It may have a few hills on it and around it. Some of them may be quite scenic. It may, as Michael Schumacher said, have some of the best food on the Formula One calendar. It may even have some tradition, although not a lot on the new emasculated circuit. Yes, I'm talking about the Spielberg A1-Ring, which contrary to popular belief has nothing to do with Steven Spielberg. And in spite of these characteristics, all positive, I think the circuit is at risk.

It may have a few hills on it and around it. Some of them may be quite scenic. It may, as Michael Schumacher said, have some of the best food on the Formula One calendar. It may even have some tradition, although not a lot on the new emasculated circuit. Yes, I'm talking about the Spielberg A1-Ring, which contrary to popular belief has nothing to do with Steven Spielberg. And in spite of these characteristics, all positive, I think the circuit is at risk.

Its death knell was sounded just before the Austrian Grand Prix by Bernie Ecclestone's announcement that a Formula One race will be held at a new track on Moscow's Nagatino Island as soon as it's ready to stage one. The track itself isn't news; AtlasF1 reported on the project last November. A local paper suggested that British entrepreneur and Arrows team owner Tom Walkinshaw will invest one-quarter of the expected $100 million cost of the construction of the facility, which his company will supervise, with the remainder coming from Russian investors. Grigori Antiyufiev, president of the Moscow's tourism committee, said: "This track will allow the staging of international automobile and motorcycling competitions - and in particular Formula One races"

Efforts have been under way for some time to build such a circuit. Walkinshaw's has not been the only such project. Not long ago the city government voted to build a racing circuit at Molzhaneyevsky, close to Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport to the north of the city. This seems to have been sidelined because it was too expensive and needed private investment which was not forthcoming. There were also rival bids from the cities of Tula and Leningrad.

The breakthrough came with the evidence - to judge by last Friday's announcement - that Ecclestone, justifiably wary of Moscow's famous "Russian Mafia", is apparently satisfied that the Formula One circus can safely decamp to Russia's capital. "Lots of planning has gone into it already," said Walkinshaw. Nagatino's location a few kilometres south of the city center and on the river is reminiscent of the track at Montreal, he said. "There's a three-lane dual carriageway on and off the island, underground station, ferry terminal - basically superb road, rail and water access," he added.

Views differ as to whether a race could be held in 2003 or 2004; building a new circuit is no small task. Tom isn't one to wait around, so it's likely to be ready sooner rather than later. "We'll have to see how work progresses through the winter, because of the snow and so forth," he said. "But we should be ready in 2003." I'm sure he'll be taking note of the latest ideas on safety, as developed and promoted by John Fitch. This means that instead of gravel traps the track will have paved runoff areas, which offer a much higher level of retardation, control and thus safety. Silverstone has already said it will go down that road.

Walkinshaw declined to speculate on which current Grand Prix venue will be displaced to make way for Moscow. It's certain that one will have to give way, because Bernie Ecclestone has stressed that the season will continue to consist of 17 races only. "I have no idea who'll lose out. It's not my business," said the Arrows chief. "The most likely candidates seem to be the San Marino, European, Hungarian or Brazilian Grands Prix," speculated the Atlas F1 Daily Grapevine. I understand the logic behind this speculation, in that Italy and Germany have two races apiece. But I feel that it doesn't take into account the commercial realities that underpin Formula One.

This is just the kind of issue that the major carmakers will want to influence. It shows clearly why they have been pressing so hard to have a say in the future of Grand Prix racing. For them, it's important to have races in countries and regions that are of high commercial importance. No European country is more important to the carmakers than Germany; with Germany-backed teams and its drivers flying high I can't see Germany being denied two races. Neither can I see racing-mad Italy being told it can't have its two races - especially with Fiat boss Paolo Cantarella heading up the carmakers' lobbying group and Imola in the heart of Ferrari country. Monza, surely, is safe as well.

The other mooted candidates for the chop are pretty strong in car-marketing terms. Brazil certainly qualifies on that count. Hungary could be more at risk, but the auto makers like the idea of establishing beachheads in growing markets, and Hungary is high among these. Of all the other countries where racing is held, Austria is one of the least significant in terms of auto sales. Austrians can easily attend the Formula One races in Germany, Hungary and Italy. So my guess is that the A1-Ring will have to revert to lesser formulae for its future.

Not that they have done a whole lot to make the present track appealing. It's a pretty tedious 2.688 miles (4.3 km) however you look at it, requiring a dizzying 71 laps for the race instead of the 52 laps of the old circuit on the same site. I'm not saying that this year's race wasn't exciting; there was some passing through the field and the closing laps were tense except for the degrading spectacle of Rubens pulling over to let Schumi by just before the line. This - and Paul Morgan's death - took a lot of pleasure out of the race for me.

What I would like to suggest to the chaps in Moscow is that they hire the TV crew responsible for the coverage from the A1 Ring. They came up with a lot of great camera positions, both in the pits and on the circuit. Their replays were brilliant, with key spots covered by multiple cameras. We had lots of on-car coverage, more than I can recall for a long time. They certainly made sure that Michael and Juan Pablo had plenty of visual evidence to refer to before their little post-race confab. It's important; good race coverage from Moscow will be essential. I don't know about you, but I'm not planning to be there.