Why the Italian Grand Prix at Monza Must Remain on the Formula 1 Calendar

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 9, 2014

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Bernie Ecclestone's comments last week, indicating Monza may soon disappear from the Formula One calendar, were like a slap in the face to thousands of fans around the world.

To those in Italy, the feeling may have been more akin to a dagger in the heart.

In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t ESPN for the translation into English), Ecclestone was asked about Monza's future. He replied, "I don't think we'll do another contract, the old one was a disaster for us from a commercial point of view. After 2016, bye bye."

He could have said this sort of thing about most of the venues on the current calendar, and it wouldn't have even made the news. Circuits like Shanghai, Bahrain and Catalunya are expendable.



But Monza is different. The host of an Italian Grand Prix every year bar one since 1950, this simple but daunting circuit near Milan is a part of the sport's heart and soul.

And F1's heart and soul has taken quite a beating of late.

With 19 races taking place on five continents over the course of nine months, F1 has become a giant. What started life as a mostly European championship is now a truly global sport, broadcast all over the world to an audience in the hundreds of millions.

The rapid growth and expansion has brought with it incredible wealth. Per BBC Sport, the top teams spend hundreds of millions of pounds per year to stay at the front, and even the sport's minnows have budgets in excess of £65 million.

Once a sport with its feet relatively close to the ground, F1 now exists in a glamorous bubble of champagne, celebrities and multi-million pound contracts.

Overall, the changes are positive.

But there has also been a cost.



Now fat on the untold riches of increased commercialisation, F1 follows the money around the globe. The best circuits and most passionate fanbases are no longer first in ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

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