Mike Baird's ambitious plan to bring the Formula One Grand Prix to Sydney has hit a bump in the road, with the chairman of the event adamant it's staying in Melbourne for at least five - and probably ten - years.
Mr Baird admitted on Friday that the plan to move the event from Melbourne was ambitious, but said naysayers once scoffed at the prospect of a Sydney Olympics.
The man who made the Olympics a reality, Rod McGeoch, has been charged with securing this new coup, along with former News Corp chief John Hartigan.
"I believe we have sat back too long and let Melbourne take all the events it wants," Mr Baird said.
"We want the best events for this city ... it brings jobs, investment and continues to build NSW and Sydney as a destination."
But Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker said the premier's Sydney Grand Prix dream would take years to be realised.
"(Baird's) team of advisers have advised him very wrongly," Mr Walker told the ABC.
"We have a contract with (Formula One Group chief executive Bernie) Ecclestone until 2020 and we have another five-year option ... so it's a long time before Sydney could even think about it."
The announcement was rubbished by Labor leader Luke Foley.
The opposition leader was in Badgerys Creek with federal opposition infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese to announce a combined federal and state Labor government would spend $3.5 billion over 10 years to upgrade roads in the area ahead of the proposed airport.
The pair also want new rail lines factored into the lease for the proposed airport, and they want it running before the airport opens - a plan immediately dismissed by state Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian.
Mr Foley said the Grand Prix announcement was an attempt to distract from Mr Baird's plan to privatise parts of the electricity network.
"What next? He'll bring Wimbledon and the US Masters to Sydney next," Mr Foley said.
"What a flop of an announcement."
Mr Baird's idea isn't new, with former Labor premiers Morris Iemma and Kristina Keneally floating similar plans during their terms.
Former Liberal premier Nick Greiner tried it with a motorcycle Grand Prix in 1989, but it ended when the consortium that ran it went bust and cost the state $135 million.
The Greens have described the Grand prix plan as an ill-advised thought bubble that will create traffic chaos and bring air pollution to the harbour city.
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