Monza major Roberto Scanagatti is confident the city will continue to host the Italian Grand Prix beyond the 2016 edition despite recent comments by Bernie Ecclestone.
The iconic circuit's future in Formula One has been in doubt for some time, with its current deal set to expire this season. New legislation was put in place last year to allow the event to be funded by the Automobile Club of Italy (ACI), making an extension to its contract more affordable.
However there has yet to be confirmation of a new deal and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has suggested it is far from certain an extension will be agreed.
"Monza has got a contract for this year so it is going to go ahead," Ecclestone said in a Mail on Sunday interview last month. "Next year is the question mark. I don't think we have to have an Italian Grand Prix. Somebody once told me a funny thing that you couldn't have Formula One without a race in France. But we do."
However, Scanagatti is convinced a deal will be reached and cannot imagine Formula One without the circuit, which has hosted the Italian Grand Prix in every world championship season except 1980.
"I am sure that next September's race will not be the last time Monza hosts a Formula One grand prix," he is quoted as saying by Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport."The current contract ends in 2016 and there is an ongoing negotiation that has lasted a long time, but I am certain the deal will be renewed because Formula One cannot imagine a world without venues like Monte Carlo, Silverstone and Monza. They all are historic circuits.
"I believe a solution will be found; I do not see an F1 without Monza, I think in the end there will be a [positive] outcome."