Agencies | Berlin

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Fourteen years on from the last San Marino Grand Prix, Formula One returns to Imola this weekend with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in a race added to the calendar redrafted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As F1 looks ahead to a brilliant future with record-breaker Lewis Hamilton - who celebrated his 92nd grand prix win to beat Michael Schumacher's milestone in Portugal last Sunday - and super talented young drivers such as George Russell (Williams), Lando Norris (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), the ticket to Imola will also include a ride to the past.

The Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Italy will never get rid of the tragic accident that took away the life of one of the greatest Formula One drivers in history: Brazilian Ayrton Senna, who Hamilton has often cited as an inspiraton.

On May 1, 1994, Senna rounded the high-speed Tamburello corner and his Williams car left the racing line, running straight off the track and hitting the concrete retaining wall.

On the same weekend Roland Ratzenberger died after crashing during qualifying. They remain the last fatalities at an F1 race though Frenchman Jules Bianchi died months after sustaining injuries at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Since then a lot has changed as Formula One improved driver safety measures. The category worked to implement better helmets as well as head and neck support (HANS). More medical staffers were added and tracks revamped, while circuits received more run-off areas.

Cars evolved to not only be faster, but also safer, and the cockpit has been opened more to prevent drivers from being trapped inside. In 2018 the halo devices were introduced to protect against flying debris, and several drivers already said how thankful they are for the mechanism.

"I have to say you feel much safer in the car now with the halo. When I saw this massive tyre coming towards me, it was quite scary, to be honest," Russell said after he had to retire his car due to a crash with Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi at Spa-Francorchamps in August.

But the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will also bring a new challenge. Teams will face a two-day format as opposed to the usual three-day event.

Media day, usually on Thursday, will take place on Friday, meaning the regular training sessions in the morning and in the afternoon won't be running at all.

Drivers will have only one 90-minute practice session on Saturday, when they also have qualifying only two and a half hours later. On Sunday, of course, it's race day.

Some drivers are not happy with the idea. Red Bull's Max Verstappen said it was wrong for F1 to have just a single practice session on a circuit which has not held a grand prix since 2006.

"If we would have had it on a track that we know and we have been driving with the cars we have nowadays, I think it's not a problem at all," the Dutch driver said.

"The two-day format, I don't really care, but then give us two practice sessions. Even it's better to do two one-hour sessions than one one-and-a-half."

Alex Albon echoed his team-mate's thoughts. "It would to me make a bit more sense to do a two-day event on a track like [Silverstone] where we've done a double-header."

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel thinks teams will be under pressure to perfect the car set-up, but said the change is "exciting".

"If something feels a bit wrong, you normally get a chance overnight, which now you don't. But the rest will be similar. It should be exciting."

The two-day format has recently been discussed as a possible regular setup for the future.

The official test will happen at Imola, but teams got a taste of how it could work at the Nuerburgring, Germany, when both practice sessions on Friday were cancelled due to the bad weather.

"I think that a two-day format does focus things," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "It’s an interesting concept. Let’s review it after a couple of samples."

Hamilton has long passed Senna's haul of three world championships and while he cannot match Schumacher's record of seven at Imola, he holds a commanding 77-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Mercedes could also seal a seventh successive constructors' championship in the hybrid era dating from 2014.