Despite claims by the local Mayor, and a four-week gap between the third and fourth races, Bernie Ecclestone has said that that Imola will not host a round of the Formula One World Championship in 2007.

Since the issuing of the provisional calendar in August, from which Imola was omitted, there has been speculation regarding the Italian track. When the FIA's World Motor Sport Council issued the 2007 schedule, with Imola still conspicuous by its absence, the local Mayor, Massimo Marchignoli, still insisted that he remained hopeful.

Now, however, all hope appears to have been lost, with Marchignoli revealing that in a letter from Ecclestone, the Englishman apologises for the fact that Imola will not host a race next season. "I'm sorry, but we have lost Imola," he is said to have written.

Despite the Italian government confirming that funds will be in place for renovation work, Ecclestone has told Marchignoli that no contract had been signed with either race organizers or the circuit's operators, Sagis, in order to host the Grand Prix next year.

Ecclestone first raised doubts regarding the Imola event back in 2004, when he said that that year's San Marino Grand Prix would be the last. However, following negotiations with local and national government officials a new contract was put in place.

In addition to the redevelopment work, it is understood that Ecclestone was demanding an increased fee from the race organizers.

Though Imola is now definitely not part of the 2007 schedule, hopefully it could be back on the calendar in 2008, when Sagis' contract expires, and a new operator, with the required economic guarantees, can be appointed.

Imola first hosted a Formula One Grand Prix in 1980, when, for one-year, the Italian Grand Prix was switched from Monza. Since then the Italian track has hosted 26 San Marino Grands Prix, including the ill-fated 1994 event in which Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna both perished.