Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place at the 4.909-kilometre Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, commonly known as Imola, has been cancellled in order to prioritise the relief effort following devastating flooding in the Italian region.
Severe weather warnings have been in place on Tuesday and Wednesday in the region, which includes the Imola circuit. Formula 1 personnel were asked to leave the track on Tuesday afternoon and were not allowed to return on Wednesday even before the cancellation. Circuit facilities have suffered flooding, from the Santerno river which runs next to the track, despite the fact that the Formula 1 paddock had avoided the worst of the water.
The bigger problem though is the impact the flooding has had elsewhere, even beyond the infrastructure issues like road and bridge closures in the immediate area.
In light of the emergency situation it has been considered by Formula 1 that “it is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel” and an outright cancellation “is the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region”.
Formula 1 also explained that “it would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.”
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