Magny-Cours wants GP back

However, he also stressed that any negotiations must revolve around a 'reasonable price'.

France hosted the very first grand prix motor race all the way back in 1906 but has been absent from the top flight schedule since 2008.

Since then, Bernie Ecclestone's plans to see a circuit built either through the streets of Paris or in Disneyland have come to nothing.

Magny-Cours hosted races from 1991 to 2008 but its rural location and financial considerations saw it scrapped.

However, Saulnier is confident that it could return.

"If France is re-instated on the calendar in the near future, it could only be at Magny Cours," the ex-Peugeot Sport chief told French magazine Auto Hebdo.

"The key to F1's return to France is the promotion - it is necessary to re-negotiate the price to a reasonable level.

"We know that the state or the local authorities are not going to put in five or six million Euros for the loss. If there is a chance of having the grand prix back, the negotiation - as it was for the Canadian Grand Prix - must be done on a reasonable basis. We are going to work on it discreetly, and without haste.”

Magny-Cours has also been mooted as a potential stand-in venue should the inaugural Korean Grand Prix, due to take place later this season in October, prove unable to go ahead