Russian Grand Prix officials have met with Bernie Ecclestone over a proposal to move the 2017 event to a night race.
Vice-governor of the Krasnodar region, from which the circuit is located, Alexander Saurin spoke with Ecclestone in Belgium alongside Russian GP chief executive Sergey Vorobyev at the weekend.
Discussions also included extending the current Grand Prix deal with Sochi, which is due to expire in 2020, by an extra five-years.
Saurin admitted the idea of a night race and contract extension was being discussed but changes to the start time would not take place until 2017.
“Bearing in mind the significantly growing popularity of Formula 1 in Russia, we are considering an extension of the contract,” Saurin, who used Vorobyev as an interpreter, said.
“We are also assessing the idea [of a night race] from a commercial perspective and calculating the cost of that.
“But we are working towards having a night race some time in the future. Not earlier than 2017.”
