CIRCUIT bosses have evacuated the paddock at Imola ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to flood risks.
Heavy rain has hit the region, which has been given a red alert weather warning with wind and rain expected to continue.
Storms have already triggered flooding and the circuit is perilously close to the river Santerno, which is rapidly rising.
F1 chiefs face an anxious wait to see if the river will burst its banks, sending water flooding into the paddock just metres away.
Staff in Imola were sent back to their hotels as officials monitored the situation.
Contingency plans are in place should there be problems with the TV broadcast of the race, but F1 are hopeful that it will go ahead as planned.
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Local schools have been shut as a precaution and residents have been urged to only travel if essential.
However, with much of the car parking done on grass, there is likely to be plenty of problems with logistics.
The race is the first of a triple-header on consecutive weekends and schedule means it is already a tight turnaround before any weather delays.
For the meantime, F1 say the event is going ahead as planned.
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Meanwhile, the race in Imola will see the debut of a new Pirelli rain tyre which does not need heating up beforehand.
Pirelli’s head of car racing and F1 Mario Isola said: “Track tests have shown even better performance than the previous Cinturato Blue full wet, even without the electric heating of the tyre.
“The result of studies carried out by Pirelli, it is the first concrete step towards the use of dry tyres without preheating.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
