50-year deal to keep Aussie F1?

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

Half-century ... Ecclestone says he would be happy for the Australian GP to stay in Melbourne for 50 years. Source: Joe Castro / AAP

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wants to keep the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for another 50 years.

In an unprecedented pledge, the British billionaire has offered to sign a contract 10 times longer than usual to keep the race at Albert Park.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

"We hope we're going to be in Melbourne forever, although we do get a bit of criticism and I don't know why," he said.

"We're happy with Melbourne and I'd be happy to sign a 50-year contract."

The Grand Prix Corporation said Mr Ecclestone's wish to have the race at Albert Park for another 50 years was a "wonderful sentiment" but it didn't mean Melbourne could take it for granted.

"There is always a risk from the other states and this is why Melbourne can never be complacent when it comes to major events and doing things that is going to keep Melbourne in the tourist branding and business eye of the world," the corporation's CEO Andrew Westacott told 3AW this morning.

With the Australian Grand Prix contract to expire in 2015, Mr Ecclestone said he intended to travel to Melbourne for the first time in eight years to kick-start negotiations before next month's race.

But, in an apparent snub of the State Government, he said he would talk only to Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker.

"The only person I deal with is Ron Walker," he said.

In an exclusive interview, Mr Ecclestone also revealed other states had contacted him trying to snatch the race from Victoria when the current contract expired.

But he said he was determined to keep the event in Melbourne.

"We get proposals from other parts, but we're happy in Melbourne," he said.

"Everybody loves Australia and loves Australian people, and it's good to be there ... and Melbourne, in itself, is a nice place."

The terms and conditions that would be attached to such an extraordinary long-term deal are not known and Mr Ecclestone did not say whether he would be willing to take a pay cut to make it happen.

Last year's Melbourne Grand Prix cost $56.7 million, the highest since former premier Jeff Kennett brought it to Victoria in 1996.

The Herald Sun last month revealed a secret licence fee that Victoria paid to host the race cost taxpayers more than $30 million a year.

Mr Ecclestone said the fee was "purely what the race cost", including six jumbo jets full of freight transportation, and was "the same as anywhere else in the world".

He said he was willing to sign a long-term deal for Melbourne rather than the standard five-year contract because of its broad appeal worldwide.

"Melbourne probably doesn't need being put on the map, but that's what Formula 1 does for a city, for sure," he said.