Rome cools GP bid and eyes 2020 Olympics instead

Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno has announced the city is taking "a step back" with its plans for a formula one race on the streets of the EUR district.

Although formerly supportive of the plans, Bernie Ecclestone last week wrote to Alemanno warning that with Monza already on the calendar, F1 had no room for two Italian rounds per season.

That was interpreted as the start of negotiations to annually alternate Rome and Monza, but Alemanno has announced that Rome should now turn most of its focus towards bidding for the 2020 Olympics.

"The road has not been completely closed, but the interests of our city must be compatible with the national ones," La Repubblica newspaper quotes him as saying.

Regarding F1, Rome will "take a step back", Alemanno added, revealing that there "will be a press conference in the coming days".

He called on the government to now make a "stronger commitment regarding the 2020 Olympics", insisting that the event "as a target for Rome is not just ambitious but achievable".

Alemanno suggested that talks about a cooperation between Rome and Monza regarding F1 did not bear fruit.

"We have always maintained contact with the mayor of Monza, with the ministers of the north and all those of the Lombardy region.

"I have to say that we never found a great dialogue, even when we stressed that if it was a choice between Monza and Rome then we would pull back,"he said.

Source: Motorsport

Monza worried F1 will choose Rome over them

Organisers of the historic Italian grand prix are worried plans to take formula one to Rome will leave historic Monza without a race.

Both the Italian capital and Bernie Ecclestone insist the plans for a street race in the EUR district are no threat to Monza, but officials of the high speed Autodromo Nazionale are not so confident.

"Amid a globalisation of grands prix, each country will inevitably be allowed to stage only one" and "since Rome is the capital, I'm afraid we'd lose the grand prix forever," Monza boss Enrico Ferrari told Bloomberg.

The Rome city council is due to meet this month to consider how to proceed with its F1 bid.

"Rome is known around the world for its history and landmarks, but we need an event that projects an image of Rome that's not just about museums," said city mayor Gianni Alemanno.

"We want to project a modern image and formula one would help us do that."

F1 chief executive Ecclestone insists there is no deal yet.

"We haven't got a contract yet for the event," said the Briton. "As soon as they get that, yes, yes, we can have a race, then let's see if we can make it happen."

Ecclestone said a deal with Rome would not necessarily be bad news for Monza.

"We have two events at the moment in Spain," he explained. "Let's wait and see. It's still early days."

Monza mayor Marco Mariani admitted he is worried.

"Politically speaking, Rome is far stronger than us," he said.

Source: Auto123

Rome to host F1 race as soon as 2012

Rome will host a Formula One grand prix after a five-year contract for a street race in the Italian capital was signed at Monza on Friday.

The race will feature on the calendar as early as 2012 after F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and organiser Maurizio Flammini rubber stamped the agreement.

"Congratulations for the results he (Flammini) has delivered," said Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno. "I hope Rome's grand prix can start in 2012."

The agreement means that there will be two grands prix in Italy, with the historic Monza venue certain to remain on the calendar.

"The Monza race will remain -- it won't be destroyed by Rome's."

Alemanno's sentimants were not shared by Monza director Enrico Ferrari, who thinks the venue's status will be adversely affected by a Rome grand prix.

"Where once it was difficult to find sponsors, now it will be impossible," Ferrari told La Stampa newspaper. "The big companies have a budget, so if today they were giving us 100, tomorrow they will give us 50 and Rome 50."

The only possible obstacle for the race going ahead is in getting consent from the region's local EUR district.

"There are problems because we have to reach full agreement with the inhabitants of EUR. We have an agreement at the international level. There are no certainties, but our promise is very solid," added Alemanno.

Source: ESPNF1

Rome to be on 20-race calendar in 2013 - Ecclestone

The F1 calendar will for the first time feature a Grand Prix in Rome and nineteen other races in 2013, Bernie Ecclestone has announced.

It has long been the ambition of the sport's chief executive to extend the annual schedule to 20 races, while it was already known that the Briton had approved a future street race in the Italian capital.

"Rome will come onto the calendar in 2013. We will have 20 races and the teams will be happy with it," the 79-year-old is quoted as saying by the German-language Speedweek.

Previously, it had been expected that the inauguration of a race in Rome would not be to the detriment of Monza's historic Italian Grand Prix.

But Letizia Moratti, mayor of the nearby Milan, is now worried that Monza is set to lose its race at the famous Autodromo Nazionale.

"I think competition between cities is right, but it is equally correct to respect their traditions," she is quoted as saying by the Ansa news agency.

Source: Motorsport