Melbourne: Just days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the focus is off the track as race organisers and Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone engage in some very public negotiations over the future of the event.
In answer to sustained and pointed pressure from Ecclestone that the Melbourne race shift to a night time start to accommodate European television, Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker offered a compromise by announcing on Monday that the 2009 race would start in the late afternoon.
Sunday's race start has already been pushed back 90 minutes to 3:30 pm local time to offer a better viewing time for Asian fans, but Ecclestone made it very clear that the move was nowhere near enough to guarantee the future of the race in Australia after its F1 contact expires in 2010.
"The only way the race could stay in Melbourne, or anywhere else in Australia, is if it is staged during the night so that the public in Europe can watch it," Ecclestone told London's Mail newspaper on Sunday.
"The alternative is to pull the race completely from Australia."
Formula One newcomer Singapore will stage the first night Grand Prix this season in September, but Australian organisers maintain that night time racing at the temporary track at Albert Park is not viable.
The Australian GP has been part of the F1 circuit for 23 years, 12 at Albert Park on the edge of downtown Melbourne.
Since the Australian event moved from Adelaide in 1995, Melbourne has held the F1 season-opener every year except 2006, when the race would have clashed with the city's hosting of the Commonwealth Games.
Walker said he was confident the proposed 5:00 pm start time for the 2009 race will appease Ecclestone and international viewers.
"That will mean a 7:00 am start time for the television coverage in Europe, finishing at about 8:40 am and an afternoon start and finish across the Asian continent where there are potentially hundreds of millions of viewers," Walker told a news conference at Albert Park while workmen put the finishing touches to the track.
"All this can be achieved without any additional infrastructure costs."
While the pre-race buildup for teams and drivers has attracted less attention, there is no doubt they'll dominate once practice begins on Friday on the 5.3-kilometer (3.1-mile) circuit for Sunday's race.
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Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen, who returned the drivers title to Ferrari last year after the retirement of Michael Schumacher, will start 2008 much the way he finished it - dueling with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and two-time world champ Fernando Alonso, who has returned to Renault.
Raikkonen can expect some of his stiffest competition to come from Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa of Brazil after the pair matched each other throughout winter testing.
"I believe that we're going to Melbourne with a competitive car," the Finn said. "I definitely want to win also this year, because it's always better to lead instead of having to catch up."
Hamilton, who finished second in the drivers' standings in his rookie season last year, has also recorded competitive times in his new McLaren, along with new Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen, who traded places with Alonso after a turbulent season for the British team.
"Obviously the targets for the team and for myself are to win as many races as possible, improve on my performance from last year, finish all the races and for the team it is to win the constructors' championship as well," Hamilton said, adding that his high expectations begin in Melbourne.
"We need to go there with total confidence in the car, which I have, and to get off to a really good start," he said.
"So I am going there with the aim of winning the race, and we will all work hard to try and achieve that."
Alonso, in rejoining Renault, returns to the team where he became the youngest champion with back-to-back titles in 2005-06. The Spaniard is joined by a rookie teammate in Nelson Piquet Jr. - son of 1987 champion Nelson Piquet.
"The first race will not be easy, but I am looking forward to it and the beginning of the championship," Alonso said. "Many challenges await the Renault F1 Team, but we have worked hard these last few months and it is now time for the racing to begin."
Four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais makes the jump to F1 with Toro Rosso, alongside 20-year-old German driver Sebastien Vettel.
F1 also welcomes Force India, which replaces Spyker.
The drivers will take to the track for two practice sessions on Friday, ahead of a third practice and qualifying Saturday ahead of Sunday's 58-lap GP.
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