Stefano Domenicali against the idea of the Roman Grand Prix
The Italian team Ferrari is one of the first teams to discourage giving two Grands Prix to Italy. The team insisted earlier this week that the Formula One calendar is already over loaded with races, and brining more races in, is good neither for the drivers
nor for the teams.
There have been rumours for several years that Rome is willing to host a street race. These stories further got strength earlier this year when the Formula One supremo’ Bernie Ecclestone said that Italy will not be deducted from the calendar. It simply gave
a clue that FIA is planning to let Rome enter in the calendar in the next few seasons. This means, the same region will host two races each year, as the Italian Grand Prix already has a contract until 2016, keeping its place safe in the calendar.
It is not very long ago that the Formula One calendar saw as many as 16 races only. However, the addition of several new tracks like, Singapore and Abu Dubai earlier swelled it up to 18 races in 2009, while this year saw a record of 19 rounds with the entrance
of the newly built the Korean Circuit. As already announced the 2011 season is set to reach up to 20 races as India is going to host the first Grand Prix on its soil next October. With the calendar already overloaded, and some more arenas already lined up
like USA, the teams as well as the drivers are very much concerned for the upcoming years.
While talking to the media earlier today, the Ferrari team boss, Stefano Domenicali said that as Ecclestone has the agenda of spreading the sport all through the globe and hence many new tracks are being embraced by FIA, it is no longer wise to hold two
races in a single country.
He explained saying, “Our position is very clear and leaves no room for interpretation. Our sport is increasingly expanding the number of countries hosting a grand prix and all the teams are in agreement about that. Therefore it is inevitable that it will
no longer be possible to have two races in the same nation.”
This year saw two races being held in Spain. One was held in the mid of the season, the European Grand Prix, while the second last race was held in the same country, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Moreover, until 2006 Italy has also hosted two races.
The Italian Grand Prix at the historical Monza Circuit, while the other race at Imola was called the San Marino Grand Prix.
However, this is what the Ferrari team thinks but the final verdict is yet to come from FIA officials as Domenicali says, “It’s not the job of the teams [to] choose where a grand prix is held – that’s up to the commercial rights holder. Everything else is
pure speculation."
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