Rome has officially declared the abandonment of interest about hosting a F1 Grand Prix, although having previously been given a potential slot for the 2013 F1 season. Moreover, the city will shift its focus to the chase of the 2020 Olympic Games, marking the 60th anniversary of the 1960 event that took place in the same city.Undoubtedly, the most important factor in the call-off was a letter sent by Bernie Ecclestone to Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno stating that henceforth he wanted countries to host only one race. Promoter and former F2 racer Maurizio Flammini had some hopes that the race could alternate with Monza, but that never seemed likely, especially with Ferrari expressing its opposition to the idea.
The major confirmed the latest news with a short statement in a press conference.
“Today we definitively and formally abandon the F1 project for Rome... We have always maintained contact with the mayor of Monza, with the ministers of the north and all those of the Lombardy region. I have to say that we never found a great dialogue, even when we stressed that if it was a choice between Monza and Rome then we would pull back."
Through the F1 history there have long been links between F1 venues and the Olympic Games. Montreal hosted its first F1 race adjacent to the rowing lake two years after the 1976 Olympics, while the Barcelona track was developed in parallel with preparations for the 1992 Games.
Melbourne's bid for a F1 race was encouraged by rival Sydney winning the 2000 Olympics, while the same process happened with Shanghai and Beijing.
The 2014 Russian GP will be held in the wake of the winter event in Sochi under the promise that track preparations wont delay the Olympic venues, while any talk of a street race in London was soon abandoned too after the British capital won the 2012 Games.
