Monza agrees new deal to host Italian GP until 2019

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The Italian Grand Prix is set to remain at Monza until 2019 after confirmation of an impending new contract on Friday afternoon.

Bernie Ecclestone and race organisers held a press conference at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on Friday where it was confirmed the race will remain on the calendar for the next three years. Monza's future had been uncertain while negotiations with Ecclestone were ongoing, with this year's race having been the last on its current deal.

Imola had been touted as a possible alternative location for the race, but Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) president Angelo Sticchi Damiani confirmed to F1i earlier this year that government legislation only allowed additional funding if the race was held at Monza.

Ecclestone says the contracts have yet to be formally signed but says a three-year deal is agreed.

"We're getting all the small details that are important in a contract together and we'll sign this," Ecclestone said. "So there's no problem with having a race here at all. It will be here. The contract is only going to be for three years but hopefully we're here for another hundred years."

The Italian Grand Prix has been an ever-present on the F1 calendar and has been held at Monza for every year except 1980, when it was held at Imola.

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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.