This weekend there is no Formula 1. There will be no Emilia Romana GP because the heavy rains in recent days in northern Italy have caused severe flooding in the region and emergency devices cannot be used in the organization of a sporting event attended by 160,000 fans. According to official data, there are at least fourteen dead and several missing people, in addition to 20,000 evacuees. Although the weather forecast for the weekend reported some improvement, it was not possible to carry out the usual arrangements for a Grand Prix (accesses, crowds, road trips…) in an area devastated by the rains.
Matteo Salvini, Italian infrastructure minister, suggested in the morning the possibility of “postponing” the race minutes before the World Cup officially canceled it, at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. F1 justifies in a statement: “The decision is made because it is not possible to hold the event safely for fans, teams and staff, and it is the most responsible thing to do, given the situation faced by the towns and cities of the region. It would not be appropriate to put more pressure on local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.” Domenicali, CEO of the championship, speaks of “tragedy in Ímola and Emilia Romagna”; and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President, stresses that “everyone’s safety and recovery efforts are the only priority at this time.”
On Tuesday, F1 already sent all the paddock staff to the hotels because the channel of the Santerno river grew dangerously a few meters from the Ímola circuit. The Formula 2 and Formula 3 spaces, or the technical television area, presented slight flooding. The instruction for Wednesday was not to go to the circuit, which was not operational. During the day, the authorities. In any case, the bulk of the paddock (mechanics, engineers, media and pilots) have not traveled yet or were due to do so this Wednesday.
The Ímola race does not lose hope of being able to fit into the calendar later, but date squeezes make it highly unlikely. This season there were 24 scheduled races, although the cancellation of the Chinese GP in April and this unfortunate event in Italy will leave the account at 22. However, the calendar is jammed from the summer with European doubles and American triplets, so it is unlikely that there will be a race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, at least until next year. And there will be no F1 either until next week, with the Monaco GP.
