The Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna, the sixth round of the Formula 1 championship that was to be held from Friday to Sunday on the Imola circuit, "will not take place this weekend", because of the floods that have killed at least five people in this region of Italy, announced Wednesday the organizers.

"Following discussions between Formula One, the President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the competent authorities, including the ministers concerned, the President of the Italian Automobile Club, the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Mayor of the city and the promoter, the decision has been taken that the Grand Prix will not take place at Imola," F1 promoter Formula One said in a statement, without specifying whether the race would be rescheduled by the end of the season.

The paddock evacuated on Tuesday

"This decision was made because it was not possible to safely organize the event for our fans, teams and staff. This is a responsible decision because of the situation in the cities and towns in the region. It would not be fair to increase pressure on local authorities and intervention services in a difficult time," the text continues.

Italian Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula One, said that "it was a tragedy to see what was happening in Imola and Emilia-Romagna, the city and region where I grew up." Since the beginning of the week, waterspouts have been falling on the region and flooding has killed at least five people and evacuated thousands, authorities said Wednesday. Activities on the paddock were suspended on Tuesday and staff on site were asked to evacuate in the afternoon as a precaution, due to the worrying rise in the level of a river near the paddock.


🔴 Here is the situation on the Imola circuit! 🌧🌧 #F1 #Charles16 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/g03pVrkpfV

— Charles Leclerc 16 Fan page 🇲🇨 (@Cl16__FanpageFr) May 16, 2023

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On Wednesday, organizers initially asked teams and journalists not to go to the circuit, before canceling the event. If the track itself is not flooded, the circuit enclosure is, in several places, under water according to the photos of journalists present on site.

The Emilia-Romagna GP was supposed to mark the return of Formula 1 to Europe and mark the first "triple header" (three GPs in three weeks) of the season, before the Monaco and Spanish GPs. In the overall championship standings, two-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen is 14 points ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez.

  • Sport
  • Formula 1 (F1)
  • Grand Prix F1
  • Italy
  • Flood