Ecclestone hoping for 2012 New York Grand Prix

(GETTY IMAGES)

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is bidding to take the sport back to the United States for a 2012 New York Grand Prix, he said today.

"I'm trying for 2012, opposite Manhatten in New Jersey with skyscrapers in the background," Ecclestone said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

"Fifteen minutes from the centre of New York to the circuit. (It would be) a wonder."

Nine circuits have hosted races in the U.S. including makeshift tracks such as the one laid out in 1981 and 1982 in the car park of Caesar's Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

The last grand prix in the country was at Indianapolis in 2007.

Ecclestone also said he could see Flavio Briatore returning to Formula One, despite the former Renault boss ruling out a comeback when his life ban over allegations he helped to fix the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix was overturned.

"I think he could take up a role in the promotion of Formula One," said Ecclestone.

He added that FIA (International Automobile Federation) president Jean Todt governed in a more choral way than his "dictatorial" predecessor Max Mosley but said he hoped the Frenchman would not try to introduce too many changes.