As we anticipate the true pukka soft-tire qualifying simulation efforts at FP3’s finish, I’d wish to roll the clock again (almost) 5 years to the 2020 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix — the primary time Imola had been on the F1 calendar since 2006.
Luke Smith and I, in one other profession lifetime, had been standing on the similar spot he’s trackside at the moment, absorbing the ambiance of this well-known observe.
It wasn’t throughout follow for the race Lewis Hamilton would go on to win for Mercedes. We’d gone to the observe a day early to take COVID checks as per the attendance guidelines of these darkish days.
After a visit to go to the Senna memorial, we carried on across the exterior of the observe to see so far as we may get. Even on that day, with no motion happening, we met a lady who’d come to recollect Gilles Villeneuve — her favourite driver — on the chicane that bears his title, the place one other memorial stands.
On our manner again, we stopped at an unassuming cafe on the sting of the Acque Minerali park that the observe runs by means of.
Grateful even for a few limp sandwiches at what seemed like a traditional vacationer entice, we had been handled to a luxurious meal of native delicacies.
