In Pictures: Emilia Romagna 2024
Formula 1 left the American continent and returned to where it all started: Europe, the fourth continent of the season, in just a few months. This time, it headed to the beautiful Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, specifically to one of the legendary and dramatic circuits in history, Imola.
The name of this race is the longest of the season: FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRAN PREMIO DEL MADE IN ITALY E DELL'EMILIA-ROMAGNA 2024.
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Italian for 'Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit') is 4.909 km (3.050 mi) long and is located 40 kilometers (25 mi) east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits that run in an anti-clockwise direction.
INTERESTING FACT: Italy has hosted a total of 105 world championship Grands Prix, the most of any country, 30 of them at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
Imola is one of the oldest fixtures on the championship calendar, known for being very technical and therefore highlighting the skills of the drivers who have to tackle quite complex combinations of corners and braking zones. Enzo Ferrari was one of the promoters of the project to build a circuit on the hills around Imola and he described it as a sort of “little Nurburgring.” Originally, in 1957, the venue was named in memory of his son Dino, his own name being added after his death in 1988.
With 19 corners (10 to the left and 9 to the right) and a significant 30-meter elevation change from the highest point to the lowest, the track is rather narrow and there is only one DRS zone, making overtaking far from easy. Therefore, qualifying plays an important part in deciding the outcome of the race, which explains why it has never been won from lower than fifth on the grid, and 19 times out of 30, the driver first past the checkered flag had started from the front row.
Thirty Grands Prix have been held alongside the banks of the Santerno river that runs past the circuit. The current name is the third to be attributed to the race at Imola. It first appeared on the calendar in 1980, the one and only time the Italian Grand Prix was held anywhere other than Monza. Then, from 1981 to 2006, Formula 1 raced in Emilia under the flag of the nearby Republic of San Marino. In the troubled times of Covid, racing’s blue riband category found a welcome in Imola as the Gran Premio dell’Emilia-Romagna, with the words “Made in Italy” added to its title from the following year.
THURSDAY
Late Thursday afternoon, several drivers from the F1, F2, and F3 series, along with personnel from Formula 1, the F1 teams, and the media, participated in a tribute run toward the Tamburello corner at Imola to honor Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger.
This event was organized by Sebastian Vettel. Many participants wore yellow t-shirts that had been distributed by Vettel earlier in the day. These shirts featured Senna's helmet colors, with the text 'Forever' on the front and 'Senna' on the back, as well as a depiction of Vettel wearing his helmet, chasing Senna with his. It was a lovely tribute.
““Ayrton stood for so many causes and had such a great spirit. Probably a lot of people were inspired by his time and his legacy and take inspiration still today in situations like that (Referencing the situation in Brazil) and pass it onto their kids and children and tell the story. That’s why we’re here. That’s why I’m here. It’s not at all about me. I’m just trying to retell the story and remember him and his colors, trying to inspire the other drivers – the current drivers – to remember that and be inspired by him.””
FRIDAY
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari stamped their authority on the first day of track action for the Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna. The Monegasque was quickest in both free practice sessions with a 1’16”990 in the first and a 1’15”906 in the second. Unusually, there’s no sign of a Red Bull driver in the top three on either time sheet. Second in FP1 was George Russell (Mercedes, 1’17”094) with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz third (1’17”120), while in FP2 second and third went to Oscar Piastri (McLaren, 1’16”088) and Yuki Tsunoda (1’16”286).
SATURDAY
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna, thus equalling two important records: one for the most consecutive pole positions (8) which he now holds with Ayrton Senna and the one for the most consecutive poles at the start of the season (7) thus joining Alain Prost. The Red Bull driver now has a total of 39 poles while his team is on 102.
Qualifying was very closely contested with the top three all within 91 thousandths of a second of one another, very evenly matched in Q1 (the top 10 in 0”342) and the Q2 runners who made it to Q3 (in 0”515). Starting alongside Max (1’14”746) on the grid should have been the McLaren of Oscar Piastri (1’14”820) but the Australian has the Sword of Damocles hanging over him in the shape of a penalty for having impeded Kevin Magnussen in Q1. If it is confirmed then his team-mate Lando Norris (1’14”837) will inherit second place. The McLaren pair finished ahead of the two Ferraris with Charles Leclerc (1’14”970) ahead of Carlos Sainz (1’15”233).
SUNDAY
Before the Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel took his own Ex-Ayrton Senna McLaren MP4/8 chassis No. 6, the last McLaren Senna ever drove, for a few laps around the Imola Circuit, where thirty years ago, Senna lost his life. On the penultimate lap, Seb took out the Brazilian flag, and on the last lap, he displayed the Austrian flag, in memory of Roland Ratzenberger, who died the day before (April 30, 1994).
After his run, Vettel did a few donuts and stopped in front of the main grandstand, took out both flags, and performed a dogeza (kneeling bow) in respect to what those flags represent. It was a poignant and highly emotional moment. Grande Seb!
For the Grand Prix, 15 drivers lined up for the start on the medium tire. Three—Perez, Sargeant, and Zhou—opted for the hard tire, while Alonso, starting from the pit lane, and Gasly took a gamble on the soft tire.
As widely predicted, it was a one-stop race, with medium and hard tires being the favored choices. Starting on the softs simply did not pay off, as both of the above-mentioned drivers had to make an additional stop. With three laps to go, Aston Martin’s Spanish driver fitted another set of softs, probably with the aim of setting the fastest race lap, but this actually went to George Russell, who also made an extra stop on lap 52 with this in mind, thus bringing Mercedes the extra point.
In the end, it was another victory for Max Verstappen, but Lando Norris came very close to repeating his Miami win from two weeks ago. Between qualifying and the race, the gap between the Red Bull driver and his McLaren rival was only 816 thousandths of a second (91 in qualifying and 725 in the race). Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made it to the third step of the podium, with the trio covered by less than eight seconds—7.916 seconds to be precise.
This was win number 59 for Verstappen, his third in a row at Imola (2021, 2022, and 2024), equaling Michael Schumacher’s achievement from 2002 to 2004. It was Red Bull’s 118th win.
““I think the whole race I had to push flat out to make a gap initially. On the mediums we were quite strong, on the hards it was harder to manage and I saw Lando closing in. The last 10 laps I was just flat out, I couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes.””
Excerpts of this article provided by Pirelli S.p.A.
