May 17, (THEWILL) – The upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola has been cancelled by Formula 1 due to extensive flooding and heavy rainfall across northern Italy.
On Tuesday, the situation forced the track staff to evacuate and a red-weather warning was issued for the area. Despite the growing optimism that the race would go ahead as planned this weekend due to the improving weather forecast from Thursday, the damage has already been done.
F1 officials, those from the Emilia Romagna GP, and regional authorities met on Wednesday morning, to discuss the best way forward. F1 President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali, expressed his sadness about the situation, saying: “It is such a tragedy to see what has happened to Imola and Emilia Romagna, the town and region that I grew up in, and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the flooding and the families and communities affected.”
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the first scheduled race to take place in Europe this weekend, ahead of races in Monaco and Spain in the next two weeks. However, the decision to cancel the race was made in order to ensure the safety of everyone involved and not add an extra burden to the authorities while they deal with the crisis.
The race is unlikely to be rescheduled due to an already condensed programme for the season, meaning that the number of races planned for 2023 will be reduced from 23 to 22.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
