Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has signed an agreement to keep the Italian Grand Prix at Monza until 2016.

There were fears that the historic circuit might lose its place on the Formula One calendar when its contract expired in 2012, with the expected introduction of a Rome Grand Prix.

But Ecclestone put pen to paper on a four-year extension with Sias, the track's managers, which will see the race continue at Monza where it has taken place almost every year since 1922.