The circuit returned during the Covid years of 2020 and 2021 and unexpectedly earnt a longer term contract to stay in rotation until this season.<\/p>\n
But with Formula 1 already at its 24-race limit and with plans to continue expanding the sport\u2019s footprint to new locations, Italy\u2019s other grand prix appears likely to be axed.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be increasingly difficult to have two races in the same country because interest in F1 is growing and it\u2019s a situation we will have to deal with in the coming months,\u201d F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told Italia radio earlier this year. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for this situation with Imola and Monza to continue together on the calendar for long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Verstappen, who claimed his fourth consecutive win in Imola at the weekend, said he would be disappointed not to race at the track again.<\/p>\n
\u201cLosing these kinds of tracks is a shame,\u201d he said. \u201cPersonally, when I just speak about the enjoyment of driving, it\u2019s these kinds of tracks that made me fall in love with racing in general \u2014 in go-karting even, because you have the same thing in karting where some tracks are more special than others.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then when you started watching Formula 1, there were always these few tracks where you just look at the speeds, you look at how difficult they are to master, the history of the sport at certain tracks \u2014 it\u2019s all very special and gives you a bit more emotion to things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a shame for me personally, but what can I do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
‘A f***** joke! What did I do wrong?’ | 02:15<\/p>\n
Imola isn\u2019t the only endangered European venue on the calendar.<\/p>\n
The Dutch Grand Prix is in the penultimate year of its contract, and Zandvoort has already said it will not seek an extension. The seaside circuit hosted 30 grands prix between 1952 and 1985 and was revived in 2021 to capitalise on Verstappen\u2019s massive home support, but F1\u2019s rising sanctioning fee convinced organisers to walk away.<\/p>\n
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will host its last Spanish Grand Prix next weekend, on 1 June, before the new Madrid street race takes over the title. Barcelona is contracted to run its last race in 2026 under a different name, though organisers are hopeful circuit upgrades could secure an extension.<\/p>\n
If they were to be successful, they could join the Belgian Grand Prix on a rotating deal. The historic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps won a new contract in January that will see it through to the end of 2031, but the deal excludes races in 2028 and 2030.<\/p>\n
A best-case scenario for Imola could see it take that biennial spot instead.<\/p>\n
But Oscar Piastri said the sport was it risk of selling out its heritage if it were to lose its most cherished venues, even if they were to appear only occasionally. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be careful not to lose all the historical tracks that have been here forever, because at least 75 per cent of them are the favourites for the drivers,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you ask the drivers their top three favourites, it\u2019s probably a mix of Silverstone, Suzuka, Spa, here and probably Zandvoort.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere is probably going to disappear, now Zandvoort is disappearing. Spa is on a rotation. I think Monza is pretty safe \u2014 we\u2019ve got some other problems if Monza disappears.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do need to be careful to keep all these tracks. A qualifying session around Imola and tracks like Imola are definitely more exciting than some other tracks on the calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oscar & Lando nearly touch in TENSE move | 01:32<\/p>\n
However, both Verstappen and Piastri were sympathetic to the sport\u2019s need to continue growing as it capitalises on its ongoing boom in interest, while Grand Prix Drivers Association director George Russell recognised that Formula 1 cars had outgrown the circuit\u2019s ability to generate a spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do also appreciate the fans watching \u2014 I don\u2019t know if they share the same excitement on a track like this versus a track that isn\u2019t as enjoyable for us to drive,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need to find that balance. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe do love that character, but it is very difficult to race around here in Imola, it\u2019s difficult to race in Zandvoort, and Japan wasn\u2019t straightforward either.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new tracks, although they do miss some character, do usually produce good racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Piastri\u2019s boss, McLaren principal Andrea Stella, argued circuits like Imola are integral to F1\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a special venue,\u201d McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said. \u201cI work in Formula 1, but I also have quite a lot of passion for Formula 1, and Imola resonates with this passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe layout, the fast, flowing and narrow track \u2014 you don\u2019t find many like it; Suzuka is another one \u2014 it\u2019s quite unforgiving; as soon as you make a mistake, it can be quite penalising.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great for the drivers, it\u2019s great for the fans, and we do hope that this venue will stay as part of the calendar for the future because this would be fantastic for Formula 1.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reigning champion Max Verstappen says it would be a shame for Imola to fall off the Formula 1…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[22619,52172,5070,52166,52178,52167,299,4199,52165,707,4200,9824,22596,52170,22610,52169,52179,47238,52171,2199,1711,52173,1073,52176,52177,22604,52180,43259,52168,79,14936,52174,22607,16,52175,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-116004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-andrea-stella","9":"tag-calendar-crunch","10":"tag-charles-leclerc","11":"tag-closing-stages","12":"tag-dino-ferrari","13":"tag-endangered-european-venue","14":"tag-europe","15":"tag-f1","16":"tag-fans-watching","17":"tag-formula-1","18":"tag-formula1","19":"tag-george-russell","20":"tag-grand-prix","21":"tag-grand-prix-drivers-association","22":"tag-grands-prix","23":"tag-hopeful-circuit-upgrades","24":"tag-iconic-italian-circuit","25":"tag-imola","26":"tag-italian-town","27":"tag-italy","28":"tag-lando-norris","29":"tag-massive-home-support","30":"tag-max-verstappen","31":"tag-oscar-amp-lando","32":"tag-presumed-final","33":"tag-qualifying-session","34":"tag-seaside-circuit","35":"tag-southern-europe","36":"tag-special-venue","37":"tag-sports","38":"tag-stefano-domenicali","39":"tag-street-race","40":"tag-time-offer","41":"tag-uk","42":"tag-uncertainty-swirls","43":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}