Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari

The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (commonly known as Imola) is a permanent racing circuit which held the 1980 Italian Grand Prix and all subsequent runnings of the San Marino Grand Prix until , as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from through . The circuit is notorious as the home of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend during which both Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna were killed.
==Circuit History==
==Circuit Layouts==
===1953-1972===
The Imola circuit is basically a road following a small river, the Santurno, with a return looping over a couple of small hills. At almost no point of the original layout was the track truly straight, with made it challenging and a favorite for both drivers and spectators.
The start/finish line and pits were on a very short straight, in between a flat-out sweeping right and a tiny left kink. After another very short straight, it enters a very wide radius 60° left, called Tamburello. This was followed by the longest straight on the track, roughly km, before a short right kink, just before the tight 150° left, known as Tosa. Tosa is where the track starts to head uphill while bending very gently right. After about 200 meters, the track flattens out for about 100 meters before starting downhill as the cars enter the 75° left known as Piratella. At the bottom of a gully is a pair of righthanders, with a small bridge over a creek between them. The first bend is a gentle 45°, but just after the crossing is a deceptive 90° right. The complex was originally named Castellaccio.
The track now went a full kilometer before the next real corner, but almost no part of this section was truly straight. After Castellaccio the track starts uphill again, but a gentler slope, and a slight bend to the left led to a short straight to the top of the hill. But before the crest was reached, the track started bending left again, making this very fast section almost blind. Just before the end of the section (but still heading downhill) there is a quick right flick, hitting two righthanders, both close to 90°, with about 100 meters between them. The first is tighter than the second, and the track hits its lowest point at the exit of the second. This complex is known as Rivazza, with the two corners often described as first or second Rivazza, as they are quite different in their characteristics.
After Rivazza is a flatout sweeping right, leading back to the pits. The track originally measured 5.018 km.
===1973===
The concerns of safety caused the unnamed sweeping right before the pits to be altered by the addition of a "bus stop" style chicane. The cars first made a fairly quick right-left onto a new, ~100 meter straight, followed by a slow tighter left-right with about 20 meters between them. The pit entrance was now on driver's right, just before the second left. The new complex was called Variante Bassa, and the track now measured 5.122 km.
The Castellaccio section was also changed to the name frequently used by the locals to describe the spring nearby, Acque Minerali.
===1974-1980===
Another change in the interests of safety was made at the blind crest after Acque Minerali, with the addition of a moderately quick right-left chicane, called Variante Alta. Quite possibly because of improvements in the technique of measurement, the track length was reduced by 62 meters to 5.060 km.
===1981-1994===
The original layout of the Imola circuit featured several flat-out sections connected by tight hairpins. At first, the run from Rivazza (map bottom left) and Tosa (top right) was flat out, as was the run from Acque Minerali to Rivazza. This meant that drivers reached very high speeds through Tamburello and Villeneuve. However, by 1980, the track was modified to slow cars slightly by adding a tight double-chicane between Rivazza and the Start/Finish line.
full|right|216px|On-board Lap of Imola, Ricardo Patrese, 1991
From the start line, the circuit ran through a quick left-hander (Tamburello) which was taken flat-out. From here, a short straight leads to a flat right-hander (Villeneuve) and tight left (Tosa). Following a short straight and a quick sweeping left hander lies Acque Minerali, a tight right-left-right chicane. Over a crest is the right-left chicane, Variante Alta. Then down the hill to the double left hand Rivazza turns. Then back up the hill for a quick right-left and slower left-right (Variante Bassa) and on to the finish line.
Over 14 years on this layout, numerous major accidents occurred. Many of these, including seperate terrifying crashes involving Nelson Piquet, Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto, occurred at the notorious Tamburello Curve. Tamburello was a flat-out left-hander with very little run-off and a concrete wall outside of the track.
In the Friday practice session of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello was injured at Variante Bassa when his car was launched over the kerbs into a tyre barrier at high speed. On Saturday, after damaging his front wing on a previous lap, Roland Ratzenberger was killed when he failed to negotiate the Villeneuve corner and crashed heavily into the concrete wall at around 200mph, fatally fracturing his neck. The following day, during the race, three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna was also killed when his went straight on at Tamburello and he hit the concrete wall at around 135mph, also fracturing his neck. In addition, a piece of Senna's suspension wishbone penetrated the driver's helmet, causing potentially fatal injuries.
In response to the accidents at the 1994 event, the FIA demanded that changes must be made to the circuit to improve the safety of the drivers. These changes were made ahead of the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix.
===1995-2006===
full|right|216px|Imola On-board Lap, M Schumacher, 2004
Numerous changes to the Imola circuit were made from the 1995 event onwards:
*Tamburello Curve was transformed into a much slower chicane, and the concrete run-off was replaced by gravel.
*Villeneuve corner was changed from a fast right-hander to a slow left-right chicane.
*The Acque Minerali chicane was removed, and replaced by a double right-hander.
*Variante Alta was flattened and tightened slightly.
*The first chicane of Variante Bassa was removed, leaving a fast right hander, and a slow left-right chicane.
This layout of the Imola Circuit was used until 2006 after which the event was removed from the calendar.
===Current===
In an attempt to reinstate the circuit into the Formula One calendar, the circuit was renovated in 2010. The pit lane and garages were demolished and replaced by a modern, extended complex. Variante Bassa was also removed, so that the circuit now runs flat-out from Rivazza to Tamburello. In 2008, the circuit was given a 1T FIA rating, allowing for F1 test events to be held there. In 2011 the circuit was upgraded to a 1 rating, allowing for F1 events to be held there. As yet, however, the circuit has not been reinstated to the calendar.
Following the delayed start to the 2020 Formula One season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a number of races postponed or canceled, it was announced on 24 July that Formula One would return to Imola as the 13th round of the season on 1 November.
==Event history==
The following is a list of Formula One World Championship events held at the Imola circuit:
Year	Event	Winning Driver 	Winning Constructor
 	 	Nelson Piquet 	
 	 	Nelson Piquet 	
 	 	Didier Pironi 	
 	 	Patrick Tambay 	
 	 	Alain Prost 	
 	 	Elio de Angelis 	
 	 	Alain Prost 	
 	 	Nigel Mansell 	
 	 	Ayrton Senna 	
 	 	Ayrton Senna 	
 	 	Riccardo Patrese 	
 	 	Ayrton Senna 	
 	 	Nigel Mansell 	
 	 	Alain Prost 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Damon Hill 	
 	 	Damon Hill 	
 	 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	
 	 	David Coulthard 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Ralf Schumacher 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Fernando Alonso 	
 	 	Michael Schumacher 	
 	 	Lewis Hamilton 	
 	 	Max Verstappen 	
 	 	Max Verstappen 	
 	 	Race Cancelled due to excessive flood.	Race Cancelled due to excessive flood.
==Quotes==
==Notes==
Category:San Marino Grand Prix
Category:Italian Grand Prix
Category:Italian Circuits
Category:Circuits
Category:Circuits that Débuted in 1980
Category:Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Category:Current Circuits