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The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2023 was scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 21. However, this race — otherwise known as the Imola Grand Prix — was postponed due to inclement weather and flooding in the region.
Below, we’ll take a look at the details and what’s next for the F1 season.
Why is the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix postponed?
Heavy flooding has occurred in the surrounding area of Imola, Italy – which includes the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. A tweet with video footage from Local Team TV in Italy illustrates the dire condition of the track (and surrounding community) heading into race week.
Imola, autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola allagato, Gran Premio Formula 1 annullato #imola #formula1 #granpremio #emiliaromagna #localteam pic.twitter.com/PqOoXmfBnO
— Local Team (@localteamtv) May 17, 2023
Needless to say, racing will take a backseat this week as the region deals with this emergency.
President and CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali echoed this sentiment in a press release published on F1’s website, saying: “The decision that has been taken is the right one for everyone in the local communities and the F1 family as we need to ensure safety and not create extra burden for the authorities while they deal with this very awful situation.”
At this time, it is unknown if the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will be rescheduled for later in the year or canceled altogether.
The next F1 race is the Monaco Grand Prix on May 28.
Max Verstappen, who is the two-time reigning champion, leads the standings with 119 points. His teammate, Sergio Perez, is second with 105 points while Fernando Alonso sits in third with 75 points.