Over the past 25 years, the history of the Italian Grand Prix has been a path marked regularly by the risk of being excluded from the F1 calendar. When yesterday evening the ACI president, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, launched yet another alarm, it seemed like a déjà vu, it’s business as usual.
This time however something is different, Monza can now count on a contract expiring at the end of 2025, but after that date there are no certainties. The negotiations for the renewal will begin this year, as per practice, and the negotiation that will see ACI and Liberty Media on the two opposite sides of the table certainly does not promise to be among the simplest.
In the past Monza fought against itself, today it has to do it against international competition that has raised the bar a lot in terms of quality of services. History and tradition have weight, but by themselves they are no longer enough to guarantee a future.
Stefano Domenicali has reiterated it several times: “If we wanted, today we could have more than 30 Grands Prix on the calendar”, confirming a great international demand after the boom in interest that Formula 1 has received starting from 2021.
In presenting the 2023 calendar of the Autodromo Nazionale, Sticchi Damiani reiterated a key concept. “Monza must evolve to keep up with the times. But we cannot be left alone to take on this work. ACI has made a crazy effort, but our budget is starting to have difficulties, 44 million have been invested, an enormous sum, a heavy commitment”.
The alarm raised by the President of ACI is clear, today international competition can count on government funds, justified by the induced activities that create a Formula 1 Grand Prix both in financial terms and in terms of visibility. Aspects not evaluated as they should by the Italian institutions.
Sticchi Damiani has announced a series of works that have been waiting for some time and that now seem to be starting. Four projects, two ready to go (resurfacing and widening of three existing underpasses with the addition of a fourth, all with pedestrian walkways separated from cars) and two in the pipeline, the paddock club roof (above the pit structure) and the renovation of the grandstands. These are crucial projects, which will have to be completed in time to be able to present themselves at the renewal table with the credentials, hopefully, at the beginning of 2024.
Times? “We are counting on rapid approval – clarified Sticchi Damiani – to then proceed immediately with the tender, otherwise the risk is that of worsening the situation. The definitive times will be clear when the works are delivered to the companies, at which point we will understand if it will be possible to finish them before the GP or immediately after. However, it is important for us to confirm to Domenicali that we are proceeding seriously”.
The thorniest point is the one concerning the grandstands. The new project provides that each one will have to be self-sufficient in terms of services, a sort of independent island with restaurants and toilets, a crucial step after the complaints that emerged at the end of the last Grand Prix.
It is not clear how much ACI executives can count on the Municipality of Monza, given that the relationship between the two parties is not the best. There is no ‘good’ and ‘bad’, because even the Autodrome has not operated flawlessly in recent years, getting lost on several occasions in the jungle of procedures indispensable for operating in a sensitive area such as that of the Parco di Monza.
It is yet another challenge between the Italian Grand Prix and its future, a demanding course made even more uphill by the lack of team spirit between the various parties involved.
The rusts accumulated over years of mistakes (and in some cases even real spite) do not make relations easy, and this aspect becomes a big problem when it comes to keeping up with competing countries.
It is a financial, political and also a purely technical question. To offer a quality product it is essential that there are people in step with the times, who know how to identify the best partners on the market and align themselves with what other promoters can offer. In reality, even a little less is enough, but only a little, that margin that Monza can fill with its historical value, but it is no longer possible to abuse this bonus too much.
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