Ferrari Home Grand Prix may be replaced by Las Vegas

Imola might be dropped from the F1 calendar and Automologist MAC does not approve.

In a report carried by the Daily Mail, Formula One Supremo and certified mad-man, Bernie Ecclestone, has warned that this may well be the last time the world would see Formula One cars tearing around the Monza track, a.k.a. the Ferrari F1 circuit, with a new circuit at Las Vegas currently waiting in the wings to replace it. Raving aficionados may well tell you that this amounts to heresy and that you cannot possibly have an F1 season without there being a weekend at Imola, but there are currently 21 races on the calendar and with Las Vegas having already signed a ‘pre-nup’ with Ecclestone, one race will have to shuffle off the calendar to accommodate the Americans.

The crazy Elf-King of Formula One, Bernie is quoted as saying that he is not sure there is a need for an Italian Formula One race; after all, people used to tell him that it wouldn’t be F1 without a race in France, but for a number of years now there hasn’t been one. Bernie may be forgetting that Monaco is just about a part of France.

According to Bernie, Monza has a contract just for this year and so it will go ahead, but for next year. there is a big question mark hanging over the event. Reactions from the Pit Lane have been immediate, with the likes of Sebastian Vettel who races for the Ferrari F1 team saying: “If you take away Monza for any shitty money reason then you are basically ripping our hearts out”, a comment that can be likened to his driving style, straight and to the point.

As a race fan, and if it was up to me, then Monza would win every day over Las Vegas. It is simply the craziest event on the calendar and not even the insanity that is Vegas and the rowdy Vegas bachelor parties could compete with the noise made by the Tifosi at Ferrari’s ‘home’ event. Of course, Formula One needs to look to expand its markets and bring the occasional new event into the calendar, but I can’t see moving away from Monza and one of the most rabid fan-bases on the planet working out well for the sport.