Emilia RomagnaGrand Prix

The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, or more commonly known as ‘Imola’ is a circuit with a lot of motorsport history. It held its first Grand Prix in 1980, replacing Monza as the Italian Grand Prix that year, before being renamed the ‘San Marino GP’ and hosting F1 between 1981 and 2006. The venue made a return to the calendar in recent years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and has signed a contract until the end of 2025.

Lewis holds the lap record around this 4.909km circuit, with a 1m 15.484s lap he set in 2020.

The track consists of 19 corners, and is super fast with an old school feel. It’s been known to punish mistakes with gravel traps and barriers never far away, especially with the variable weather conditions we’ve seen here in the past few years, but it’s a thrill for the drivers. Despite the narrow track making it difficult to overtake in spots, Lewis has previously labelled Imola as “phenomenal” and “unbelievable” on how fast it feels over a single lap.

Since its return to the calendar, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has thrown up a mix of weather conditions. The first event in 2020 was held in November and remained dry but cloudy, but in 2021 and 2022, with the race in Spring, heavy rain fell which made for a wet and extra challenging circuit. However, the worst of the weather occurred last season when the event was cancelled as a result of local flooding in northern Italy.

As well as the many highlights and great races this circuit has brought us, we can’t visit Imola without thinking of the tragic weekend of 1994. In two separate incidents over the race weekend, F1 lost two of its brightest stars: Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. After their deaths, several changes were made to the circuit including chicanes at the Villeneuve corner where Austrian Ratzenberger lost his life, and at the Tamburello corner after the passing of three-time World Champion, Senna.