Magny-Cours is reportedly being lined up as a potential stand-in race in F1 2010 should the organisers of the inaugural Korean Grand Prix scheduled for later in the season prove unable to be ready in time.

There have been repeated rumours about the likelihood or otherwise of the Korean International Circuit being fully-prepared for F1 by 24 October, when the first-ever Korean Grand Prix is due to take place. Whilst F1 commercial rights-holder and Formula One Management (FOM) chief executive Bernie Ecclestone recently visited the Yeongam County venue - 400 kilometres south of the capital, Seoul - and declared everything to be proceeding as planned, not everybody is convinced.

With a general desire not to see the calendar reduced from 19 grands prix to 18 at short notice, French magazine Auto Hebdo claims the notion of replacing the race with one at Magny-Cours - a circuit that staged the French Grand Prix every year between 1991 and 2008 prior to falling out of favour - is being championed by Gilles Depeigneux, an advisor to French Prime Minister Fran?ois Fillon.

The Nevers track, however, has rarely been popular amongst the F1 fraternity for its lack of atmosphere, rural location and consequent difficulty of access - and the necessity to find some EUR20 million to re-instate the French Grand Prix is also understood to have generated considerable political opposition.