SYDNEY, Feb 3, 2008 (AFP) - Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone says Melbourne´s contract to keep the financially-embattled Australian Grand Prix has little chance of being renewed beyond 2010, reports said Sunday.

Ecclestone said there were better prospects of chasing more money, sponsorship and television audiences if the event was held in India, Russia or South Korea.

The Australian GP has been held on the streets of Melbourne and Adelaide for the last 23 years, but financial pressure and a desire to stage the race at night for European television audiences has clouded its future in Australia.

"Maybe we don´t want to be in Australia," Ecclestone told Sydney newspaper The Sunday Telegraph. "Our costs are very high in Australia and we get a lot less money. It´s bloody bad for us.

Ecclestone said car manufacturers and sponsors also supported a move. He said Melbourne´s only chance to keep the race -- which launches the F1 season on the Albert Park circuit from March 13-16 -- was if it was held at night.

Singapore will stage the first-ever Formula One night race on September 28 on a circuit of public roads around the city-state´s Marina Bay area.

Melbourne is contracted to stage the event until 2010, but the Australian GP has encountered significant financial losses since the race was shifted from Adelaide in 1996.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has raised doubts about the event´s future and its value for money.

A report on the auto race, tabled in Victorian state parliament last October, revealed revenue decreased from 47.5 million dollars (43 million USD) in 2006 to 43.4 million dollars (39.2 million USD) last year.

Last year´s Australian Grand Prix ran at a loss of nearly 35 million dollars (31.6 million USD).

Since the event moved from Adelaide, the Melbourne GP has lost more than 120 million dollars (108.5 million USD).

"It comes down to, is it bad for Melbourne to spend the money they spend and is it good for us to be there ...," Ecclestone told the newspaper.

The newspaper reported that the licence fee to renew beyond 2010 will be more than 40 million dollars (36 million USD).

If Melbourne was to retain the race, Ecclestone said terms would be non-negotiable.

"... we would have to have a night race," he said. "That would be the only option."

Ecclestone said he had not discussed the race´s future with Australian Grand Prix chairman Ron Walker.

He said his mind would be made up by money, television coverage and after hearing input from sponsors.

Walker on Sunday dismissed reports Melbourne will lose the contract.

"When you look at other Grands Prix around the world in China, Dubai and Malaysia they don´t get anything like the attendances we get in Melbourne," he said. "This will just blow over and negotiations will take place in a normal fashion."