Imola Circuit Formula 1 Layout Evolution - Improved Edition

In this Circuits of the past video, we show you the evolution of the layout of the Imola circuit. The full name of the Imola circuit is ‘Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari’.

Although the circuit is located in Italy it is best known for the Formula 1 Grand Prix of San Marino and more recent the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

On April 25, 1953 the Imola circuit was inaugurated with a motorcycle race. The first version was a semi street circuit. It consisted of a public road running parallel to the Santerno River. Both ends were connected by a permanent section. This version had no chicanes!

The first change to the layout of the Imola circuit came in 1973. That year the double chicane before Start/Finish was introduced, to reduce speeds in the dangerous flat-out corner named Tamburello, which was located 900 meters away from the chicane…

In 1974 another chicane was added to the layout, to reduce high speeds on the permanent section.

Seven years later, in 1981, the Imola circuit was modified with… another chicane! This chicane was located before the double left-hander named Aque Minerali. The Imola circuit counted now 4 chicanes.

The most tragic event at Imola was the 1994 Formula 1 San Marino Grand Prix. During free practice on Friday, Brazilian driver Rubens Barichello had a serious accident in the first of the double chicane before Start/Finish. He was lifted to hospital but escaped relatively well.

It seemed as if he had used up the last bit of luck, because on Friday Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger died after a crash in the flat-out Villeneuve Corner. Someone who was very shocked was the legendary Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna.

The same fate awaited him during the race on Sunday. In the infamous Tamburello Corner, his Williams suddenly went straight and crashed into the wall. Senna died in hospital later that day.

This tragic Formula weekend caused the most radical changes to the layout of the Imola circuit.

For 1995 they changed the flat-out Tamburello Corner into a chicane. The straight after the Tamburello was relocated to match the new Villeneuve Corner, which was now also a kind of chicane.

There was also a chicane removed. The Aque Minerali combination was completely redesigned, without chicane.

Also the double right-hander named Rivazza moved to the inside, to create a bigger run-off on the outside.

And finally the double chicane before Start/Finish was changed into a single chicane.

This version of the Imola circuit remained through 2006. During a huge reconstruction in 2007, the final chicane was removed to build a new pit complex. Actually this chicane lost already it’s function, because the Tamburello was no longer a flat-out corner since 1995.

So, these last reconstruction made the Imola circuit faster again. What was your favorite layout of the ‘Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari’? Let it know in a comment!

Special thanks to Simon Smith for the voiceover. Visit also his channel: [ Ссылка ]

The video snippets of Formula 1 testing are from © Red Bull Media House. The photo's where made by Herman Liesemeijer during the reconstruction in 2007.

Read also the article about my 2007 visit to Imola on the website:
[ Ссылка ] (English)
[ Ссылка ] (Nederlands)

If you want to support Circuits of the past, go to: [ Ссылка ]
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#Imola #SanMarinoGP #EmiliaRomagnaGP #F1

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