The first quarter of the season is now done and dusted and, apart from a brief interlude in Canada in mid-June, the European season starts now, and goes on until the Italian Grand Prix on 7 September.
The Emilia-Romagna e del Made in Italy Grand Prix takes place at the Imola circuit, named in memory of Enzo Ferrari and his son Dino. This part of the season, which contains the majority of races regarded as the classics of the championship, is thus bookended by rounds in Pirelli’s home country, which has hosted more rounds of the Drivers’ World Championship than any other nation. 74 out of a total of 107 races have been held in Monza, 31 in Imola, while Mugello and Pescara have hosted one apiece.
The new C6 compound will make its race debut in Imola, as Pirelli has chosen the softest trio of compounds in its 2025 range for this weekend, with the C4 as Hard, the C5 as Medium and the C6 as Soft. It will be the first time that drivers will run the C6 on this season’s cars as none of them used it in the Bahrain test.
Homologated for use at tracks that stress the tyres the least, the C6 could provide even more grip over a flying lap, especially as the Imola surface is less abrasive than average. It’s hard to imagine it being used for a race stint, but data gathered in Imola and then from Monaco and Montreal, will allow the Pirelli engineers to evaluate it for other Grands Prix in the second part of the season.
Last year, the one-stop strategy proved the most competitive. 15 drivers started the race on the Medium (C4), three on the Hard (C3) and two on the Soft (C5). The harder compounds worked best, offering very consistent performance, with limited degradation, despite track temperatures above 50 °C. Those who started on the Soft had to make two stops.
It will be interesting to see if going one step softer in terms of compounds compared to last year will have an effect. There is only one DRS zone with limited opportunities for overtaking elsewhere, added to which the pit lane is the longest on the calendar in terms of time. All these factors combine to make a one-stop the obligatory tradition at this circuit.
Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is one of the most iconic and technical tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. Situated in the heart of Italy’s Motor Valley, it is 4.909 kilometres long, with 19 corners – ten to the left and nine to the right – and runs anti-clockwise, which puts it in the minority of race tracks worldwide. It’s old-school, rather narrow, with high and aggressive kerbs, as well as several natural changes of elevation and corner sequences that alternate between requiring heavy braking and some flowing sections.
After the start comes the Tamburello corner, one of the fastest parts of the track, followed by the Villeneuve chicane and Tosa corner, where the driver wants to have good traction on exit. The Acque Minerali section is one of the most technical and spectacular, while the Alta chicane and the double left-hander at Rivazza complete a layout that rewards precision, stability and overall car balance.
Tyre management is affected by the many acceleration and braking points, with tyres subjected to a low average load and limited degradation. However, the high kerbs can increase mechanical stress, especially on the suspension and tyres. Because of the limited overtaking opportunities, qualifying plays an important role, as does finding the right race strategy.
Keyword: WOW
WOW is the acronym for “Women Opening Ways”, the slogan for the Wow Women Motor 2025 event, which was launched at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit back on 8 March and of which Pirelli is a partner. Its theme was female empowerment, STEM disciplines and inclusion in the automotive world. Over 150 students from various high schools in the Motor Valley area took part in a competition organised by Municipality of Imola, MUNER – Motorvehicle University of Emilia-Romagna, Pirelli and BOOM, knowledge e innovation hub of CRIF. The students were set a challenge to work on gender equality and inclusion in motorsport. Split into teams, the male and female competitors began work on 8 March, given two months to complete the task. The winners will receive their prize from Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Director of Motorsport at a ceremony on Thursday 15 May, in the fan zone at the circuit.
Statistics corner
Imola first held a Formula 1 race in 1980, the only time the Italian Grand Prix was not run in Monza. From the following year until 2006, it was home to the San Marino Grand Prix. It returned to the calendar in 2020, as the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. In 2023, the race had to be cancelled because of serious flooding in the region, by which time the slogan “Made in Italy” was added to its name.
Michael Schumacher is the king of Imola, having won there no fewer than seven times. Equal in second place on the list of winners with three apiece, are two men who were always great rivals, namely Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, along with the current world champion Max Verstappen, who has won the last three editions. With eight to his name, Senna has the most pole positions, followed by Schumacher on five and René Arnoux on three. With 12 podium finishes, Schumacher tops this list, with twice as many as Prost on six, followed by Senna and Gerhard Berger in third place, with five each.
As for the teams, Ferrari and Williams have the most wins here with 8, ahead of McLaren on 6, the latter having the greatest number of pole positions (8), ahead of Ferrari (6) and Williams (4). The same three teams have the most podiums in the order, Ferrari on 25, McLaren on 22 and Williams on 15.
