Currently, Italy has the privilege of being one of the few countries to have two rounds in Formula 1 – the Emilia Romagna GP in Imola and the Italian GP in Monza. Although the near future may involve rotating one of them with other European races due to the increasing number of rounds on the calendar, the country’s idea is to maintain two F1 visits per year until at least 2030.
This was emphasized by the president of ACI, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, to the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, ensuring that the agreements are almost finalized: ‘We already have an agreement, with only a few details missing, to sign a new contract for the confirmation of both Grand Prix races, in Monza and Imola, for another five years. Having two races on the calendar until 2030 would be an extraordinary achievement for our country. We would like to sign a pre-contract by the end of 2024’.
Imola has strong support from a consortium of local companies, while Monza is contracted until 2025 and the leader said it will be necessary to ensure that the additional costs will be covered: ‘It is inevitable that there will be an increase in costs from 2026, also because Monza currently pays the least in all of Europe. But everyone has to do their part. We cannot burden the ACI’s accounts too much, especially if I am going to sign a single contract of this magnitude’.
Sticchi Damiani also acknowledged that securing spots on the calendar in the future will not be an easy task, so it is urgent to renew with the two Italian GPs: ‘It is important to advance the timing with respect to the 2025 deadline, which will coincide with the election of the FIA president and the outline of the new Concorde Agreement between the teams and F1. At an international level, there is a queue of requests to host a Grand Prix. Remember France and Germany, they don’t have a race at all, so it is better to secure our races until 2030 as soon as possible’.
