Race start, Imola, 2022

Imola GP promoter expects lost race will lead to one-year contract extension

2023 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

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The promoter of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix expects Formula 1 will allow its cancelled race to take place at a future date.

However they indicated the race is unlikely to go ahead this year, and F1 has not indicated the race will go ahead this season either.

The Imola circuit was due to hold the sixth round of the world championship this weekend. However it has been called off due to heavy rain and flooding in the region, which caused the nearby Santerno river to burst its banks.

The president of the Automobile Club d’Italia, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, said he is “deeply saddened by what is happening in Emilia Romagna”.

“The cancellation was inevitable in the face of such a dramatic situation. Given the complexity of the calendar, it is reasonable to imagine that the 2023 edition will be run in 2026. But at the moment it is certainly not a priority.”

The ACI agreed a deal with F1 last year to keep the race on the calendar until at least 2025.

The FIA’s F1 Sporting Regulations state that “a competition which is cancelled with less than three months’ written notice to the FIA will not be considered for inclusion in the following year’s championship unless the FIA judges the cancellation to have been due to force majeure”.

The ACI said in its statement it believes the race’s cancellation meets that criteria. “The emergency caused by the bad weather which once again hit the Emilia-Romagna Region, require the organisers […] to cancel the event, due to force majeure,” it noted, adding it was “a decision that was taken in mutual agreement with the authorities and F1”.

As an organisation it “expresses its utmost solidarity with those who, in these dramatic hours, mourn the loss of their loved ones or are forced to leave their homes”.

“It also expresses support and thanks to the Institutions of the State, the Emilia Romagna region, the forces of order and civil defence which, in these difficult days, are doing their utmost to help the population and secure the area.

“Lastly, thanks go to the more than 3,000 insiders who had arrived at Imola to organise and make the grand prix possible.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on “Imola GP promoter expects lost race will lead to one-year contract extension”

  1. At least they’ll get a closer race than anything to do with the RB19…

    1. @bullfrog Unless the 2026 pecking order also turns out somewhat one-sided, with one team getting that year’s technical regulation overhaul better than others, even though the budget cap will have existed for a good while by that point.

  2. Chris Horton
    17th May 2023, 22:24

    Fingers crossed for an extension. Absolutely love Imola.

  3. I also expect a year added to the current hosting deal, like with COVID cancellations (two in some cases), since rescheduling within the remaining season is effectively impossible.

  4. Irrespective of this week’s disaster Imola should not be on the F1 calendar, let alone have a contract extension.

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