Mat Coch writes:

With the British Racing Drivers Club having satisfied Bernie Ecclestone's demands over an upgraded Silverstone, the F1 supremo has now turned his attention to Interlagos.

With the country due to host the World Cup and Olympics in 2016, Ecclestone told Brazilian newspaper O Estada de Sao Paulo that it provided a perfect opportunity to improve facilities at the venue.

"Brazil will organise the next World Cup and the Olympics in 2016," he said. "It makes sense. Long ago I believed in Brazil and took Formula One there in 1972. But the future depends on significant improvements to Interlagos. These events (the World Cup and Olympics) represent a great opportunity to renew the race track as well.

"I can no longer be questioned by the teams about the worst circuit in the championship," he continued, "and will have a serious conversation with the mayor."

Ecclestone has previously described the circuit as a 'tip', though a new deal with the circuit was signed in 2008, ensuring that it remained on the calendar until 2015. At the time it was understood the deal included a development programme which would bring the aging circuit inline with its European counterparts with upgrades to the pit and paddock complex and a new grandstand. A new grandstand had been erected in 2007, together with improvements to the track surface and pit lane exit.

Interlagos first hosted a Grand Prix in 1973, a race won by home town hero Emerson Fittipaldi. Since then the circuit has been reconfigured, the current layout using approximately half of the original design. It became the permanent home of the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1990, taking over from Rio de Janeiro's Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, formerly Jacarepagua.