Imola (San Marino GP)
The original anti-clockwise Imola — home of the San Marino Grand Prix, Tamburello, and the darkest weekend in modern Formula 1 history.
Circuit at a glance
- Years active
- 1981–2006
- F1 races
- 26
- Length
- 4.933 km
- Turns
- 17
History and character
Named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari, Imola hosted the San Marino Grand Prix for a quarter-century. Its original flat-out kink at Tamburello, the high-speed Villeneuve corner and the elevation drop into Rivazza made it both spectacular and unforgiving.
Why it left the calendar
The deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix triggered the most sweeping safety overhaul Formula 1 has ever seen. The circuit was permanently chicaned, slowed and shortened. After dropping off the calendar in 2006, a re-profiled Imola returned in 2020 — but the original layout is gone.
Iconic moment
1 May 1994 — the loss of Ayrton Senna at Tamburello. The most consequential single moment in modern F1 safety.
Notable Grand Prix winners
- Nelson Piquet
- Alain Prost
- Ayrton Senna
- Michael Schumacher