Personnel working to prepare for the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix were told to evacuate the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola, following flooding in the region surrounding the track today.
Meteorologist and presenter Albert Febrega tweeted today that the decision to evacuate the track was taken “as a precaution.” Heavy rains have caused the Santerno river, which runs just north of the track, to overflow its banks.
According to local newspaper Il Nuovo Diario Messaggero, several roads in the area were closed, and people are prohibited from driving or parking along the Santerno river. A video shared by the newspaper shows the view from the Tosa bridge, which runs over the corner of the same name on the racing circuit.
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Fortunately, the tweet shared by Fabrega shows that, at around 10:00 a.m. local time, after the evacuation order was announced, the paddock area had not flooded. However, an earlier forecast posted by the meteorologist suggests that the rain will be even worse tomorrow, and will continue through the week.
The downpour is expected to ease after that, and the risk of rain is lower over the course of the weekend, when the Grand Prix is scheduled to take place. With the weather slowing track preparations, doubts about the viability of the race are beginning to creep in. So far, Formula One’s governing body has not announced plans to modify the weekend’s schedule in response to the flooding.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix returned to the F1 calendar in 2020, for that season’s Covid-impacted schedule, and was won by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The sport has returned every year since, with current driver’s championship leader, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, winning the two latest runnings of the race.