http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/vi..._Monza_threat/
Bernie Ecclestone remains firm on the threat facing the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, insisting he is willing to allow the iconic venue to slip from the Formula 1 calendar after 2016 if a new deal cannot be reached.
One of the sport's oldest and most historic venues, Monza faces the axe following next year's event as organisers struggle to come to a new agreement with the commercial rights holders over a new contract.
Indeed, with Ecclestone refusing to budge on higher race hosting fees that organisers say they can't afford to match without assistance from outside investors, Monza's exit could see Italy go the way of France and Germany before it, the former having not hosted a round since 2008, while the latter was withdrawn from this year's schedule last month.
Challenged on the prospect of losing another familiar European venue from a schedule that has seen just three all-new European rounds added since 1994, Ecclestone says the loss of the French event is indicative that no race is safe.
“We will have to wait and see,” he said. “They [Monza] don't have an agreement, a bit like Germany really. I'll tell you something, we were told that [it would be a bad thing for F1] when we didn't have a race in France, and Germany now. We have some good replacements.
Pressed on whether Italy could still remain on the calendar, albeit at a different venue, Ecclestone insisted that could happen, though only Imola is likely to be considered a viable alternative.
Since the turn of the century, just three all-new venues (not including revived former venues) – the now cancelled Valencia street circuit European Grand Prix, the Turkish Grand Prix (albeit on the Asian side of Istanbul) and the recently introduced Russian Grand Prix.
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Forza Ferrari !
Originally Posted by AfterLife
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