Kozak met with Russian carmakers on the sidelines of the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi

SOCHI, September 30. /TASS/. Russia may create its own racecar to participate in Formula 1 within the next ten years, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters on Saturday.

Kozak met with Russian carmakers on the sidelines of the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

"Creating the Russian Formula 1 racecar should become a result of our meeting with carmakers. We were speaking about plans until 2024, but I don’t think that this is possible in this period. I think this can be done within a decade," he said, answering to a TASS reporter’s question.

Kozak said he knew about prominent Russian businessmen, who were fond of motorsport and ready to invest in creating Russia’s Formula 1 team.

"I know that there are motorsport fans in Russia, wealthy businessmen who are ready to invest in creating the Russian Formula 1 team. Let’s hope that such a team will eventually appear. I believe that ideas of creating the team are being voiced because infrastructure has been created here," he said.

Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone earlier said in an interview with TASS that creating a Russian team would be a great step for the country. However, businessman Boris Rotenberg, who is the founder and head of the SMP Racing program to develop motorsport in Russia, said a project of this kind would be unrealistic. "This depends on many factors," he said. "So far, I don’t project this to happen."

In 2005, the Midland group of companies led by Russian-born Canadian billionaire Alex Shnaider, bought the Jordan F1 team, which was renamed into Midland in 2006. The team performed under the Russian flag. Soon, the team was sold to Dutch sports car manufacturer Spyker.

Between 2012 and 2014, Marussia F1 Team raced under the Russian license.