Civic leadership in the city of Imola and the Emilia-Romagna region responded to the exclusion of Imola from the 2026 Formula 1 calendar on Tuesday, reaffirming their commitment to bringing F1 back to Imola as soon as possible.
”This news is not at all the end word”
In a joint statement, Imola mayor Marco Panieri and Emilia-Romagna regional president Michele de Pascale highlighted that the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix has become “an extraordinary event with record numbers, capable of combining international prestige, promotion of Made in Italy, of the Motor Valley and concrete returns for the economic and tourist system of our land and of the entire country.”
While recognizing that the “complexity of the dynamics related to the calendar” meant that “the picture was very complicated from the beginning”, the officials maintained that not only did they have everything lined up locally to put on a race in 2026, but anticipated being on the calendar on account of the 2023 race’s cancellation due to flooding:
“[The territory] had confirmed its availability for over a year and allocated the necessary resources to the budget also for 2026, as had been requested by the other institutional and sports partners after the commitment made to make up for next year the missed edition of 2023 due to the dramatic flood events.”
”This territory is ready when needed”
“This territory, when a commitment is made, is used to respecting it and being ready when needed: as in 2020, when, in a world blocked by COVID, the Imola circuit made itself available to help a Formula 1 in difficulty.
“However, this is not the time for controversy, dumps and abandoning yourself to resignation. Now is the time, for everyone, to assume their responsibilities and resume their reasoning for a return to the calendar.”
Seeking government help to bring F1 back to Imola
To that end, the mayor and president highlighted work with the Italian government to “deepen precisely [the] terms and methods of support and joint work to bring the Formula 1 Grand Prix back to Imola.”
“To those who live and love Imola, Emilia-Romagna and this Grand Prix we say that at a time when it would be easy to give in to unnecessary controversy and disappointment, it is instead the time of tenacity and increasingly broad constructive commitment on the part of everyone. The game doesn’t end here and until now we’ve done things that just a few years ago seemed impossible.”
