Mat Coch writes:

Pedro de la Rosa has added his voice to concerns over the late start time for the Australian Grand Prix. Overcast conditions saw light fade at 18:00 local time on Saturday, an hour before the scheduled race finish, while cloudy skies and the threat of rain has raised concerns today's race could be stopped early.

"We are not comfortable with the fact that if it's wet there will be less light," said de la Rosa. "If it's a wet race, yes [we are concerned]. If it's a dry race, [it] should be fine."

The Spaniard's comments come on the back of concerns raised by newly appointed GPDA chairman Nick Heidfeld, who told Pitpass on Saturday that he believed the late start time was potentially dangerous. "I think, and I guess most of the other drivers have expressed similar feelings, that they don't like having to start at this time," he said.

Fellow drivers agree. "It's better a little bit earlier, definitely for the visibility," said Ferrari's Felipe Massa, though the Brazilian was more matter of fact on the prospect of rain, claiming it is simply part of the job.

Sebastian Buemi too passed comment, saying: "It could be maybe nice for the spectators and the show!

"We had the opposite problem last year because it was really sunny and we had a lot of shadows," he added. "I think we cannot change anything so we will do our best and see what happens."

Though less concerned than the drivers themselves, Jackie Stewart voiced his opinion. "If it had been a beautiful clear sky day I don't think there is an issue," said the Scot. "If it rains, and if it really darkens up then I think it's possible that there will be an issue. It's borderline."

Aware of the global television audience Stewart understands the need to schedule races at different times to meet the demands of the international TV audience. "The sport is a global sport and we've got to consider the facts," he said.

Having campaigned for safety improvements since his racing days, Stewart accepts that sometimes new ideas need to be tried before any issues can be identified and addressed. "This will give us a good idea if the light is an issue, in which case we have to address it. Unfortunately sometimes these things have to happen before any changes are made.

"Some of the race tracks are putting lights in, Abu Dhabi's got lights in and of course Singapore has. It's a very expensive thing for what I would call a temporary track like Albert Park, and it may not be practical to do that."

As for the Australian race however, Stewart is confident the light will hold out, saying "sunset is 19:20. Even if it were a wet race it would be finished by 19:00 because there's a two-hour limit. So I think we're going to be fine."

For the drivers, de la Rosa admitted that the GPDA has discussed the point, though their combined opinion mirrored Stewart's. "We have discussed it but we just decided to race here and see how it is and if it's fine repeat it, if it's not fine then act accordingly."