Prost insists: France needs a grand prix.

France's only ever F1 World Champion Alain Prost has underlined the importance of his country hosting a grand prix - and he argues the key to the race's future there is Paris.

The Circuit de Nevers in Magny-Cours will host its final French Grand Prix this coming weekend, having been a fixture on the F1 calendar since 1991. The track has proven almost universally unpopular, however, amongst drivers, fans and team personnel, due to its bland nature, difficulty of overtaking and rural inaccessibility, isolated as it is miles from any big city or airport.

The sport's supremo Bernie Ecclestone is unwilling to renew the circuit's contract beyond its expiration this year, instead pushing for a race to be held either in, or near to Paris, with Euro Disney mooted as a potential new venue [see separate story - click here]. In any case, Prost contends, a grand prix that has taken place every year since the inception of the F1 World Championship all the way back in 1950 - save for 1955 - cannot afford to slip off the schedule as easily as that.

"It's important for a country like France to have a grand prix," the six-time French Grand Prix winner underlined in an interview with the Associated Press. "It's not just a race, but an event, and it represents a lot for the car industry in general.

"It's not my decision, though. In the end it's the economy that decides - Bernie Ecclestone and the manufacturers - but what we absolutely have to keep is the historic grands prix in Europe. That seems very important to me, because I think it would be a mistake to have none. Formula 1 was built here and there are lots of European constructors, so we must keep this identity.

"France is a historic country in that sense, with its constructors, engineers and drivers. We must keep a grand prix, although whether it be in Magny-Cours or around Paris is another discussion.

"It's true it would be easier around Paris because it represents what Formula 1 wants nowadays in terms of prestige and hotel capacity, but it won't be for 2009 because it is too early. It would only be for 2010, and then what happens in 2009? The questions can only be solved after June."

The 53-year-old clinched the F1 drivers' laurels on no fewer than four occasions - 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1993 - and for a long time held the record for number of points scored with 798.5, until Michael Schumacher subsequently broke it.

He acknowledged the need for the sport to move with the times, and though a Magny-Cours spokesman has refused to confirm whether the circuit will indeed welcome its last French Grand Prix this year - recent reports suggest the local government is so keen to retain the event that nearly $50 million USD has been promised to improve it - Prost suggested the capital would be the better option.

"In my opinion [the event] is not big enough at Magny-Cours," he stressed. "France has organised the Football World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and they wanted to organise the Olympics. It is a country where you can organise this kind of event.

"It is also important for a country to show to the outside world you can keep what in fact was the biggest industry in the country for many years - the automobile industry. It would really be a shame to lose such a thing, but it has to be at the right cost also, and people are working hard on that."

"I am especially sad because we don't know what is happening next," agreed Toyota's senior general chassis manager Pascal Vasselon, who admitted he regularly looked forward to Magny-Cours' 'anti-stress' atmosphere, an antidote to the habitually fast-paced, hectic lifestyle of the top flight. "It wouldn't be so bad if we knew the race was going to Paris or wherever, but at the moment it doesn't seem like there is a clear plan."

Amidst all the uncertainty, meanwhile, another contender has emerged to host the French race, with the legendary La Sarthe circuit at Le Mans seemingly also in the running, according to Dutch website f1today.nl. It is suggested that the venue - scene of the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours - may even have been in private talks with Ecclestone about such a prospect for months.

"As far as we know 2008 is not the last time the French Grand Prix will be at Magny-Cours," circuit spokesperson Ingrid Moreau insisted. "We are currently not in negotiation for a Formula 1 race."