Italian Grand Prix officials say a new contract with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone will be signed by the end of February.
The historic race appeared to be at risk of dropping off the calendar, before a law preventing the Italian Automobile Club from contributing funds was changed.
Angelo Sticchi Damiani, president of the Automobile Club of Italy, has now confirmed that officials are close to securing a deal to secure the event’s future until 2020 or 2023.
"We are on the home stretch to close the deal," he told Autosprint. "We still need to refine some minor details, but the basis of the contract is now decided.
"I hope we can clear the final doubts within a couple of meetings. Let's say, the deal is 80% done. I count on signing by the end of February."
Damiani said discussions reached "a point of no return" at the 2015 Italian GP and claims Ecclestone was "resolute in stopping talks and losing the race from 2017."
He explained: "The people Ecclestone was talking to wouldn't offer the money he wanted, and proposed only renovating works on the track. Then [Italian Prime Minister Matteo] Renzi and [Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)- president Giovanni] Malago stepped in.
"They met with Ecclestone and told him Italy wanted to close the deal positively. The government wouldn't have to put a dime in as it would appoint the CONI to find the funds, and so it did: the CONI then authorised the ACI to do the deal."
Ecclestone has reduced his terms from $28 million (£20m) to around $20m (£14m), which Damiani believes is "more or less what the Spanish and Belgian GP organisers pay."
He added: "The deal is almost done, only a few details are missing. [The length of the deal] is one of the points still in discussion. There are two options: for four or seven years.
"In the first case, the race is ensured until 2020, in the other case until 2023."
Discussion about this post