体坛英语新闻：Argentine president announces return of Formula One

BUENOS AIRES, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Wednesday announced that the South American country will host Formula One races in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The city of Mar del Plata, 400 kilometers south from Buenos Aires, will host F1 races "between the end of November and the beginning of December" in the following three years, said Fernandez.

The announcement was made during an event in Casa Rosada, seat of presidency, where Fernandez met with the Dakar Rally's Argentine competitors.

"For us, this will be very important because after soccer, auto racing is the Argentines second preferred sport," Fernandez said.

The Argentine president said that bring F1 back to Argentina "is an accomplishment Argentines deserve, so we can show the world what we have."

Argentina's Grand Prix was a valid race for the F1 world championship and was hosted by the South American country in an intermittent way from 1953 to 1998.

Due to the organizers financial problems, Argentina's Grand Prix was suspended after 1998.