Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone says he wants to see the sport debut in Africa and has put pressure on the German Grand Prix after it was cancelled last season. In an interview with Hamburg-based newspaper Handelsblatt Ecclestone says he has had conversations about taking Formula One to Africa and is also toying with holding a second Grand Prix in America with Austin, Texas, hosting the US Grand Prix on Oct. 23. "I would like to see a race in Africa, where we so far have never raced," said the 85-year-old. "The first conversations have already taken place and perhaps one more race in the US, let's see." After a one-year absence, Formula One racing will return to Germany again this summer when Hockenheim hosts a Grand Prix on July 31, but Ecclestone says the Germans have ground to make up. Last year's race at Nurburgring, which is scheduled to host again in 2017, was cancelled due to contractual problems and Ecclestone says Hockenheim, which could not host the 2015 race at short notice, has much to live up to. "We wanted Hockenheim to wake up a little last year," said Ecclestone, who says the circuit has a contract for this year and 2018 which is "not an especially good one". "They are still living 20 years behind the times when I compare it to other events." The new season starts in Australia on March 20 with Ecclestone breaking new ground by holding a Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the first time on June 20. Rosberg fastest In Barcelona, world champion Mercedes sent another signal of its continued dominance to the rest of the Formula One paddock, as Nico Rosberg was fastest on the first day of the second pre-season test Tuesday. The German and defending world champion Lewis Hamilton are sharing driving duties on each of the four days in the Catalan capital this week due to the W07's remarkable reliability. Rosberg registered the second best time of testing so far in 1min 23.022sec as Mercedes finally used the quicker soft tires, after completing nearly 700 laps on the first four days of testing last week on the medium compound. Hamilton remained on the medium tires, though, for his 90 laps after lunch to finish down in sixth fastest. Williams also began to show its speed after an understated first week in Barcelona as Valtteri Bottas was second quickest, although his time of 1min 23.229sec was not exceptional given he was on ultrasoft tires. McLaren-Honda enjoyed a more positive day as it recovered from the reliability problems suffered at the end of last week's test with Fernando Alonso completing 93 laps. The Spanish two-time world champion also recorded the third fastest time, but was 1.7 seconds back on Rosberg's best on the same soft tires to again demonstrate the gulf between the McLaren project and Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen was down in fourth as Ferrari managed just 72 laps. Brazilian Felipe Nasr debuted the Sauber C35, with the Swiss team the last to unveil its new car for the new season. Rookie Rio Haryanto's difficult start at Manor continued as he completed only two laps without registering a time due to an oil leak in the morning. The Indonesian bounced back with 42 laps in the afternoon, but was still well adrift of the rest of the field on time. — Agencies
