More bad news for the Emilia-Romagna GP as Imola F1 circuit is evacuated due to flooding risk

There is a risk of flooding at the Imola Circuit, which hosts the Emilia-Romagna GP, and F1 personnel and teams have been asked to evacuate the premises.

More bad news for the Emilia-Romagna GP as Imola F1 circuit is evacuated due to flooding risk

(Pictured: 2022 Emilia-Romagna GP) The 'Imola' circuit has been evacuated due to flooding risk

The next race scheduled on the Formula 1 calendar is the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix (i.e. Imola). It will mark the start of a triple header of home races for Ferrari (Imola), Charles Leclerc (Monaco), and Carlos Sainz (Barcelona). However, there is considerable doubt whether the upcoming race will go ahead as scheduled. This is because the region of Emilia-Romagna, and large parts of Italy in general, is expecting terrible weather conditions.

The region has been very badly affected by storms in recent weeks. In fact, two people have lost their lives in Emilia-Romagna as a result of the storms, leading to flooding and landslides. Another person is missing. The weather has been like this for almost the entire month of May, and it looks as if the rainy conditions will continue until the end of the month, though they will let up somewhat. In the next few days, however, there won’t be much relief.

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On Monday, the (Italian) Department of Civil Protection issued a red-alert warning for large parts of the region. The department also suggested that there will be 100mm of rain through Tuesday and a total of 150mm by late Wednesday. There is also a heavy risk of flooding, with the Santerno River, next to the track, already experiencing a water-level rise and accumulated water due to heavy rains.

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The bad weather may continue until race day, which is next Sunday, and perhaps even beyond. Obviously, if the rains are too heavy, or if there is flooding from the adjacent river, then F1 cannot go on. And according to Motorsport.com, the teams and Formula 1 personnel have been instructed to vacate the paddock on Tuesday afternoon, due to the aforementioned flooding threat. From social media images, it seemed that some parts of the venue already had accumulated water.

Read More: Terrible ‘red weather’ may lead to cancellation of the Imola GP: Report

‘F1 chiefs confident Emilia-Romagna GP will go ahead’

(Pictured: The 2022 edition of the Emilia-Romagna GP, held at the Imola Circuit)
(Pictured: The 2022 edition of the Emilia-Romagna GP, held at the Imola Circuit)

It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that schools and bridges in the region have also suffered closures. In addition, citizens have been advised to minimize travel. Such weather conditions, with heavy storms, flooding, and landslide risks, is certainly not the ideal situation for the race to go ahead. The track itself has suffered no damage, however, if the rain is heavy enough, or there is flooding, the race will obviously not be able to go on.

It will certainly be a shame if the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix is not held. It’s a historic, popular track, but it’s hard to win against such treacherous weather. But as of yet, according to GPFans, F1 chiefs are confident that the race will go ahead as expected. It may still rain, of course, but it may not be nearly as heavy as the region is currently experiencing. F1 races have gone on in pretty bad weather before too, though the wisdom of that is up for debate.

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