Italian capital city Rome has given up on its plans of hosting a Formula 1 race, the city's Mayor Gianni Alemanno announced.

Despite Italy already hosting a Grand Prix at Monza, Rome was hoping to stage a second race in the country from 2013. However, the announcement follows F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone's statement last week in which he told Alemanno that it would be difficult for Italy to stage more than one Grand Prix a year.

Alemanno, at a news conference, said, Today we're definitively and formally renouncing the plan for Formula 1 in Rome. This move represents a step backwards because we have always said we would have done so, should the FIA have posed an alternative between Rome and Monza.

However, we have an Olympic dream that is still going on. So let's make clear to Italy and to the world we want to stage the Games in Rome.

Maurizio Flammini, Rome's project boss, was aiming at a Grand Prix in Rome by 2013 and had claimed that Ecclestone was willing to take to the idea of alternating the Italian GP between Rome and Monza.

However, Monza officials said they were not agreeable to sharing the hosting rights.

Monza's circuit - The Autodromo Nazionale - has the backing of history. Monza had hosted the first Italian Grand Prix way back in 1922 and is popular among fans and teams.

Also, with the newest addition of India in the Grand Prix calendar, there is no room for two races in the same country, especially with F1 looking to expand its global reach.

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