Although known as the Temple of Speed, and still the fastest track on the F1 calendar, over the years the Autodromo Nazionale Monza has seen numerous changes which in the eyes of many have totally emasculated it.

The legendary Italian track, with its infamous reputation in terms of the number of lives it has claimed over the years, is now pretty much a 'point and squirt' power track.

However, looking ahead to the circuit's 100th anniversary in 2022, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the president of the Italian racing federation ACI, has unveiled a €100m upgrade aimed at restoring what was the world's third purpose-built race track to its former glory.

"The money will be found in some way", he told Gazzetto dello Sport. "This is a work that we can already do in 2019."

The planned changes include reversing some of the changes made in the wake of Ayrton Senna's death at Imola in 1994. This would mean the widening of the second Lesmo and the scrapping of the second chicane, scene of Sebastian Vettel's clash with Lewis Hamilton in this year's Italian Grand Prix.

There is also talk of renovating the legendary banking - a cause close to our editor's heart - thereby allowing the track to be expanded to almost 10 kilometres in length, though it is highly unlikely this configuration would be used for F1.

"We want to recover the ring in order to expand what we can offer," said Damiani. "The road and the ring are a 10 km track, how many others can boast something similar? We can also think of a temporary structure that can be installed before the GP."

Revealing that the upgrade would also include improvements to the facilities for fans and the media, Damiani admits that the big question is funding, with the government unlikely to help out.

"The positions are still very far away from where we would like," he said, "and we have not yet talked about figures."

Indeed, as it stands 2019 is the last race under the current contract, with the circuit and F1 bosses yet to agree a deal for 2020 onwards.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

No related items for this article/feature

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by GrahamG, 15/12/2018 7:37

"This is a move towards the Italian GP becoming the sole remaining event in Europe. Italy is the one country with the will to keep a race at all costs, all the others will be forced out by escalating losses as governments question why they should be increasing the profits pf a American company and the European fan base shrinks behind the pay wall with no recruitment.
Well done Monza, have the one European "super track" and you will probably be able to make it pay its way."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by RDFox, 14/12/2018 22:53

"Start talking about restoring Ascari to a flat-on-the-floor sweeper instead of that emasculated chicane it is now, and I'll start paying attention..."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Uffen, 14/12/2018 20:59

"No so long ago the cars were "too fast" and considered to dangerous. So we had grooved tires, narrow wheel tracks, smaller engines, and neutered tracks with wider run-offs, chicanes and re-profiled corners. Now "the show" demands more action. So, bigger, slick tires, wider cars, more power, and at Monza the removal of a chicane, and faster corners.

The current safer cars give license to raise the speeds and so we're back where we started - danger levels equal to what they were when the cars were "too fast." It's not the speed - it's the sudden stop.

We want more over taking. I concur. But, when does the highest danger occur? When the cars are closest to one another and going fast and trying to occupy the same bit of track. Look at any first corner in a race.

We are a fickle bunch. And so are the FIA. "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Elf Team Tyrrell, 14/12/2018 17:13

"Totally agree......this is definitely one circuit that needs to be flat out and not blighted by awful chicanes. "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by ClarkwasGod, 14/12/2018 17:02

"They need to get rid of BOTH chicanes"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Monza planning €100m upgrade

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page