The organisers of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix have asked global motorsports business Formula One to reduce the race sanctioning fee they have to pay, according to reports in the sports media. 

Currently the organisers of the annual event are paying one of the highest fees of any grand prix race, which they agreed to stump up in order to convince Formula One to allow a grand prix race to take place in Baku. 

The organisers struck a 10-year deal with Formula One, with a break clause after five years, which will fall in two years time. When that comes around, they want to secure a better deal for the second half of the contract, reports Autosport. 

"We have a contract which is a binding contract for five years, for five races, starting in 2016," said Arif Rahimov according to the sports portal. Rahimov is the event’s promoter and son of Azerbaijan’s Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov. 

"We have't triggered the break clause. We're negotiating on the second part of the contract. We all know we need to improve bits, so we're trying hard to make sure that it's good for us and good for F1,” he added.

Similar steps were reportedly taken by Hockenheim which is one of the hosts of the German grand prix. More organisers are likely to push for new terms after Liberty Media took over running Formula One and became more open about fees charged. Earlier this year, the new owner also announced plans for major changes to make the sport cheaper and better run. 

Baku has been hosting a grand prix since 2016. The timing was unfortunate; the Azerbaijani authorities made a push to host the race and other high-profile international events when the country was awash with cash amid a lengthy oil boom. However, the last few years have seen GDP growth slump in line with low oil prices, and the economy has only recently started to recover as hydrocarbon prices have risen.