16/01/2024
NEWS STORY
The upgrade required to keep the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on the calendar is finally underway.
Only last month, Imola-born F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali warned that the upgrade, which includes a new underpass into the paddock, the resurfacing of the entire track, improvements to drainage, the upgrading of grandstands and various other logistical improvements, had to be in place before this year's race scheduled for 1 September.
"The work was supposed to start after the Grand Prix and still hasn't started," he told Rai's La Politica nel Pallone. "It should now start in the near future.
"I am in good contact with the motorsport federation in Italy," he added. "We are negotiating, but we need elements to carry this negotiation forward.
"My push is a constructive push," he insisted. "We must keep pace with the times. It's all about understanding the desire to invest in F1 as a racing platform. Entertainment and business can no longer be on a private level. It is our country that must make a precise choice."
President of the Automobile Club d'Italia, Angelo Sticchi Damiani has now confirmed that work is underway on the €21m (£18m) project with the work due to be complete by June.
"Our main goal is to bring the Autodromo back up to speed," he told reporters this week. "We can no longer afford to have problems with the flow of fans, and we must offer greater comfort to those who come to the circuit.
"We have set ourselves three goals to best meet the requests made to us," he continued, "and of these the first is the underpasses. The second goal is related to the grandstands. We still have several temporary structures, so we will build more solid structures that will provide all the amenities in line with what a spectator expects today. Each grandstand will be an island with all the necessary services inside, so that the public will not have to move around.
"Finally, a permanent type of roofing will be built over the pit building (it is currently a tensile structure). The support pillars will be reinforced because the structure will grow in height.
"By the end of June everything must be ready to host all the events scheduled from early July, up to the most important one which is the Italian GP."
"We need to be able to receive our guests in a proper structure and no longer under a tent, as it was until last year," said Domenicali in reaction to the news. "In addition to this, there are obviously other interventions needed for the future. Monza has a great tradition but we must also look ahead and propose the racetrack at the level of the other world championship tracks.
"I want to thank the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the President of Lombardy, the President of the Automobile Club of Italy and the Mayor of Monza for the effort that led to this announcement and to making the investments possible," he added.
"I look forward to seeing these works completed in time for the Grand Prix in September and I hope that the entire work program will continue in the coming years".
No doubt if Liberty had their way, this classic track, arguably one of the most historic and charismatic on the calendar, will become as anodyne as so many others on the calendar.