Rome mayor gives up plans for F1 race

Mayor Gianni Alemanno says Rome has given up on hosting a Formula One race.

The announcement comes a week after F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wrote Alemanno a letter saying it would be difficult for Italy to host more than one race per year, with the Italian Grand Prix in Monza already a fixture on the circuit.

Led by industrialist Maurizio Flammini, officials in Rome were hoping to create a street circuit in the EUR district of the city, but had met protests from local residents.

At a news conference Friday, Alemanno said, ''Today we're definitively and formally renouncing the plan for Formula One in Rome.''