Why this may be the last Imola Grand Prix

This weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix may be the last time fans will see F1 cars racing around the iconic Imola.

Madrid’s announcement that construction work has started on the circuit that is set to host the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026, together with Mexico’s announcement it will continue to host a Formula 1 race until the end of 2028, is not good news for Imola and Barcelona, the two European circuits that will be out of a contract to host a Grand Prix from the end of next year.

For now, the Las Vegas Grand Prix is the only event without a contract for next year but, given Formula 1 is the race promoter and Liberty Media has invested heavily in acquiring a large piece of land on which to place the permanent structures and in building the pits and paddock complex, it’s unlikely the night race will be dropped after just three years – even if public interest was very poor in 2024 and there’s no evidence things will get better this year.

Should Las Vegas extend its contract, Formula 1 will actually have 25 contracts in place for 2026 – one more than what the teams have already stated they will accept, citing logistic and human resource reasons for their refusal to extend the calendar.

Of course, in the best tradition of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali has been trying to convince the teams to accept, as an exceptional measure, attending 25 Grand Prix next year, before retuning to the acceptet maximum of 24 events from 2027.

But everyone knows that once you accept a one-off just to make llife easier for the Commercial Rights Owner, then Formula 1 simply goes ahead and makes it the norm, stating that the one-off experience was a success and proved things could be done on a regular basis! The ‘one-off experiment’ with triple-headers quickly turned into the norm – and that makes the teams wary of conceding one-offs to the sport’s commercial manager.

Aware that the teams are unlikely to budge from their stance, Domenicali is now looking at two alternatives to fullfil all the contracts he has.

For now, there’s no guarantee the proposed circuit in the IFEMA area on the outskirts of Madrid will be ready on time, so the Italian has time to navigate the situation, but both Imola and Barcelona have already been contacted regarding an alternative for them.

That proposal is for one of the two circuits to accept being left out of next year’s Formula 1 World Championship, returning in 2027, for a final time. That’s because what’s already certain is that the Dutch Grand Prix will drop out of the calendar at the end of next year, meaning there will be a spot to fill for 2027.

The Catalans have already made it clear they have no intention of accepting such a proposal and point out to the massive investment that has been made in the circuit’s structure to push their case to continue to host a Formula 1 race in the future, likely to be named Catalan Grand Prix, as the race is crucial for the local economy.

Imola, on the other hand, is not in a strong negotiating position, having failed to do all the upgrades Formula 1 asked for on the Autódromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

That’s why Domenicali believes his home town will be more ameniable to accepting such a deal, dropping out of next year’s calendar, to return in 2027.

It’s also worth noting that the Belgian Grand Prix won’t be held in 2028, as part of the rotation plan Formula 1 is putting in place for the European races, so there’s scope for both Imola and Barcelona to keep their toes in the water, albeit not on a permanent basis any more.

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