The boss of Italy's automobile club has played down suggestions Rome might be added to the Formula 1 schedule.

This weekend, the streets of the Italian capital will host Formula E, but Angelo Sticchi Damiani said it is still hard to imagine a grand prix in Rome.

"There was a chance to bring Formula 1 to Rome a few years ago," the president of the Italian automobile club Aci told Corriere dello Sport.

"It was a very ambitious and expensive project and perhaps the situation was not right."

Sticchi Damiani said it is therefore difficult to imagine the project getting kick-started.

"A Formula 1 circuit has greater needs in terms of safety, and the costs are very high," he said. "I think it costs at least three times more than Formula E.

"When the idea was there, Bernie Ecclestone decided everything, but today the decisions are more reasoned," the Italian added. "I think in the future there could be more Formula 1 races in Italy, but not in Rome."
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