Just as Belgium has come to herald the return to racing after Formula One’s midseason break, so too has Italy earned a reputation for demarcating the European season with the final leg of the championship.
Autodromo Nazionale Monza opened in 1922, and barely a year has passed in which top-tier motorsport has not raced around the hallowed track – first in its anello di velocità oval configuration, and later in formats similar to that used today.
Only once since the formation of the Formula One World Championship has Monza not hosted an F1 race.
The history is backed up by pandemonium in the grandstands – only the British Grand Prix can rival Monza and the famous Italian tifosi – and the heady combination serves as the sport’s backbone.
If there can be no Formula One without Ferrari, the absence of Monza from the calendar is equally unthinkable.
Yet thinking about a Monza-less season is exactly what Formula One finds itself doing heading into the penultimate race on the circuit’s contract. The race promoter and Bernie Ecclestone have been playing hardball over an extension, leaving the circuit’s future in doubt.
“In order to have a grand prix, you need money. If the money is there, the race takes place,” F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport last year.
“I don’t think we’ll do another contract, the old one was a disaster for us from the commercial point of view. After 2016, bye-bye.”
The to-ing and fro-ing between Ecclestone and the circuit has persisted ever since. Monza has been played off Azerbaijan and even compatriot circuit Imola to ratchet up pressure to do a deal, eventually prompting the local government to intervene.
“I will meet with Andrea Dall’Orto, the president of [circuit operator] SIAS to close the deal with the mayors of Milan and Monza by the end of August,” Lombardy governor Roberto Maroni said to Gazetto dello Sport last month.
“With a tax-free investment we can close the deal with Ecclestone by early September. The GP has to stay in Monza.”
Though his stance subsequently softened, Bernie seems no more likely to announce the concluding of a new deal.
“I don’t know about Monza at the moment,” he said in Spa. “I hope we don’t lose it but I think there is a good chance we will.”
Talk about pre-race sizzle.
There is famously little room in Formula One for sentimentality. With the exception of Monte Carlo, which is rumoured to have a free race due to its status as a special event, every race on the calendar is subject to similar contractual demands.
The advent of government-backed grands prix in resource-rich nations has put particular emphasis on money, and subsequent increases in the average race price has put pressure on the traditional, usually privately owned, circuits to tip more money into hosting their races.
But more than that, Bernie has a trump card more valuable than a far-flung oil-rich nation or even a rival Italian circuit’s undercut attempts – in 2022, within scope of a new contract, Monza will become the first circuit in the world to turn 100 years old. Cue the cash-register sound effects.
Thus the scene is set for a pivotal decision. Does Formula One back its history, accept a cut to the status quo, and bask in the reflected glory of Monza celebrating its unprecedented milestone, or does it gamble the race for a haul of cash that may end up blowing the money and the race, leaving it with neither?
The gut says the race must be renewed, but then consider this: Formula One was told it could not survive without the French Grand Prix, and then likewise told a season without the German Grand Prix would be a nail in the coffin.
France fell off the calendar in 2008, and this year Germany disappeared, leaving serious question marks about its long-term future. Formula One goes on. Monza is far from guaranteed.
Emotions in Italy will be running high (more so than usual) as negotiations over its future in Formula One precariously continue. It’s a high-stakes game.
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michelle k
Guest
Luv f1. But has to go for f1 to remain the pinnacle of motor sport..it is not always about money. F1 is about the best of the best.. It cant be about "preserve the tyres '.too much regulations..let the drivers do what they have spent their whole life on ...driving..too much technogy ...too much restrictions...killing f1.. .....
Michael Lamonato
Expert
Yeah, I tend to think there is something at least marginally more meaningful in the Italian GP (and Ferrari) when it comes to heritage value, and I think heritage is a little bit underrated in sport. Without it there's no continuity, which means the sport loses its narrative. Likewise Silverstone (at very least the British GP, but hopefully we'll never have to test the theory), I think, is critical to the sport. Without them Formula One would be forced to face that existential question "what are we racing for?". If people stop showing up, what's the point?
Anthony
Guest
I don't quite agree with the implication that F1 can survive without Monza or the Italian GP just because they've managed to remove the races in France and Germany without dire consequences... the audiences at races and on TV have been dropping worldwide since 2008. I'm not saying that the removal of those races entirely explains it, but it's probably a factor at some level. The Italian Grand Prix is always packed, the audiences are probably the most passionate in the world, and many come in support of Ferrari, the longest-running and most successful team. They havent had the same attendance issues that Germany had been having. Ticket sales are reportedly up this year. It's an event where the audiences will keep coming because of the history and the passion. Where would the Tifosi go cheer the red cars? Would Bernie think of getting rid of the British Grand Prix? He wanted to axe Silverstone, but not the GP itself, and then still gave them a good rate and ensured it's future for 17 years when Donington wasn't ready. He can do it for Monza, and keep it at least five years futher. He's unlikely to have a fan-favorite race that is this sustainable with any other race he might replace this one with. Good piece.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
Ah, too right! And to make matters worse, I'm pretty sure the speedway is older than the Indy 500. Must've misread that one somewhere and got it stuck in my head. Good call.
SM
Guest
'...Monza will become the first circuit in the world to turn 100 years old. Cue the cash-register sound effects' Next year is the 100th Indy 500.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
That's a pretty good comparison, actually. Similar models of suffocating commercial control, too.
Michael Lamonato
Expert
I agree with only a very small amount of what you've said. The cars neither look nor sound awful (I'm not sure how many races you've been to lately, but the power units have gotten both louder and more interesting since last year), and grands prix are no more an economy run than they have been in the past. Fuel tanks are limited in size to 100 kilos, but teams have found they don't need even that much fuel to make it to the end of the race — i.e. they have more fuel available to them than they need. Moreover, more often than not this season the teams have complained that the tyres have been too *hard*, rather than needing to be delicately managed. I'm not sure you've watched a race at all this season! I will give you credit for calling out the sport's money problems, though, because it undoubtedly has tonnes of them. Its calendar strategy seems based only on money, rather than expanding around a core set of 10 or so races, which would be an ideal model that could satisfy everyone. Not all the 'new' tracks are bad, though — Malaysia is interesting, likewise the US GP, to name just two. As for throwing back to the 'good ol' days', I'd forget about it — racing in what we're increasingly looking back upon as the golden era was not really any better. Mercedes is only just knocking on the door of some of Formula One's all-time dominance records. 1988, for example, when McLaren dominated every race bar one. Mercedes couldn't even manage that last year (though this year could be a different story).
AJM
Guest
Formula One is being run into the ground. The cars look and sound awful and could be driven by robots. Instead of it being a race from start to finish in the fastest time possible it's now an economy race and tyre preserving exercise. Half of the drivers on the grid are pay drivers and there's 3 or 4 teams on the verge of bankruptcy. Added to this we have all these races in desert countries on tracks that are so benign it's a procession from start to finish while we lose genuine race tracks with history which require skill to stay on the track. How can Formula One seriously consider itself the pinnacle of motorsport? Why is it prepared to sell it's soul to oil rich governments and at the same time watch the bottom teams lapping 4 or 5 seconds down and struggling to qualify? They need to go back and look at the 70's and 80's and even the 90's and remember what made this sport so great. And then have a look at what it's become. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Not convinced
Guest
No one wants to host the Winter Olympics anymore because the costs involved do not match the gain. The summer Olympics are going the same way. If F1 continues down this path, eventually they will find there are fewer willing participants. Then what? What will the commodity of F1 be worth and to who?