SOCHI, April 29. /TASS/. Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone told TASS on Friday he supports the idea of holding Russia’s F1 Grand Prix in the resort city of Sochi during nighttime.
In an interview with TASS Ecclestone said it was up to organizers of the race to decide on the nighttime format of the race saying "if they want the night race we would be happy to have a night race. It is up to them."
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"Me, I would like to have a night race," the 85-year-old F1 chief said. "I think it will be good… so we will see."
A proposal to switch the Russian F1 Grand Prix in Sochi from traditional daytime to nighttime was first voiced in 2014 by Sergey Vorobyov, the head of the Russian F1 racing promotion company Sochi AutoDrom.
He suggested that in the future years the Sochi GP would turn into a night race, similar to Singapore and Abu-Dhabi GPs. Similar idea was expressed by Ecclestone, when he first visited Sochi for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2014, and said the city’s infrastructure and sports facilities built for the Games looked great lit up in the night time.
This year Russia is holding its FIA Formula One racing Grand Prix for the first time in spring, namely on April 29-May 1, as compared to the two previous races held in autumn of 2014 and 2015 in Sochi.