Jean Alesi has welcomed news his native France looks set to rejoin the formula one calendar.
It is expected that, three years after Magny Cours dropped off the schedule, France will return in 2013 with a single annual date to be alternated between Paul Ricard and Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps.
"The drivers love Spa and I think it is very important to always go there because of the spectacle, the history and everything else," Frenchman Alesi, who contested more than 200 grands prix until 2011, said.
"But the problem is the money," the 1995 Canadian grand prix winner and Group Lotus ambassador is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo.
"Spa doesn’t have enough (money) to compete with places like Abu Dhabi. So it would be a shame to lose Spa but I say it’s better to go every other year than not at all."
"The compromise would be beneficial for everyone. As I am French, I would love to see the French grand prix coming back," added Alesi, "and with the sharing (scheme), we can have both (France and Spa)."