Monza's F1 future remains in the balance

The future of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza remains in the balance after a lack of progress in talks with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

The race had been under threat until a recent new legislation was approved which removed restrictions on how the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) could spend its resources. The move prompted ACI president Angelo Sticchi Damiani to voice his confidence a new seven-year deal would soon be agreed to keep the Italian GP at Monza.

However, recent meetings have failed to reach an agreement, with Autosport reporting Ecclestone wants guarantees over circuits improvements before he is willing to commit to a long-term deal. Such improvements are difficult due to the circuit's location within Monza's park.

With this year's edition of the race the last of the current contract, further meetings have been planned for later in February in an attempt to resolve the situation.

Should an agreement to extend the deal at Monza not be reached, Motorsport.com reports Damiani is determined to keep the Italian Grand Prix alive. To that end, Imola is being lined up as an alternative to host the race, while Mugello is also being considered as a potential venue.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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