Historic Italian GP venue could lose race after 2016
Wednesday 9 September 2015 13:17, UK
Ahead of Sunday’s Italian GP, Damon Hill has warned that F1 would be “very, very unwise” to drop Monza from its schedule.
This weekend's race could perhaps be one of the last at the historic venue, which first hosted a grand prix in 1922.
Organisers of the race, the Automobile Club of Milan, have yet to agree commercial terms with Bernie Ecclestone, who has threatened to remove Monza from the calendar after the current deal expires in 2016.
Hill, an Italian GP winner there in 1993 in 1994, places the event on the par with the likes of the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24-hour race in terms of its history and prestige.
"When people want grands prix outside of new territories, let's say, they want it because of what they've seen at the grass roots of the sport, and the history of the sport," the former world champion told Sky Sports News HQ.
"Monza is a very famous name, it means grand prix racing. If you lose that, it'd be like losing Indianapolis.
"Indianapolis, Le Mans…all these places mean motorsport and I think that Formula 1 would be very, very unwise to lose a venue like Monza."
Set in a royal park situated north of Milan, the 3.6-mile Monza track has hosted 64 GPs and is the fastest on the F1 calendar.
Hopes of a deal were recently raised after a major sticking point – the Italian government's insistence that tax is paid on investment funds the local Lombardy regional government is willing to provide Monza – was removed.
Ecclestone has continued to play hard ball, but former Ferrari driver Ivan Capelli – now President of the Automobile Club of Milan – remains hopeful that his negotiations will eventually pay off.
"In 2022, there will be the century for the grand prix here in Monza, so we are trying to achieve that date," Capelli said on Wednesday.
"We know it's very difficult, but we are really, really showing to Bernie Ecclestone that we are really doing the maximum from our side.
"Bernie Ecclestone is very clever, obviously, with his experience to put pressure on the organisers."
