Imola has played host to 30 World Championship F1 races since first welcoming F1 for the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about Imola!
Track length: 4.909km
Race length: 309.049km
Laps: 63
Turns: 19
Circuit opened: 1953
F1 first visited: 1980
Races held: 30
Track Record: 1:13.609, Valtteri Bottas, 2020
Lap Record: 1:15.484, Lewis Hamilton, 2020
RACE WINNERS
30 World Championship Formula 1 races have been held at Imola. The first 27 races at the circuit were held in consecutive seasons, from 1980 to 2006, and the track returned to the calendar in 2020 to host the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix did not take place in 2023 due to local flooding. It was called off only two days before the race weekend was set to begin.
From the 30 World Championship races here, there have been 16 different winners.
Michael Schumacher holds the record for most wins at Imola
Michael Schumacher holds the record for the most wins at this circuit, having won at Imola on seven occasions – over double the number of wins of any other driver.
Three drivers on the 2023 grid have previously won at Imola. Fernando Alonso was victorious in the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton won in 2020 and Max Verstappen has won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 2021 and 2022.
In 2022, Max Verstappen became the first driver to record a Grand Slam at the circuit.
Williams and Ferrari share the record for most team victories at Imola
Williams and Ferrari are tied for most wins for a constructor at Imola, having each won at the circuit on eight occasions. Meanwhile, Ferrari are tied with Renault as the most successful engine manufacturer at the circuit. Both Ferrari and Renault engines have won at Imola on eight occasions.
Brabham, Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Red Bull are the only teams to have taken consecutive wins at Imola. Williams and Ferrari share the record for most consecutive wins at the track. Williams won three races in a row between 1995 and 1997, while Ferrari won three races in a row between 2002 and 2004.
There have been eight occasions on which a team has recorded a 1-2 finish at the circuit. McLaren have the most 1-2 finishes here, with three – in 1988, 1989 and 1991.
Five drivers have taken consecutive wins at Imola
Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen are the five drivers to have taken consecutive wins at Imola.
Schumacher is the only driver to have taken consecutive wins at the circuit on separate occasions. He also holds the record for most consecutive victories at the track, having won three races in a row in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
Germany has the most wins for a nation at Imola
Germany is the most successful nation at Imola, with nine wins. All but one of Germany’s nine wins at the circuit were taken by Schumachers, with Michael winning seven times and Ralf taking a single victory in 2001. Heinz-Harald Frentzen is the only other German to win here, doing so in 1997.
Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes are the only teams to have recorded 1-2 finishes at the circuit. McLaren have the most 1-2 finishes at the circuit, with their drivers finishing first and second in 1988, 1989 and 1991. Mercedes’ 1-2 finish at the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the first for a team at this circuit since Ferrari finished first and second in 2002.
Only one driver has won by over a lap at Imola
Elio de Angelis holds the record for the largest win margin at Imola. He’s the only driver to have won by over a lap at the circuit, doing so for Lotus in 1985; a race in which multiple drivers ran out of fuel in the closing stages, and Alain Prost was disqualified having crossed the line first.
The smallest win margin at the circuit is 0.215 seconds, which is the gap by which Fernando Alonso took victory in 2005. The 1982 San Marino Grand Prix is the only other Imola race which has been decided by less than a second.
From the last ten races at Imola, the average win margin has been 8.163 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
A total of 39 drivers have finished in the top three in World Championship Formula 1 races held at Imola.
Schumacher has double the podiums of any other driver at Imola
No one has more podium finishes at Imola than Michael Schumacher, who finished in the top three 12 times – that’s twice as many times as any other driver has finished on the podium here.
Britain is the nation with the most podiums at Imola. Lando Norris’ third place in 2022 saw the nation record their 16th podium at the circuit, overtaking Germany.
Ferrari have the most podiums at Imola
Ferrari have taken the most podium finishes of any team at the circuit. They have a total of 24 podiums at the track. 2020 was the first time that no Ferrari drivers appeared on the podium at Imola since the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Neither Ferrari driver finished in the top three in 2022 either.
Six current drivers have finished on the podium at Imola
There are six drivers on the 2023 grid who have previously finished on the podium at Imola. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have recorded multiple top three finishes here, with two each. Valtteri Bottas finished on the podium in 2020 and Sergio Perez took his first Imola podium in 2022.
POLESITTERS
In total, 15 drivers have taken pole position at Imola since the circuit first joined the calendar in 1980.
Senna took eight pole positions at Imola
Ayrton Senna holds the record for most pole positions at the track, having set the fastest time on eight occasions.
Senna’s tally of eight poles makes Brazil the most successful nation in qualifying at Imola. In addition to Senna’s poles, Nelson Piquet also took pole at the circuit in 1984.
Rene Arnoux, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen are the four drivers who have taken consecutive pole positions at Imola. Senna has the record for most consecutive poles at the track, having taken pole on all seven visits to the circuit between 1985 and 1991. Meanwhile, Schumacher is the only driver to have taken consecutive poles on multiple occasions at the circuit.
Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are the only drivers on the 2023 grid to have previously taken pole position at Imola. Bottas set the pace in 2020, Hamilton took pole in 2021 and Verstappen won the Sprint in 2022 and started from pole as a result.
In 30 races at Imola, there’s yet to be an occasion on which the fastest qualifier has not started from pole position.
McLaren have the most Imola poles of any team
McLaren have more poles than any other team here, having taken pole on nine occasions.
Lotus, McLaren, Williams, Ferrari and Mercedes are the teams that have taken consecutive poles at the track. McLaren hold the record for the most successive poles at Imola, with four. It’s a feat they’ve achieved twice; between 1988 & 1991 and between 1998 & 2001.
There have been 13 occasions on which a team has locked out the front row at Imola. In the last seven races at the track, Mercedes are the only team to have done so – at the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Mansell took pole by over a second at Imola
Nigel Mansell is the only driver to have taken pole by over a second at this circuit. He did so at the 1992 San Marino Grand Prix, taking pole by 1.053 seconds.
Pole at the circuit has been decided by less than a tenth of a second on ten occasions; including in two of the last three Emilia Romagna Grands Prix. The smallest pole margin here came in 1995, when Michael Schumacher set the fastest time by just 0.008 seconds.
From the last ten F1 races at Imola, the average pole margin has been 0.232 seconds.
LEARN MORE ABOUT IMOLA
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
Of the 30 races held at Imola, ten have been won from pole position, while 19 have been won from the front row of the grid. Max Verstappen’s victory in the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was the first not taken from the front row of the grid since 2001.
No wins have been recorded from further back than fifth on the grid at Imola. Nelson Piquet won both of the first two races at the track from fifth on the grid.
There have been eight races at Imola in which the polesitter did not lead at the end of Lap 1. It last happened at the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The 1993 and 1996 San Marino Grands Prix are the only occasions that the polesitter at Imola has not been in one of the top two positions at the end of the first lap. On both occasions – Alain Prost in 1993 and Michael Schumacher in 1996 – the polesitter crossed the line third at the end of Lap 1.
There have been five races here in which the three drivers at the front of the grid finished on the podium. It happened in 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002 and 2004. The top three finished in the order which they started in 1988, 1992 and 2002.
There is yet to be a race here at which none of the top three starters have gone on to finish on the podium.
The lowest grid position from which a podium finish has been recorded at this circuit is 16th. This happened in 1991, when JJ Lehto finished in third place having started 16th.
SUNDAY STATS
In total, 1,833 Grand Prix racing laps have been completed at Imola.
Six races have been affected by rain. The 1981 San Marino Grand Prix was held in the wet, while the 1991, 1993, 1995, 2021 and 2022 races were all held in drying conditions.
19 drivers have set the fastest lap of a race at Imola. Michael Schumacher has the most fastest laps of anyone, having set the Sunday pace on five occasions.
The fewest number of cars to finish a Formula 1 race here is five. This has happened twice – in 1982 and 1985.
In total, 753 cars have entered a round of the World Championship at Imola. Of those, 695 qualified for races and 345 reached the chequered flag.
There have been seven Did Not Starts recorded at this track. The most recent was for Jarno Trulli, who failed to start the 1997 San Marino Grand Prix.
The Safety Car has made five appearances at Imola
The Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car have been utilised eight times in total at Imola. The first was at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix due to a collision on the starting grid. The second was in 2006, due to a collision between Christijan Albers and Yuji Ide. The third Safety Car outing was in 2020, when Max Verstappen suffered a tyre failure. The Virtual Safety Car was also called in 2020, as a result of Esteban Ocon pulling over to the side of the track following a mechanical issue.
The Safety Car made two appearances in the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – one as a result of Nicholas Latifi crashing out, the other the result of a collision between George Russell and Valtteri Bottas. In 2022, the Safety Car made another single appearance due to a first lap collision between Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo.
The 1989 San Marino Grand Prix, the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix and the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix are the only races at Imola which have been red-flagged. The 1989 and 1994 San Marino races are also the only two races at the circuit which have failed to run to full distance.
Michael Schumacher has led the most laps here
Michael Schumacher holds the record for most laps led at Imola, having spent 317 laps at the front of the field.
Mika Hakkinen holds the record for most laps led here without taking a win. Hakkinen led 65 laps in total at the track.
Elio de Angelis won the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix despite not leading a single lap of the race.
There have been only seven occasions on which the winner at Imola has led every lap of the race. Max Verstappen’s victory in 2022 was the first time this has happened since 2001.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
From the 30 races held at Imola, the winner of the race has gone on to win that year’s title on 16 occasions. It has happened in six of the last eight races at the circuit.
No Drivers’ Championships have been decided here, but Williams secured their first Constructors’ Championship at the track in 1980 and Mercedes were crowned Constructors’ Champions for a record-breaking seventh successive season in 2020.
The driver leading the title race after the Imola round failed to go on and win the title after all of F1’s first nine visits to the track. It has happened only six times since 1989 – including in both 2021 and 2022.
There have been six occasions where the team leading the Constructors’ Championship after a race at Imola failed to win that season’s title. 2022 was the first time this has occurred since 2003.
The Drivers’ Championship has been tied after a race here on three occasions – in 1983, 1986 and 2001. The Constructors’ Championship has been tied after an Imola race twice – in 1987 and 1995.
