Roberto Scanagatti, the mayor of Monza, says he is confident the iconic venue will carry on hosting the Italian Grand Prix beyond the 2016 Formula One season.
The historic circuit’s future has been in the balance for several months with its current deal expiring this year. Despite a new legislation recently allowing increased funding for the race, Monza has yet to ink a new agreement.
Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the president of the Automobile Club d’Ialia (ACI), previously claimed he was hopeful of a new seven-year contract but Bernie Ecclestone has repeatedly cast doubt over the deal.
The 85-year-old supremo’s ominous remarks have not shaken Scanagatti’s belief that F1 will continue to stop by the Temple of Speed.
“I am sure that next September’s race will not be the last time Monza hosts a Formula One grand prix,” he is quoted as saying by Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The current contract ends in 2016 and there is an ongoing negotiation that has lasted a long time, but I am certain the deal will be renewed because Formula One cannot imagine a world without venues like Monte Carlo, Silverstone and Monza. They all are historic circuits.
“I believe a solution will be found; I do not see an F1 without Monza, I think in the end there will be a [positive] outcome.”
Monza has been a quasi-permanent fixture on the F1 calendar, hosting every Italian Grand Prix, bar one in 1980, since the series was launched in 1950.
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