The Italian Grand Prix has been given renewed hope it can remain on the Formula 1 calendar following reports a breakthrough new deal could be struck next month.
The future of the famous Monza race from 2017 onwards had been under threat with event promoters unable to strike an agreement with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
However, the race has been handed a lifeline following new legislature passed by Italy’s senate budget committee, which will allow the Lombardy region, where Monza is located, to invest in the event.
As a result, Governor of the Lombardy region Roberto Maroni is hopeful a deal can be made to safeguard the event’s future by September.
“With a tax-free investment we can close the deal with Ecclestone by early September,” Maroni told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“This week I will meet with Andrea Dall’Orto, the president of SIAS (Monza’s management company) to close the deal with the mayors of Milan and Monza by the end of August.
“The GP has to stay in Monza.”
Monza has been a mainstay on the F1 calendar since the inaugural season in 1950 and has only been absent from the schedule in 1980, when circuit changes saw the Italian Grand Prix move to Imola.