Singapore guarded about future of F1 race

As Singapore woke up to scorched rubber-streaked streets on Monday after another successful Formula One grand prix, the city-state’s government was guarded about the lifespan of the event.

Singapore: As Singapore woke up to scorched rubber-streaked streets and banks of deserted seating on Monday after another successful Formula One grand prix, the city-state’s government was guarded about the lifespan of the event.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone makes no secret of his love for the sport’s only night race and on Sunday said its staging was what made him most proud. Ecclestone has said he would like the Singapore race to be staged for the next 20 years at least, but the Singaporean government was less breathless when quizzed of its future. The five-year deal to host the race runs until 2012 and the government said a thorough cost and benefit study would need to be conducted before any decision was made about an extension. “We’ve gone through three quite different years in our experience with F1,” Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S.Iswaran told local media. “They give us a good set of data points from which to assess the F1 from. “We want to make sure the economic benefits are justifiable going forward. I would say the decision to proceed will rest on a robust cost-benefit analysis, and clearly the terms on any deal we get going forward.” The race is likely to get the thumbs up from the hotel industry with hotels reporting 90 percent occupancy for F1 week, Singapore daily the Straits Times reported. Bureau Report