Formula 1 will continue to race at Imola in Italy until at least 2025 after signing a new deal with the race promoters.
The series returned to the circuit in 2020 when it was forced to reorganise its schedule as a result of the pandemic. The parkland venue remained on the calendar last year and the race promoters later indicated they had agreed terms for a four-year contract extension, which was confirmed today.Imola held the Italian Grand Prix in 1980, and from 1981 to 2006 was the home of Italy’s second round of the world championship, known as the San Marino Grand Prix. Since its return to the calendar the race has been officially named after the Emilia-Romagna region which is home to the track.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said “the circuit is iconic and has been part of the history of our sport and they have done an incredible job of hosting two races during the pandemic.
“It is a proud moment for our Italian fans to host two races and for all our fans around the world to see this fantastic circuit on the calendar for the future.
“I want to thank everyone involved in making this happen and the work of the Emilia-Romagna Region, in particular the President of the Automobile Club of Italy, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President of Emilia-Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the City of Imola. We are all looking forward to being back in Imola in April to thrill our fans.”
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Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
7th March 2022, 18:45
I get it, emotionally, but from a track and racing perspective, Imola isn’t any good.
Dane
7th March 2022, 18:52
Last year’s race was pretty decent, but perhaps the newer generation of cars will make for a better show.
Yaru (@yaru)
8th March 2022, 4:06
Problem is the size of the car IMO. They are pretty huge.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
8th March 2022, 10:28
Imola raced badly across all decades, even when cars were just 180 cm wide.
At some point, it may just be concluded that Imola, in its current form, is a track just not very conducive to producing good F1 races.
mmertens (@mmertens)
8th March 2022, 14:12
Disagree with you on that, we had memorable races there in the 80s and 90s, and also some really good ones in 2000s with the chicanes on tamburello already. I’d rather have tracks like Imolain F1 with character and which punish mistakes than any Tilkedrome with parking lot spaces.
amian
7th March 2022, 19:02
No, it is F1 that isn’t any good. Imola is a fantastic track! It looks stunning, with beautiful greens, grass, trees (that give out a better sense of speed) and elevation changes. And the long main straight section is amazing. It’s one of the best tracks in F1 right now and a legendary classic on top of it.
Niefer (@niefer)
7th March 2022, 20:53
+1
anon
7th March 2022, 21:00
amian, I do feel that, perhaps because of the events of the 1994 race, the circuit has taken something of a disproportionate amount of focus in the minds of fans, particularly those who grew up in the 1990s. Outside of that particular race, are there that many races that people would look back to for notable positive reasons?
It also has to be said that, in some ways, your post does underline one of the aspects about Imola – it’s notable that, quite often, when people talk about Imola, the focus quite often is on the aesthetics of the setting, the regional culture or other aspects, but not so much about the races themselves.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
7th March 2022, 21:40
Fair enough, but the middle eastern and Russian races have neither the aesthetics or the culture.
Yaru (@yaru)
8th March 2022, 4:07
You can’t make culture without racing there for a number of years first.
some racing fan
8th March 2022, 1:12
’81, ’83, ’85, ’90, ’96, ’05 were all good.
PeterG
8th March 2022, 20:45
2005/2006 were good in terms of the Alonso/Schumacher scraps at the end but in terms of actual racing both were awful & i think both of those races featured less than 3 overtakes as overtaking has always been next to impossible at Imola since the 1995 changes.
Simon
7th March 2022, 23:37
@amian
True, but most of the current TV camera positions are awful. Now that Imola is confirmed for a few years, perhaps this can be worked on…
Ben (@)
7th March 2022, 19:05
I hope we will see this in the F1 2021 game.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
7th March 2022, 19:52
@sunnchilde It is, and it’s great fun because it feels very different, yes it’s narrow, but it is possible to overtake. Best of all each lap is a slightly rewarding challenge and no two feel the same. Lap 37 at some tracks feel no different to Lap 3. It looks good too.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th March 2022, 20:27
@sunnchilde @bernasaurus
I’ve driven Imola a bit on F1 2021, even more on Assetto Corsa, & I find the track enjoyable driving-wise being decently flowing, even if not the best for overtaking.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th March 2022, 20:20
The previously speculated commitment until 2025 took quite a while to become official.
This puts French GP at an even bigger threat as pretty much all other European events (& others) are either committed beyond the upcoming season or wouldn’t get axed for different reasons.
Circuit Paul Ricard is effectively #1 to get ousted for China (which won’t face cancellation for a 4th season anymore), Qatar, possibly also LV, & or another.
Antz (@antznz)
7th March 2022, 21:16
@jerejj Chinese GP will go ahead as they managed to run the winter Olympics? I hadn’t seen any comments on being able to race in China but this makes sense, if China sees F1 as significant enough to be worth the trouble.. They still seem very rigid about being covid free.
I really wouldn’t mind Paul Ricard going, it’s the most frustrating race to watch. Imola is stunning. Only time will tell how well the new gen cars race there *fingers crossed*
Jere (@jerejj)
8th March 2022, 7:25
@antznz I meant next year. Of course, not this year anymore.
antybuc
7th March 2022, 21:09
Great news. Boring Sochi is finallly gone. Grazie. :)
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
8th March 2022, 0:32
I didn’t think of it like that, as in Sochi not happening but Imola is now permanent. Wars and pandemics aside for a second. Perhaps it’s one tiny thing to be positive for; The Car Park of never really being entirely sure of what sector you’re watching on the screen; let alone what corner it is, has been replaced by an at least colourful Imola. Sochi looked empty and grey and even given plenty of time, it always looked like a temporary fix, I don’t think it was ever going to become a mainstay highly anticipated race.
But obviously these aren’t the reasons it’s not happening. More important stuff is.
János
7th March 2022, 23:42
Yes!
We need more races on iconic tracks…
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
8th March 2022, 1:23
Italy deserves two F1 races on the calendar. It would be cool if they could alternate with Mugello but I understand that such an arrangement is hard for race promoters. Maybe it’s just my sentimentality but I prefer races at classic european tracks over a contrived ‘street circuit’ race track in Hanoi for example, or yet another race in one of the persian gulf states. As long as they continue to hold F1 races in Monte Carlo I won’t complain about classic tracks being too tight for good racing. I complain about enough already.
Chris Horton
8th March 2022, 3:05
Great news. Beautiful circuit in a beautiful location. Now hopefully Portimao can replace Sochi.
S
8th March 2022, 5:24
F1 really are gambling on the new cars making things more interesting, it seems, because this track sure isn’t going to do it. Not even Formula 3 or GT3 can put on a decent race here.
Dex
8th March 2022, 9:40
It’s a great track and I’m glad to see it back (for good). I’m also glad to see that F1 is still present in Europe, where it belongs and can’t be itself without. Yep, the track is not very suitable to modern F1 cars. Almost no iconic track is. So the problem is in the cars. We’ll see about the new generation, but they are still too big and heavy. Make the next cars suitable for your best tracks F1, I’m sure all those engineering minds would figure it out. That’s much better move than racing only on street circuits in Azerbaijan, S. Arabia, or “modern” circuits like in Sochi (OK, that one was not supposed to last even without the war), UAE… I’d rather see Tilke lose his lucrative gig than all of us lose Imola, SPA, Monza, (even short GP version of) Nürburgring, Suzuka… I also wish we saw some iconic USA venues back (with new surfaces etc., all of it can be done) instead of some weird Miami GP etc., even instead of uninspiring copy-paste-mix-it-all COTA. At least stop looking for more damn street races, this is not Formula E (yet).
Qeki (@qeki)
8th March 2022, 10:38
I can’t wait for the 2023 Emiglia Romangia Made in Italy 30th anniversary of San Marino Gran Prix of Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola Italy.
But great news it isn’t as huge as Spa or as historic as Silverstone or as fast as Monza but it belongs to the calendar.