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Formula One chief executive Chase Carey announced on Monday that after two weekend sessions at Monza, the Italian Grand Prix would move to a three-day format in the 2022 season. Monza’s staging of the race on Friday will be scaled back, so Saturday and Sunday will offer much the same as the 2017.
“We spent a lot of time here in Italy working with people on the city and stakeholders, and we decided to go ahead with the way they want to go,” Carey said, according to CNN. “There’s a lot of things about the weekend in general, from getting around to tickets, that will change as part of the strategic makeover of the races.”
The overall move is seen as one way for F1 to please its core fans, and it will cost Monza more than half a million euros in annual revenue. Monza’s mayor immediately pushed back against the new rules, saying that the circuit and the track “have always been the heart and soul of our city.”
Barcelona is the only other track on the calendar that currently runs through a weekend, and the move creates more competitive balance among the races. The decision also comes after a successful first three races for F1’s new owner Liberty Media. It is particularly notable that Monza moved to such a full schedule last year, when no team managed to make the top three.