Stefano Bonaccini, the President of the Emilia Romagna region in Italy, says there is hope that the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari can return to the Formula 1 calendar on a more regular basis after it held its first Grand Prix since 2006 last weekend.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was added to the 2020 schedule following the realignment of the calendar after the outbreak of coronavirus. A number of races across the globe were cancelled due to the pandemic, with Imola amongst the venues added to the makeshift seventeen-race calendar.
Lewis Hamilton took his ninety-third career victory on Sunday as he helped the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team secure their seventh consecutive Constructors’ Championship crown, albeit not in the presence of Bonaccini, who was absent after a positive test for COVID-19.
Twenty-three races are rumoured to be on the 2021 calendar, although Imola is not thought to be one of them, but there is hope that the race can become a permanent fixture on the calendar once more after its initial run between 1980 and 2006.
“The experts and the drivers were all enthusiastic about the beauty of the place and, above all, of the track,” Bonaccini is quoted as saying by motorsportweek.com. “We strongly wanted the return of Formula 1 to Imola after 14 years, together with the Municipality, local institutions and the management of Formula Imola.
“It is with the same team that we will work immediately for the confirmation of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola next year and its stable inclusion in the calendar.
“It is a difficult period but in Emilia-Romagna we have shown once again that we do not stop and that we know how to look ahead.”
