Monza officials seek to overturn verdict

A Milan court ruled on Wednesday that all competitions will be banned unless they use a suitable system to reduce the noise levels following a formal complaint from a group of residents of the Monza area.

"At the moment we wouldn't be able to host any F1 activity," Enrico Ferrari, director of the Monza autodrome, told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ferrari, however, expressed his relief about the verdict coming at this time of the year, "so there is plenty of time to prepare for counter action."

Monza hosts the Italian Grand Prix in September.

The Milan Automobile Club plan to appeal the verdict within 10 days, while the period before the appeal verdict is out should be one month.

Magistrate Marco Manunta, of the Milan civil court, wrote in his verdict that racing is "a superfluous, dangerous and socially useless activity with a big impact on the environment."

Giorgio Beghella Bartoli, technical director of the track, said this weekend's Monza Rally will go ahead as planned.

"That's because rally cars are within the current set of rules," he said.