Revitalizing Monza: Plans for Enhancing the Racetrack, Park, and Villa Reale

“The Government’s attention is paid to Monza and its racetrack. The commitment to plan interventions to enhance, maintain and modernize the Park, the Villa Reale and the circuit is written in black and white and will then be implemented with individual manoeuvres. But Formula 1 is certain that the Government is with Monza.” Fabrizio Sala, Forza Italia MP from Brianza, opens 2024 with a new perspective: “We must make the Monza racetrack an area of ​​national and international importance”.

Come?

“The issue is not trying to obtain funding, but having projects of global, national and even global interest. The Government does not invest in a single local issue. And for this reason it is important that there is teamwork, the Lombardy Region does not it can be left alone to support the car park and, more generally, the Park and Villa complex”.

Meanwhile, the work requested by Formula 1 will start at the racetrack next week…

“That construction site is the basis, the starting point. First of all, we must demonstrate that the money is spent well. Then, however, it is also necessary to show that we are capable of hosting a spectacle like Formula 1. Today that world has changed, today it’s a show and, consequently, we have to think big.”

Are you referring to the example of other circuits in the world?

“Also. For goodness sake, many racetracks don’t have the history of Monza, but we can no longer afford to be attractive just for the name, we must also be attractive in terms of hospitality. I find it absurd that inside the Park and the racetrack there is no a hotel, a structure capable of hosting fans and, more generally, tourists. It’s clear that you have to create a recall system around it.”

Which could be?

“First of all, I would create a large theme park, combining environmental and sports education and entertainment. Let’s be clear, I didn’t say an amusement park, but an amusement park well integrated into the landscape and naturalistic context.”

But if they rejected the Ferris wheel requested by Formula 1 only for the days of the Grand Prix, how is an amusement park conceivable?

“I’m going to an extreme, but it’s a provocation to make people think: in Paris nobody liked the Eiffel Tower, yet now it has become the symbol of Paris if not even of France.”

You had also hypothesized a research center on the racetrack.

“Yes, starting from the laboratory for driverless driving, but in that context we can think about environmental research, training on historical and artistic themes. It is from what we already have that we need to start. We must not look for an external entity just to make us pay rent. What is certain is that concessions cannot last less than 30 years. Anyone who knows how the world works also knows that no one invests with a perspective of just a few years. We must open up to private individuals, otherwise we will face the failure of every initiative. Only in this way can we think of attracting investments, visitors and fans. Even motorbikes.”

In what sense?

“Why can’t we think of bringing the Superbike back to Monza? Is it difficult? Yes. Can it be done? Yes. Then all you need to do is want it. There is already a rough plan. Let us know that there is a Park for everyone.”