Negotiations continue for Monza
For several months, the future of Monza beyond the current season has been in limbo. The circuit has announced that negotiations with the FOM are ongoing.
From 2014, Bernie Ecclestone put pressure on Monza by declaring that there would be no new agreement after 2016, the year the current contract ended. Since then, his stance has not changed.
Now that the season is underway, the countdown becomes increasingly pressing for the Italian circuit, which is still on the hot seat. It wanted to let it be known, via its Facebook page, that discussions were not yet broken off: « The Autodrome Nazionale Monza has not received any official communication regarding the failure of the negotiation to renew the agreement with the FOM, in order to retain the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2017. »
The circuit thus continues to believe that the president of the Italian Automobile Club will manage to reach an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone: « We can therefore only reiterate our confidence in Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the president of the ACI, who is doing everything possible to ensure that Monza can continue to be the natural venue for the Grand Prix in our country. »
As always, if the negotiations have not yet been successful, it’s because the financial demands of the FOM are increasingly high. The local authorities are therefore ready to make extra efforts: « SIAS leaders will continue to responsibly fulfill their part, by providing some of the necessary economic resources to ensure renewal and continuing with the recovery plan for which they have received a mandate. »
It remains to be seen whether this is enough or if we are heading towards a F1 calendar without a Grand Prix in Italy, after experiencing a 2015 season without a German Grand Prix when Mercedes had just won the world title…
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
