The Emilia-Romagna GP in suspense: red alert for rain

He Emilia-Romagna Grand Prixwhich takes place in the mythical layout of ImolaPredictably, the main protagonist is the rain and everything points to this being the first race to be held in the wet. However, large storms can cause a lot of problems and the region has already declared the red alert status because of the consequences that the weather may bring.

A few weeks ago there was already heavy rain that caused flooding with very serious consequences. When it didn’t work out, two people died. Therefore, it was feared that the rains would cause so many problems again and they took action 120 fire units in place to alleviate all setbacks.

In principle, the heaviest rains will be at the beginning of this week and this is when more landslides and flooding are feared. For the weekend, the weather is expected to ease a bit, although the rains will continue to be present. It will be remembered that in the 2022 edition it has already raced in the rain but it came in a calmer way and only at the start of the race. The track dried up and ended up on ‘slicks’.

The test of the last races in the rain

If anything characterizes the final races in the rain, it is the extreme caution of the Race Direction. Last year, for example, the race in Japan, where the title was decided, was stopped for almost the entire event and not even half of the race was contested. Another example that occurred last season was Monaco, when it was decided to start the race behind the Safety Car with a clear start after a long hour and a half wait.

What you want to avoid at all costs is a repeat of a situation like that Belgium ’21. The rain meant that only three laps were completed after the Safety and thus the GP was deemed valid. A most embarrassing situation that caused a series of criticisms that forced some regulatory concepts to be retouched.