FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRAN PREMIO DEL MADE IN ITALY E DELL’EMILIA-ROMAGNA 2024 | ||||
date | Route | Circle length | Kroogov | Distance |
17-19/05/2024 | named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari | 4909 m | 63 | 309,049 km |
Official site |
Imola is a small town in the plain east of the Apennines, at the center of all things motorsport in Italy – the factory floors of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati are very close.
In post-war Italy, four motorsport enthusiasts – Campagnoli, Golinelli, Montevici and Vigi – decided to connect local public roads, resulting in a track where local car companies could test their products.
Work started in March 1950 and a few years later Enzo Ferrari sent his sports car to Imola. In 1953 the first motorcycle race took place and a year later the assembled spectators witnessed an interesting battle between Umberto Maglioli in a Ferrari and Luigi Musso in a Maserati.
To gain Ferrari’s support, the Imola municipal council renamed the circuit in honor of Enzo Ferrari’s son Dino, who died of leukemia in 1956. This guaranteed patronage from Maranello, and within a few years money was found to complete the construction. stands and access roads. In 1979, a Formula 1 race that was not included in the championship was held here: the Dino Ferrari Grand Prix, which was won by Niki Lauda in a Brabham.
Emilia-Romagna not only has its own Grand Prix, but also its own language: Emilian-Romagna, related to Lombard, Piedmontese and Ligurian among the Gallo-Italian languages. According to the UNESCO atlas it is endangered.
In 1980, Imola replaced Monza as host of the national stage, and in 1981 the Italian Grand Prix returned to Monza. Regulations prohibited holding more than one Grand Prix in each country, so the idea arose to hold the Grand Prix of San Marino, a nearby small state, in Imola.
In 1981, the San Marino Grand Prix debuted in the championship, the race was won by Nelson Piquet, but it was remembered for the accident of Gilles Villeneuve, whose Ferrari flew off the track after a tire explosion and was actually torn in half. Fortunately, the driver was not injured and the bend was later named after him.
The 1982 race was spoiled by the confrontation between the teams and the championship leadership, and then by the conflict between the Ferrari drivers. Didier Pironi overtook Gilles Villeneuve, violating team agreements, and two weeks later the Canadian died in Zolder, Belgium after encountering Jochen Mass’s March in qualifying. A year later, Villeneuve’s friend Patrick Tambay, who replaced him at Ferrari, won the San Marino race with the same No. 27 car in which Gilles crashed.
Nelson Piquet in 1987 and Gerhard Berger in 1989 were on the brink of death, but luck turned away from Imola in 1994, when first Roland Ratzenberger crashed in qualifying and Ayrton Senna died in the race. When Formula 1 returned to the Italian circuit in 1995, instead of the Tamburello corner, Ayrton’s last, the drivers were greeted by a chicane.
Formula 1 left Imola after the 2006 race – a major reconstruction of the circuit began under the supervision of Hermann Tilke’s architectural firm.
In the summer of 2015, when the promoters of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza were having financial problems, Imola tried to move the national podium to itself, but at the last minute the government backed Monza.
In February 2020, when it became known about the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix due to the pandemic, Imola again proposed their candidacy – and received permission. On June 12, the circuit was granted an FIA Grade 1 license and the stage was officially included on the calendar in July.
Due to logistical problems transporting equipment on the double stages in Portimao and Imola, the duration of the weekend was reduced to two days in 2020 and a full stage was held on the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in 2021.
Last year the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was canceled due to flooding in the region; the stage will return to the calendar in 2024.
Track features
Imola is a typical acceleration-deceleration circuit. The racers drive two-thirds of the lap with the accelerator fully depressed, so a powerful engine, excellent brakes and efficient use of tires are the three key components of success in Imola.
The configuration consists of medium and fast corners, intersected by chicanes. The need to attack a fairly high curb forces teams to seek a compromise between the softness of the suspension and its stability at high speed.
The aerodynamics are tailored to a high level of downforce. The direction of travel is counterclockwise – as in Jeddah, Baku, Austin, Interlagos, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
The Imola circuit is relatively narrow, which makes overtaking difficult and forces teams to focus on strategy. The pit lane at Imola will be the longest of all Formula 1 circuits in 2024: 528 meters. Driving through it at the maximum permitted speed of 80 km/h takes 24.8 seconds.
The road has uneven asphalt and many bumps, which can worsen the problems with cars weaving on straight lines for those who have them.
Usually a lot is decided in the beginning. From pole to the first braking point at Imola, 605 meters is the third longest starting segment on the calendar this season.
There is little serious braking, but you do have to brake often. The brakes do not have time to cool down on the straights – the teams will adjust the cooling system to avoid problems in the race.
The last stage in 2022 was held in a Saturday sprint format, but now the format will be traditional, allowing the teams to work with new products during training, weather permitting.
Best results from the 2022 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix sessions | |||||
Event | Weather | Racer | Team | Time | |
First workout | Mostly cloudy. Drying track | S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:29,402 | |
Sprint qualification | Cloudy. Rain | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:27,999 | |
Second training | Cloudy. Dry | D. Russell | Mercedes | 1:19,457 | |
Best sprint lap | Cloudy. Dry | S. Perez | Red Bull | 1:19.012 | |
Best lap of the race | Cloudy. Drying track | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:18,446 |
Weekend schedule
You can follow the progress of all Formula 1 sessions on our live broadcast page.
Schedule of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Moscow time | ||||
Day | Event | Time | ||
17/05 | Formula 3: Training | 10:55-11:40 | ||
17/05 | Formula 2: Training | 12:05-12:50 | ||
17/05 | Formula 1: Car presentation | 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | ||
17/05 | Formula 1: First training | 2:30-3:30 PM | ||
17/05 | Formula 3: Qualification | 16:05-16:35 | ||
17/05 | Formula 2: Qualification | 5:00-5:30 PM | ||
17/05 | Formula 1: Second training | 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM | ||
18/05 | Formula 3: Sprint (18 laps or 40 minutes + 1 lap) | 11:05-11:50 | ||
18/05 | Formula 1: Third training session | 13:30-14:30 | ||
18/05 | Formula 2: Sprint (25 laps or 45 minutes + 1 lap) | 15:15-16:05 | ||
18/05 | Formula 1: qualifying | 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM | ||
19/05 | Formula 3: Race (22 laps or 45 minutes + 1 lap) | 09:30-10:20 | ||
19/05 | Formula 2: Race (35 laps or 60 minutes + 1 lap) | 11:00-12:05 | ||
19/05 | Formula 1: Drivers’ Parade | 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | ||
19/05 | Formula 1: Race (63 laps or 120 minutes) | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM |
Tire kits issued to teams for the weekend
This time Pirelli will bring the softest compounds to the podium: C3, C4 and C5 with the designation Hard, Medium and Soft.
Performance of current riders at Imola
Performance of current drivers at the Imola circuit | |||||||||||
Racer | GP | Glasses | Circles | Best | pool | 1st row | fast circle |
stage | victory | ||
All | leader | get started | finish | ||||||||
F. Alonso | 7 | 27 | 322 | 51 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
M. Verstappen | 3 | 59 | 176 | 124 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
L. Hamilton | 3 | 45 | 188 | 47 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
L.Norris | 3 | 38 | 189 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |||||
S. Leclerc | 3 | 37 | 189 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |||||
S. Perez | 3 | 32 | 189 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
V. Bottas | 3 | thirty | 156 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
D. Riccardo | 3 | 23 | 188 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |||||
K. Sainz | 3 | 21 | 126 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
D. Russell | 3 | 12 | 144 | eleven | 4 | ||||||
P. Gasly | 3 | 6 | 133 | 4 | 7 | ||||||
L. Walk | 3 | 5 | 188 | 10 | 8 | ||||||
E. Okon | 3 | 2 | 152 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
Yu.Tsunoda | 2 | 6 | 126 | 12 | 7 | ||||||
A. Elbon | 2 | 125 | 6 | eleven | |||||||
K. Magnussen | 2 | 3 | 110 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
G.Zhou | 1 | 62 | 20 | 15 | |||||||
Hulkenberg, Piastri and Sargent did not participate in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix |
Esteban Ocon: Imola has a real classic song. It’s great that she’s back on the calendar. This is a circuit with a rich history and traditions.
I love Italy – I lived there for a long time and always look forward to racing on Italian circuits, whether it’s Monza, Mugello or Imola! In 2014 I won the European Formula 3 title in Imola: I won the first race and was on the podium in the third.
The first sector is fast, there is no room for error and you need confidence in the car to attack during quick changes of direction.
In the second sector there is the famous right turn Acque Minerali, where the circuit goes first uphill and then downhill. These corners and curbs make it a difficult lap, but I am looking forward to the weekend and will attack from the first session on Friday.”
All Formula 1 events in Imola | |||||
date | Route | Pool | Winner | ||
24/04/22 | Imola | M. Verstappen | Red Bull | M. Verstappen | Red Bull |
18/04/21 | Imola | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | M. Verstappen | Red Bull |
01/11/20 | Imola | V. Bottas | Mercedes | L. Hamilton | Mercedes |
23/04/06 | Imola | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
24/04/05 | Imola | K. Raikkonen | McLaren | F. Alonso | Renault |
25/04/04 | Imola | D. Button | BAR | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
20/04/03 | Imola | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
14/04/02 | Imola | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
15/04/01 | Imola | D. Coulthard | McLaren | R. Schumacher | Williams |
09/04/00 | Imola | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
02/05/99 | Imola | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
04/26/98 | Imola | D. Coulthard | McLaren | D. Coulthard | McLaren |
27/04/97 | Imola | J. Villeneuve | Williams | H. Frentzen | Williams |
05/05/96 | Imola | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | D. Hill | Williams |
04/30/95 | Imola | M. Schumacher | Benetton | D. Hill | Williams |
01/05/94 | Imola | A. Senna | Williams | M. Schumacher | Benetton |
25/05/93 | Imola | A. Prost | Williams | A. Prost | Williams |
05/17/92 | Imola | N. Mansell | Williams | N. Mansell | Williams |
28/04/91 | Imola | A. Senna | McLaren | A. Senna | McLaren |
13/05/90 | Imola | A. Senna | McLaren | R. Patrese | Williams |
23/04/89 | Imola | A. Senna | McLaren | A. Senna | McLaren |
01/05/88 | Imola | A. Senna | McLaren | A. Senna | McLaren |
03/05/87 | Imola | A. Senna | Lotus | N. Mansell | Williams |
27/05/86 | Imola | A. Senna | Lotus | A. Prost | McLaren |
05/05/85 | Imola | A. Senna | Lotus | E. de Angelis | Lotus |
06/05/84 | Imola | N. Pique | Brabham | A. Prost | McLaren |
01/05/83 | Imola | R. Arnoux | Ferrari | P. Tambe | Ferrari |
25/04/82 | Imola | R. Arnoux | Renault | D. Pironi | Ferrari |
03/05/81 | Imola | J. Villeneuve | Ferrari | N. Pique | Brabham |
14/09/80 | Imola | R. Arnoux | Renault | N. Pique | Brabham |
Source: F1 News

I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.