Rome Mayor: No Rome GP Without Ferrari!

Needless to say, there would be no point of having a Rome Grand Prix – or even an Italian Grand Prix, for that matter – without championship's most faithful competitor Ferrari. Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno made that very clear yesterday, in an interview for Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, conditioning the planning of a potential 2012 Rome GP to Ferrari staying in the series.

“I do not want to consider the idea of a grand prix of Rome without Ferrari,” said Allemano, as quoted by the aforementioned source.

Allemano's comments come only one day after he confirmed the plans for a track around the streets of Rome for the hosting of an F1 race. According to the information unveiled by the Rome official yesterday, the potential circuit would have an overall length of 4.7 km and will be set around the 1930s Eur district.

“We are going to set up a promotional committee and then officially launch our candidature,” confirmed Allemano yesterday, while adding that the project will necessitate approximately $200m of private investment. Also, the city officials are yet to submit an official bid to Formula One for the potential race.

Ferrari have this week announced they will withdraw from Formula One if the FIA does not  reconsider the two-tier rules for the upcoming season. The Italian manufacturer was later joined by Renault, BMW and Toyota. FIA's Max Mosley is to meet the Formula One Teams Association this week in order to reach a compromise for the future.