Hamilton: It’s important to keep Monza on the F1 calendar

Lewis Hamilton is not the only one who wants the Italian Grand Prix to stay, as Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg also believe that the Italian Grand Prix should be retained. Let us recall that Bernie Ecclestone is currently negotiating for a new contract.

However, Monza cannot afford an increase in fees to host F1 in Italy, while Ecclestone does not want to lower his demands. If no agreement is reached, the Italian Grand Prix will meet the same fate as the French Grand Prix or more recently the German Grand Prix.

Concerned about the fate of the Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton hopes the event will remain and explains why it should stay on the calendar: « There are two aspects to this circuit: you have the track that holds great historical value for the sport and then you have the fans, who are the reason for our presence. You have these few races throughout the year, the British Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix, the Italian Grand Prix, and the German Grand Prix which, in my opinion, represent the foundation of this sport, especially when you see the number of fans at these circuits. When you are on the podium at the Italian Grand Prix, the right side of the stands is filled, most of the time with Ferrari fans and other fans… you don’t have that in other places, so I think it’s important that we keep that. If you lose the Italian Grand Prix, you lose all the fans ».

While the situation seems to be in trouble, Bernie Ecclestone believes that the Italian Grand Prix could move to another location. But once again, for Lewis Hamilton, the Grand Prix must remain at the historic autodrome: “I cannot imagine the Italian Grand Prix anywhere else. I think that ultimately, all the politics and other things should sort themselves out, I’m sure,” he concludes in *Crash*.

Monza has been on the Formula 1 calendar every year since the championship’s inception, except for the year 1980, when the Italian Grand Prix was held at the Imola circuit.