The proposals to bring Formula One to the Italian capital for a grand prix weekend in the near future are still on schedule, according to the city's mayor Gianni Alemanno, who says the race will debut on the calendar "no later than 2013".
The proposed Rome Grand Prix has been a contentious issue since it was first proposed last season, with representatives of the incumbent Italian GP venue Monza slamming the proposal as an "act of arrogance from a parasite capital city".
Earlier this year, Bernie Ecclestone soothed concerns that the Rome race would come at the expense of the historic Monza round of the championship, after the old Italian track extended their deal for the Italian GP until the 2016 season.
The Roman street race proposal then switched to being a second standalone Italian GP venue, with Ecclestone still seemingly keen to get the event on the calendar, despite comments from FIA president Jean Todt suggesting there was 'not conceivable' to have two Italian races.
But Alemanno has insisted that the Rome bid is still on, and will be a second Italian F1 race, set to join the F1 calendar in two to three years time.
"From 2012 or no later than 2013, a Grand Prix will take place in Rome," Alemanno told the Italian Rai 1 television station on Wednesday.
"This will be the second race for Italy, because the race at Monza is guaranteed."
He admitted that the track, which will reportedly be based in the Esposizione Universale Roma (EUR) region of the city, in the southern suburbs, still has some way to go before being rubber-stamped.
"There are problems because we have to reach full agreement with the inhabitants of EUR," he grouched, though he added that: "We have an agreement at the international level."
He concluded that: "There are no certainties, but our promise is very solid."
The Rome race is one of a number of new venues set to join the F1 calendar in the forthcoming seasons. Twenty races are planned for 2011, with the expected inclusion of the Indian GP on the schedule.
The new United States GP is set to debut in 2012, potentially the same year that the Rome race enters the sport, while Ecclestone is actively pursuing events in South Africa and Russia.
The FOM oligarch has suggested in the past that he would be happy to see the F1 schedule expand to as many as 25 races in the future, though the likelihood remains that some current events will drop off the calendar in future, with the likes of Malaysia and Turkey under threat over poor ticket sales.
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