Oct.1 (GMM) David Coulthard was present at a ceremony on Wednesday as work on a formula one-standard circuit near Moscow began.

The veteran of nearly 250 grands prix planted an oak tree at the Moscow Raceway site in Volokolamsk, some 80 kilometres west of the Russian capital.

Construction of the 3.9 kilometre layout, at a cost of $215m, is being overseen by Hans Geist, formerly of F1 projects in Austria and Bahrain, with Hermann Tilke in charge of design.