San Marino GP Friday practise

Nissan president Carlos Ghosn has ruled out an early return to Formula 1 for the number two Japanese automaker. Guest of honour at an auto conference organized by Nikkei Business on the eve of the Tokyo Motor Show yesterday, Ghosn ruled out any return to racing in the near future.

In reply to a question about rival Toyota's imminent entry into the top level of motor racing next season, the outfit due to line up on the Albert Park grid with Mika Salo and Allan McNish in March next year and where Honda has already made its return, he explained that while F1 helps with building the image, it was not Nissan's number one priority.

"Are we going to go for racing? Not in the short term," he said. "Obviously, Formula One helps building an image. I don't think that Formula One would be the basic ingredient to regain market presence. There are more basic things that we have to do first, if we go to such kind of investment. We are still at the beginning of this phase, so you cannot expect us to comeback to racing for another two to three years."