With Bernie Ecclestone pushing hard for a night race - in order to have the best of both worlds, governments and TV broadcasters willing to meet his financial demands - a number of issues have been raised, mainly relating to safety.

Although some drivers - usually those with the more corporate minded teams - have been keen to jump on the pro-night race bandwagon, others are urging caution, calling for serious research before any decisions are made and contracts signed.

Speaking in London, at the announcement of a new initiative regarding road safety, FIA President has said that he is willing to sanction a night race, providing the appropriate safety requirements are met.

"We wouldn't sanction night racing for Formula One without a very careful investigation," he told Reuters. "There are all sorts of factors there, some of which have been highlighted and some of which haven't yet, and we want to look at that very carefully before we sanction it.

"So far there hasn't been an application," he admitted, "but if there is a serious attempt to run a night race then we will have a very careful look at it. We have a safety commission which looks specifically at these problems and they will probably come up with a number of recommendations and research to undertake before saying okay, because it would be a big step and we wouldn't want to make a mistake.

"One mustn't underestimate the logistics, the degree of lighting that will be necessary for really good television coverage, the cost, the complications and all the things that go with it," he added.

There has been widespread speculation that Singapore will host the first F1 night race, however, a deal has yet to be done.