"The lawyers will exchange their last considerations in London in the next few hours, and I expect the contract to be signed at the weekend," he said. "We've had to work hard," he said, thanking Premier Matteo Renzi for engineering a "turning point" by meeting Ecclestone last year, and also thanking the Lombardy regional government for its support. "The required investment is 17 million dollars more than the current contract. We couldn't have done it on our own," he said, adding that "Ecclestone also showed patience, a sign that Monza is important for him too".
The talks to renew the existing contract, which ran out next year, have been long and hard.
The head of Italy's Olympic Committee (CONI) Giovanni Malago' said recently that the Monza race was "sacred" and that he was optimistic that it would stay in the city despite the difficulties involved.

The sporting event has been held there since 1922.
The Italian Grand Prix (Gran Premio d'Italia) is one of the longest-running events on the Formula One calendar.
The Italian Grand Prix was also one of the inaugural Formula One championship races in 1950, and has been held every year since then.
The only other championship race for which this is true is the British Grand Prix, and the only other inaugural F1 races that are still on the calendar are the Monaco Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix. (Ansa)