Ecclestone's `Glamour' Rome F-1 Threatens Historic Grand Prix
Bernie Ecclestone, president of Formula One Management
Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg
Bernie Ecclestone, president of Formula One Management.
Bernie Ecclestone, president of Formula One Management. Photographer: Antoine Antoniol/Bloomberg
Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Flavia Rotondi reports from Rome about Bernie Ecclestone's bid to bring Formula One car races to the Italian capital, and its potential impact on the future of the historic Grand Prix at Monza. Monza in Italy, opened in 1922, was among the seven circuits of the inaugural 1950 F-1 season that also included Silverstone in the U.K., Belgium’s Spa and the streets of Monaco. Plans by F-1 chief Ecclestone and Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno to hold a race in the city may spell Monza’s end as the sport expands to full capacity with events in India and the U.S. on the horizon. (Source: Bloomberg)
Bernie Ecclestone’s drive to bring Formula One car races to “glamour” capitals such as Rome is jeopardizing the future of the historic Italian Grand Prix at Monza, its organizers say.
Monza, opened in 1922, was among the seven circuits of the inaugural 1950 F-1 season that also included Silverstone in the U.K., Belgium’s Spa and the streets of Monaco. Plans by F-1 chief Ecclestone and Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno to hold a race in Italy’s capital may spell Monza’s end as the sport expands to full capacity with events in India and the U.S. on the horizon.
“Ecclestone’s plan is to have glamour cities host Grands Prix,” said Enrico Ferrari, who heads the circuit at Monza, a city of 120,000 people 12.5 miles north of Milan. “Amid a globalization of Grands Prix, each country will inevitably be allowed to stage only one” and “since Rome is the capital, I’m afraid we’d lose the Grand Prix forever.”
Rome’s city council is due to meet later this month to consider the plans for F-1, whose season ended yesterday in Abu Dhabi, and vote on them by year-end. The bid is led by former racecar driver Maurizio Flammini, who says he has investments of 200 million euros ($280 million) to launch the event in 2013 in the suburb of EUR. Many of its residents oppose the race and are lobbying against it.
“Rome is known around the world for its history and landmarks, but we need an event that projects an image of Rome that’s not just about museums,” Alemanno said in an interview, adding that he estimates the event may bring about 1 billion euros to Italy. “We want to project a modern image and Formula One would help us do that.”
No Contract Yet
The race would be coupled with other events over a month such as concerts and art exhibitions, and marketed to F-1 fans outside the European Union, according to Flammini. Ecclestone has agreed to back it if the city gives the go-ahead, he said.
“We haven’t got a contract yet for the event,” Ecclestone said in a phone interview. “As soon as they get that ‘Yes, yes, we can have a race,’ then let’s see if we can make it happen.”
Ecclestone has cut three European races since he began expanding the F-1 series in Asia and the Middle East in 2004. In 2007, he eliminated a race in the small town of Imola, Italy, and one of Germany’s two events. He retained a race in Barcelona after adding Valencia, another Spanish city, as a host in 2008, while dropping the French Grand Prix the following year.
The French event, like Monza also part of F-1’s inaugural season, was held on the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, 150 miles south of Paris. Ecclestone has said he wants the French Grand Prix held in the capital.
‘Still Early Days’
Autodromo Nazionale Monza Sias SpA, which manages the Monza track, signed a contract in March to ensure it stages the Grand Prix until 2016. Ecclestone said a Rome race wouldn’t necessarily be a death knell for Monza. “We have two events at the moment in Spain,” he said, suggesting Italy could have two as well. “Let’s wait and see. It’s still early days.”
Monza Mayor Marco Mariani said Rome’s entry into F-1 would spell the end of the sport in his city. “Politically speaking, Rome is far stronger than us,” he said. The city of Monza would lose more than 100 million euros annually and 2,000 jobs without the race, he said.
Flammini, 60, has proposed staging the race a week before Monza in August, when many Romans are on vacation, to market both as a package mostly to foreigners willing to pay 250 euros to attend each event. The race will create about 10,000 jobs and add 116 million euros in yearly tax revenue, he said.
Limited Appeal
Flammini’s proposal would have limited appeal, selling 1,500 tickets at most, said Ferrari, who bears no relation to the eponymous carmaking family. Monza, considered the “home circuit” for the Ferrari F-1 team based in nearby Maranello, may also lose money from sponsors. Rather than doubling their investment to cover both races, they’d probably split it between the two events, he said.
“Formula One is all about speed,” Ferrari said. “There are very few circuits out there that offer the right conditions for speed and for passing: Silverstone, Spa and Monza. Attempts to create those conditions in glamorous cities haven’t quite measured up. You don’t get the spectacle of sheer speed.”
Flammini, a former F-2 driver, wants to run the race in EUR, a neoclassical district on Rome’s southern edge built under wartime dictator Benito Mussolini.
“We first came to live in EUR because it’s green and has a variety of services for citizens,” Maria Cristina Lattanzi, who heads a group of residents opposed to the event, said. “This would all be turned upside down by the Formula One race.”
To contact the reporters on for this story: Jeffrey Donovan at jdonovan26@bloomberg.net; Flavia Rotondi in Rome at frotondi@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Fraher at jfraher@bloomberg.net
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