Will Formula 1 suffer by neglecting classic venues?

Formula 1's historic venues are struggling to be part of the next chapters of the sport, as Germany could fall off the 2015 Formula 1 calendar.

Other traditional hosts like France and also Imola, the former Italian venue of the annual San Marino grand prix, are no longer represented.

That is despite Imola's Enzo e Dino Ferrari track having recently secured full approval after an inspection by Charlie Whiting, circuit director Pietro Benvenuti told media.

"In June, Charlie Whiting inspected the circuit and reconfirmed a first grade licence which expires in June 2017," he revealed.

"That means [Imola] has all the technical requirements to accommodate any FIA race, including formula one," Benvenuti added.

The report, however, said there is no chance Imola will be returning to the calendar any time soon.

"It is not a problem of infrastructure, but the costs that would be incurred in hosting a grand prix," said Benvenuti.

"In the current context, no circuit is able to meet these costs without the support of political institutions or generous sponsors," he added.

"It is my belief that Formula 1 should think again, taking into account the changed economic conditions and the risk that none of the race tracks that created the very myth of F1 will be there anymore."

Late last year it that a new, so-called ‘stability law’ passing through parliament could cost Monza, another fabled F1 venue, up to about €20 million in tax exemptions.

This in turn could impact on their ability to pay the fees required by FOM to host the grand prix.

Around the same time Bernie Ecclestone revealed that the current contractual terms with the Autodromo Nazionale are a disaster, and threatened that “after 2016, bye-bye” to Formula 1 at the venue.

But Francesco Ferri, the new director of the Monza race organiser Sias, insists Monza would survive even without the iconic Italian Grand Prix.

But the question being asked is: can the sport at the highest level afford to shed the circuits which have been an integral part and parcel of Formula 1 history?