MONZA, Italy -- Sebastian Vettel labelled Monza's contract renewal "fantastic news" after it was confirmed the iconic venue will remain Italin Grand Prix host until at least 2019.
Monza's future has been the subject of much speculation this year, with lengthy negotiations between Bernie Ecclestone and the Automobile Club d'Italia. Imola had previously been mooted as a replacement for the Italian Grand Prix but Vettel, set for his second one as a Ferrari driver this weekend, thinks there is no other place which can host the race.
Told about the renewal after FP2, Vettel said: "That's fantastic news. I think we all love this track. Obviously I've raced in red and I've raced in different colours, it's the best to race in red obviously. But ignoring that for a second it's a fantastic track, it's a fantastic atmosphere."
Vettel thinks Monza should remain on the race track even if it means the commercial rights holder fails to match the fees paid by others.
"We need this track on the calendar and therefore that's excellent news, even if I don't know how much tracks are paying these days but we should even race here if -- now I'm going to get myself in trouble -- but even with a bad deal for whoever is cashing in, Monza has to stay on the calendar because it means more than just cash. It means history, tradition, racing, enthusiasm, Ferrari, so there's a lot of reasons why we should come here."
Vettel's enthusiasm for the new deal was echoed by reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who believes F1 would not be the same without Monza, which has been on the calendar for every season bar one (1980) since the inaugural world championship in 1950.
"I'm so happy.," Hamilton said about the new deal "We can't ever lose this track; to see the fans here and the track is phenomenal, so unique. This is part of the heritage of the sport, and if you lose this grand prix you lose a very big part of what F1 is."