MILAN — The historic Monza circuit is to stay on the Formula One calendar after agreeing a new deal with the sport’s organizers, Italian officials said Wednesday.
The circuit near Milan has been on the calendar every year bar one since the championship started in 1950 but had no contract beyond this year and its future had been uncertain.
Roberto Maroni, president of the Lombardy region, said on his Facebook that a deal had been reached. “The Grand Prix will stay in Monza,” he said. “With a few days to go until the signing of the contract, I’m very satisfied.”
Cabinet Undersecretary Luca Lotti, one of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s closest aides, also said a deal had been done.
“Teamwork pays just as it does in Formula One,” he said on Twitter. Italian media said the new deal would be for three years.
Monza’s absence from the calendar would be unthinkable for most fans, not least those of Ferrari for whom Monza is home territory.
This season’s race will be held Sunday.
Verstappen on
hostile territory
If Max Verstappen attempts any more jostling with the Ferrari cars this weekend, he’s going to get a rough reception from the crowd at the Italian Grand Prix.
Unlike last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, which was the closest thing to a home race for the 18-year-old Dutch driver, Verstappen will be on hostile territory in Monza — which is effectively Ferrari’s home track.
There was a high-profile tangle between Verstappen and both Ferraris on the first turn in Spa, and Verstappen then infuriated Kimi Raikkonen with some aggressive blocking moves when the 36-year-old Finn tried to get past him at high speed later in the race. Raikkonen lost his cool and angrily berated Verstappen.
While Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes remain the drivers to beat, the developing rivalry between Verstappen — Formula One’s rising star — and Ferrari threatens to overshadow what happens at the front.
In May, Verstappen drove brilliantly to win the Spanish GP on his Red Bull debut — joining from feeder team Toro Rosso after just four races of this season — and he followed that up with three more podium finishes. In Belgium, he became the youngest driver ever to qualify on the front row, starting from second, only to finish a disappointing 11th.
Verstappen sits sixth in the drivers’ standings, just behind Ferrari’s Vettel and Raikkonen.
By winning in Belgium, Rosberg moved within nine points of Hamilton at the top of the standings. While Hamilton had to start from the back row in Spa as a result of too many engine-part changes this season, he should be free of penalties in Monza. — Agencies
