Yu Zhifei, a former city government official and general manager of the Shanghai International Circuit, was also expelled from the Communist Party and handed over for prosecution, the Shanghai Daily and other newspapers said.

Yu had been a key force behind Shanghai's racing circuit, designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke and located on former swamp land.

The track has hosted three editions of the Grand Prix of China, along with the motorcycle MotoGP and other top races.

While some have questioned the expense, the circuit has become a prominent part of Shanghai's effort to market itself as an Asian business center.

Yu is thought to be close friends with the city's former top leader, Chen Liangyu, who was sacked last year amid allegations of corruption and other abuses.

A former district head, Chen Chaoxian, and the former director of the city's state-owned assets supervision bureau, Ling Baoheng, were also fired, expelled and referred to prosecutors, the newspapers reported.

The reports said Yu had allegedly taken public money to buy a house, amid other abuses. Chen and Ling were found to have taken bribes in return for favors, the reports said.

Meanwhile, the Victorian state government has not ruled out switching the Australian Grand Prix to a night event, a government minister said.

Organizers have been warned by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone that the Australian GP would be moved offshore unless the race was held at night in a move designed to boost global TV ratings. The Victorian government, which financially underpins the GP in Melbourne, has said it would be expensive to refit the Albert Park street circuit to safely hold an F1 race at night as is being planned in Singapore and Malaysia next year.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks met with Ecclestone during a visit to London last week, state Tourism Minister Tim Holding said.

Holding said Bracks discussed the future of the race, but the Victorian government had yet to receive a formal proposal about a move to a night-time grand prix.

"We've got it contracted until 2010 ... We will, obviously, run it up to that period of time," Holding told ABC Radio. "After that, there are a lot of issues to be worked through.

"We haven't ruled it out. We want to have a look at what a proposal might look like. We also want to have a look at what impact it might have on the amenity of the Albert Park area."

Holding said the government had worked hard to create a successful race in its current format and did not want to jeopardize that.

An auditor-general's report is due out tomorrow amid media reports the event has been hemorrhaging financially since it was shifted from Adelaide in 1996.

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