Italian GP boss determined to avoid 'disastrous' last-minute cancellation

Italian Grand Prix promoter ACI is treading lightly during F1's current crisis, insisting it can't afford a last-minute "disaster" like the one suffered by the organisers of last month's Australian Grand Prix.

The opening race of the 2020 season which was initially scheduled for March 15 was given the go-ahead only to cancelled at the last hour by F1 after McLaren withdrew from the event when one of its team members tested positive for the coronavirus.

Confusion ensued, with uninformed spectators lining up at the gates of Albert Park on Friday morning ahead of the start of free practice and before the race was called off.

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Italian Automobile Club president Angelo Sticchi Damiani is determined to avoid at all costs a similar fate befalling on Monza come September 4.

"We can no longer afford to make mistakes like in Australia, when the GP was cancelled with the public already at the track,” Sticchi Damiani told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"That was a setback for everyone, from Liberty Media to the teams, to the local organisers. To start again and then be forced to stop would be a disaster."

Monza's round of the F1 world championship will depend on health and sanitary conditions in Europe but especially in Italy whose Lombardy region where the circuit is located has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic since the end of February.

Damiani admits the current cloud of uncertainty hovering over F1 leaves race promoters with a murky outlook, but also with a 90-day advance notice demanded by the teams to confirm an event.

"We are going through a situation of great uncertainty and in this moment we must act with caution and attention," he added.

"The priority is to understand what happens in the countries that host the grands prix and in Italy and Great Britain, where most of the people in the paddock come from.”

"The teams have asked for 90 days' notice to start again and if we think about July we would already be late. Maybe there will be a rethink and 60 will be enough."

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