Formula 1 drivers were full of praise for Imola after its first Grand Prix in 14 years last weekend.
The Italian circuit was one of five venues to be added in the revised 2020 schedule, which has been limited to Europe and the Middle East due to Covid-19.
Given the lengthy absence, it meant many of today’s drivers, particularly those who came through F3/F2, didn’t have much experience of Imola’s historic turns.
And though it has been brought up to modern safety standards, the character of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari was still very apparent.
“It’s really historic and it’s always special going to races, to race tracks you’ve watched on television since you were a kid,” said Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
“I’ve been to Hollywood or whatever, it’s just that feeling when you see a place on television 100 times, it’s always special to go there in real life and explore it yourself.
“And then on top of that, the track is just absolutely awesome to drive. It’s really narrow, again one of the super important things is there is not a lot of run-off.
“It’s just old-school, bumpy. Kerbs that are actually a challenge to use, it’s not just one of those standard ones that the FIA are putting into all tracks, basically. It’s just unique.”
Another feature that drivers enjoyed was the ability for them to make a difference by nailing the chicanes and other turns.
“The first chicane [Tamburello] is cool, it actually sets the tone for the lap,” Daniel Ricciardo, who finished third on Sunday, commented.
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“You nail that… In Q3 I went to nearly 0.2s quicker in the first chicane than I had all weekend. That really set the tone for the rest of the lap. That was really fun.
“Even the chicane, Turn 14/15 [Variante Alta], the slow speed chicane, it has kerbs that you can attack. That is fun.
“You can really hustle the car and you even see some guys taking the yellow, bigger part of the kerb. I loved it all.”
And though his weekend ended in slightly embarrassing fashion by crashing behind the Safety Car, George Russell enjoyed the risk/reward nature of Imola.
“It’s a proper thrill, we need to come to more tracks like this,” he said.
“It’s so exhilarating for the driver knowing you’ll be in the gravel or the wall if you make one error, it’s mega.”
