Emilia Romagna Grand Prix F1 circuit guide

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a new name on the Formula 1 calendar in 2020, but its host track has a long history in the sport.

The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is a 3.050-mile track, consisting of 19 turns based in the Italian town of Imola, 25 miles east of Bologna.

As for where the race gets its name from, well simply Emilia Romagna is the region of Italy in which the track is based.

Unlike most major international circuits, Imola runs in an anti-clockwise direction, with its official name designed as a tribute to Ferrari's founder Enzo Ferrari, and his son Alfredo Ferrari who died in 1956 at the age of 24.

It's no surprise then that in previous visits to the circuit Ferrari fans have flooded through the gates for their home race.

Imola played host to the 1980 Italian Grand Prix, and then the San Marino Grand Prix from 1981 to 2006.

The track has undergone several alterations over the years, with the current layout having been in place since 2008.

2020 was the first F1 race to take place on the new layout, with the series returning once more for 2021. That year a new deal was signed to confirm the medium-term future of the event, securing it on the calendar until 2025.

It is a much safer circuit in modern times and holds an FIA Grade One licence, but sadly Imola will always remembered for the death of Ayrton Senna in 1994 when he crashed at the Tamburello corner which after that tragedy was never driven flat out again. Instead, it was reduced to a 4th gear left-right sweeper, and a gravel trap was added to the limited space on the outside of the corner.

Roland Ratzenberger had also died the day before in qualifying after a sickening high-speed crash at the Villeneuve corner. That was also reduced to a fourth-gear bend with gravel added around the outside.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix F1 circuit information

As part of the updated layout at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the final chicane has been removed, leaving a near straight run all the way to Turn 2.

The track is built for speed, endurance and bravery to tackle its sweeping, technical corners.

Turn 1 - Just a left bend in the straight, barely noticeable.
Turns 2/3/4 [Variante Tamburello] - An extremely challenging corner, brake and sweep left, right and left again but accelerating the whole time. Misjudge the braking zone and it's straight into the gravel ahead.
Turns 5/6 [Variante Villeneuve] - Building up pace again, the first left bend is flat out, but a tighter right as drivers hit the brakes and drop a couple of gears. Extremely easy to get it wrong and go off into the gravel.
Turn 7 [Tosa] - An iconic left hairpin, plenty of time to be won and lost here depending on how the car sticks as the track opens up on exit, and a good overtaking opportunity too.
Turn 8 - A flat-out right, a mere kink on the way up to Piratella.
Turn 9 [Piratella] - Drive uphill as the plunging left bend of Piratella comes into view. The exit kerbs are unsighted as the track falls away. Bravery is key with this fifth gear entry, unsighted apex and exit.
Turn 10 - A continuation of Piratella, a second left within the same movement of the wheel as you bring the car back across the track.
Turns 11/12 [Acque Minerali] - Another corner where it's easy to go wrong, keep the throttle planted through the first right bend then on the brakes for the second. Gravel surrounds the corner and it's bumpy on entry.
Turn 13 - A left kink on the exit of Acque Minerali, use the exit kerb if needed for acceleration, before drifting back left for the next braking zone.
Turns 14/15 [Variante Alta] - A tight, technical, but fast right-to-left chicane. Hard on the brakes, flick through, on the power early.
Turn 16 - Nothing more than a right kink to position the car for Rivazza.
Turns 17/18 [Rivazza] - Brake for this double left with a brief acceleration between. Into the run-off area or even worse gravel if you lock up at the first part.
Turn 19 - Pit entry is on the right at Turn 19, but what was once a chicane is now just two of the three very slight kinks in the full-throttle run down to Turn 2.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Schedule: 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Friday 16 May

FP1: 1.30pm-2.30pm [12.30pm-1.30pm UK]
FP2: 5pm-6pm [4pm-5pm UK]

Saturday 17 May

FP3: 12.30pm-1.30pm [11.30am-12.30pm UK]
Qualifying: 4pm-5pm [3pm-4pm UK]

Sunday 18 May

Grand Prix: 3pm [2pm UK]

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix tickets: how to get them for the big race

The Formula 1 website has tickets on sale for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which are selling fast. Three-day passes are still available, starting at €900 for a spot in Grandstand 3, while the cheapest one-day option is a very attractive spot in Grandstand 1 on Saturday from €130.

Make sure to also check out Seat Unique for their 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix deals, with general admission tickets starting from £135 (€163).

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ticket lowdown: Things to note

Grandstands 1 to 4 are situated down the main straight, as is the F1 Paddock Club, perfect for taking in the action at the race start, finish, and all the pre-race build-up on the grid.

Two grandstands take in the exit from Variante Villeneuve, or settle into the Tosa Grandstands if you wish to watch drivers taking on the iconic hairpin, while three grandstands are located perfectly to watch the drivers sweep through Acque Minerale and take the exit and charge down the following short straight.

The two Gresini grandstands are placed at the Variante Alta chicane, with four stands, two on either side of Rivazza, the final corner of the lap.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix directions: How to get there

Imola, where the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is based, sits five miles off the A14 highway for those travelling by car. Use the Imola exit from the E45 onto the SP610 and finally take Via Lasie, Via Lughese/Via Provinciale Lughese/SP54 and Via A.Graziadei to the track.

The SS9 will take you to the track if travelling from east of the circuit.

The nearest international airport is at Bologna, whilst reaching the track by train is convenient with Imola's main station less than 3km away from the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix history, memorable races and past winners

Although Formula 1 has only recently returned, the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari has an established legacy in Formula 1.

And firmly in the centre of that is Michael Schumacher, who won the San Marino Grand Prix an incredible seven times, including winning a fearsome battle to the line with rival Fernando Alonso at the final San Marino Grand Prix in 2006, a repeat of that same duel one year earlier but with the opposite outcome.

And for Ferrari the reward for all their success with Schumacher is the joint record with Williams for most wins as a Constructor at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari with eight.

The 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix went down as an Imola classic also - a pre-race downpour had soaked part of the track, and at the start Lewis Hamilton damaged his front wing after being pushed over the kerbs at Tamburello by title rival Max Verstappen.

He later slid off into the gravel at Tosa as he homed back in on the Dutchman.

Lando Norris raised his stock significantly with his fantastic, stubborn defence against Hamilton later in the race, ultimately securing his spot on the podium with a P3 finish, and he followed that up the following year with another podium in his McLaren.

The rain returned ahead of the 2023 staging, which sadly was so severe that it triggered a fresh flooding crisis in the Emilia Romagna region and forced the grand prix to be cancelled.

Verstappen emerged victorious in a gripping 2024 Emila Romagna GP, holding off Norris to take his third victory at Imola by just seven tenths of a second.

Drivers with most wins

Michael Schumacher, 7 wins (1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006)
Max Verstappen, 3 wins (2021, 2022, 2024)
Ayrton Senna, 3 wins (1988, 1989, 1991)
Alain Prost, 3 wins (1984, 1986, 1993)
Nigel Mansell, 2 wins (1987, 1992)
Damon Hill, 2 wins (1995, 1996)

Teams with most wins

Ferrari, 8 wins (1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006)
Williams, 8 wins (1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001)
McLaren, 6 wins (1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1998)

Last 10 wins

2024 - Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2022 - Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2021 - Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2020 - Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2006 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2005 - Fernando Alonso, Renault
2004 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2003 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2002 - Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2001 - Ralf Schumacher, Williams

Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari F1 circuit fastest lap

Lewis Hamilton holds the fastest lap at Imola, setting a 1:15.484 during the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

His former Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas holds the best pole time, having recorded a 1:13.609 at the same event.

Incidentally, Fernando Alonso will forever hold the race lap record on the previous layout with a 1:24.569 which he set in the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, while Michael Schumacher holds the outright lap record with a 1:22.795 in the same year - earning his 66th pole position and breaking Ayrton Senna's record with that lap.

Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari: what the drivers say

Fernando Alonso: “The circuit is amazing in the modern Formula 1 cars, very narrow, very fast."

George Russell: "We need more tracks like this in F1, because this is f****** awesome."