Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed the sport's governing body as "a joke" and criticized Jean Todt's actions since taking over from Max Mosley as FIA president.

"Jean Todt is a poor man's Max," the 80-year-old Briton, a close ally of compatriot Mosley over the decades, was quoted as saying of the Frenchman in the Daily Express newspaper yesterday.

"He has been travelling around the world doing what Max didn't do too much - kissing the babies and shaking the hands. It is probably good for the FIA but we don't need it in Formula One."

Ecclestone declared the International Automobile Federation head's moves to re-position the sport in a more environmentally-friendly light as a "complete joke".

He said a planned switch to smaller capacity, and far more fuel-efficient, 1.6 liter turbo engines meant the sport would no longer sound like Formula One while other changes would simply cost a lot of money.

"We should write the rules with the teams ... we have got a big investment," said Ecclestone, who has remained in London ahead of the season-opening race in Australia this weekend.

"We should write the rules, give them to the FIA and they should make sure they are followed. It should be like the police - the police don't write the rules and say you've got to do 30 miles an hour. The FIA is a joke."

Meanwhile, organizers of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix say the absence of the Ecclestone from the season opener should not cast doubt upon the future of the event.

Australian GP Corporation chairman Ron Walker said Ecclestone was in New York for talks with Mayor Michael Bloomberg about a possible future race on Staten Island.

But Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the Bloomberg, said the mayor will not will be meeting with Ecclestone.

Ecclestone had previously expressed impatience at the local government's complaints about the cost of staging the Melbourne race, as well as the seeming impossibility of installing temporary lighting at the street circuit to create a night event to suit European TV audiences.

Walker was quoted on Wednesday as saying the future of the Melbourne race "very secure" beyond its current 2015 contract.

"There is a five-year option there that goes either way, and Mr. Ecclestone recognizes that this is a great city to come to," Walker said.

Melbourne mayor Robert Doyle in January questioned the worth of the race to his city and Victoria state given its cost to taxpayers, prompting Ecclestone to say F1 did not need Australia on its calendar.

Walker said he understood Ecclestone's response, but was not concerned for the future of the race.

The Melbourne GP loses an estimated US$40 million each year.