Formula 1 returned to Imola in 2020 as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix debuted on its calendar, so F1 Oversteer has looked at which drivers are the most successful to date.
Very few drivers have yet made the top step of the podium at Imola since F1 returned to the historic circuit for the San Marino GP. The pinnacle of motorsport first raced at Imola in 1980 for the Italian GP, before the track then held 26 editions of the San Marino GP through 2006.
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, as it is officially named, is also the home track for Scuderia Ferrari. Imola is located just 50 miles from Maranello but has not yet seen a Ferrari driver win the Emilia Romagna GP. The last Ferrari win at Imola came back in 2006.
Max Verstappen is the most successful F1 driver at the Emilia Romagna GP
So far, Max Verstappen is the most successful Formula 1 driver at the Emilia Romagna GP. He has sealed two victories around Imola with Red Bull since the travelling circus of F1 returned to the region in 2020. Lewis Hamilton has also won once at the Emilia Romagna GP to date.
Hamilton won the first running of the Emilia Romagna GP in 2020 when Verstappen suffered a tyre blowout. But the latter returned and took to the top step of the podium in 2021 and 2022, as Verstappen made Red Bull the most successful F1 team at the Emilia Romagna GP.
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Yet neither Hamilton nor Verstappen set the first pole position at the Emilia Romagna GP in 2020. Instead, Valtteri Bottas was the top qualifier as F1 returned to Imola during the Covid-disrupted year. The Finn edged Hamilton to pole position by 0.097 seconds with a 1:13.609.
Verstappen’s wins in 2021 and 2022 also made him only the seventh repeat winner at Imola throughout F1’s all-time visits. Michael Schumacher is the most successful Formula 1 driver at Imola to date with seven San Marino GP wins ahead of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna (3).
The Emilia Romagna GP has seen one repeat winner
Schumacher (7), Prost, Senna (3), Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill (2) were all repeat winners of the San Marino GP from 1981 to 2006. Nelson Piquet also won the only Italian GP ever at Imola in 1980 with Brabham, and returned for the first San Marino GP in 1981 to win again.
But Verstappen is the sole repeat winner of the Emilia Romagna GP. F1 did not race at Imola in 2023 after cancelling the event due to the heavy flooding in the region. Only Hamilton can also join Verstappen as a repeat winner of the Emilia Romagna GP when F1 returns in 2024.
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