concorde, Ferrari would clearly like to see the team orders rule repealed.

The governing body has vowed to reconsider the regulation, and team boss Stefano Domenicali agreed: “This is an important step towards transparency.”