Moscow set to host Grand Prix

Action at this year's Spanish Grand Prix

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Moscow is set to join the Formula 1 circuit after winning the approval of racing boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone is in the Russian capital surveying its ambitious plans to secure a slice of the glamorous multi-million dollar Grand Prix industry.

The vice-president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), told a news conference on Friday: "We have eight venues seeking Formula One rights at the moment, but I believe that this (Moscow) is where the next event should be."

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He added that the Formula One calendar of 17 races would not be extended, meaning that one of the existing venues would have to be dropped to accommodate the city.

While in Moscow, Ecclestone met mayor Yuri Luzhkov, one of the forces behind the city's bid to join the circuit.

The two came to an informal agreement on plans for the construction of a new race track on Nagatino Island in the south of the city.

Ecclestone said he was "very happy with the venue," which he described as a "state-of-the-art facility of which Moscow can be proud."

Construction is estimated to take at least two years, and will, according to plans, be financed privately.

It would be the first new venue since Malaysia in 1999. The only other former communist country to host a Grand Prix is Hungary, which first staged a race in 1986.

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