Russia needs to build more racing tracks, particularly for karting, to develop the domestic popularity of Formula 1, the manager of a Russian F1 pilot said on Wednesday.
Vitaly Petrov is the first and currently the only Russian in Formula One. Recent media reports say, however, that some F1 teams are interested in another Russian racer - 23-year-old Mikhail Aleshin.
"The issue is that whether the country, which does not yet understand the culture of Formula One, needs many [F1] pilots," said Oksana Kosachenko, a manager for Petrov.
"It is possible to develop two or three high-level racers, but it would be more correct to begin developing racing culture on the whole, building karting tracks, and investing in youngsters who might end up in a F1 car cockpit in the future," she said.
Earlier in the month, Russia signed a multimillion dollar agreement with F1 to stage a Grand Prix near the Black Sea resort city of Sochi between 2014 and 2020.
Russia has never staged an F1 race and previous bids to bring the sport to the country had fallen through.
MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti)
