Magny Cours’ new boss is positioning the French circuit for a possible return to the formula one calendar.

The venue, and the country, fell out of the sport after the 2008 season, and attempts to revive the French grand prix at an alternate site have failed so far.

One of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone’s criticisms of Magny Cours, located in rural central France, was the difficulty of the journey from Paris.

But according to Auto Hebdo, improvements mean travellers will soon be “able to come from Paris without interruption to the door of the circuit”, circuit chairman Serge Saulnier is quoted as saying.

Saulnier became chairman earlier this year, after running and owning racing teams from the 80s until 2006 and then working as boss of Peugeot Sport.

“If France is reinstated on the calendar in the near future, it could only be at Magny Cours,” he said.

“The key to F1′s return to France is the promotion.  It is necessary to renegotiate the price to a reasonable level,” added Saulnier.

“We know that the state or the local authorities are not going to put in five or six million euros for the loss,” he continued.

“If there is a chance of having the grand prix back, the negotiation – as it was for the grand prix of Canada – must be done to be on a reasonable basis.

“We are going to work on it discreetly, and without haste,” he announced.

(GMM)

Jun.9 (GMM)  F1 drivers could be penalised by the FIA if they behave badly on the roads, Jean Todt has suggested.

Lewis Hamilton was arrested after caught ‘hoon’ driving in Melbourne earlier this year and later charged and summoned to court.

But when asked about the incident in Turkey two weeks ago, the McLaren driver said the local authorities were “loving the publicity”.

Victorian traffic commissioner Ken Lay was unimpressed with Hamilton’s “flippant” reaction.  “The bottom line is people die on our roads because of hoon behaviour and he has set a really bad example,” he said.

Also apparently unimpressed is FIA president Todt, who was rumoured to be considering commissioning a protocols list informing drivers about respecting the unique rules and practices of each GP host nation they visit.

It has additionally been rumoured that drivers could face FIA penalties if convicted of committing traffic offenses.

“I have actually asked this question,” Todt admitted to the French newspaper Le Parisien.

“There is an incompatibility between the status of a role model champion, and a possible infringement on the road.  We are therefore trying to see whether to do something, and how.”