Imola is currently favourite to claim the empty space left by Vietnam on the 2021 Formula 1 calendar, RaceFans is reporting.
This year, Covid-19 presented an opportunity for the historic Italian circuit to host its first Grand Prix since 2006, doing so under a new name of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Immediately after the race, which was won by Lewis Hamilton, regional president Stefano Bonaccini said discussions would begin to make the event a permanent fixture on the F1 calendar.
And after the Vietnamese GP was dropped following the arrest of Hanoi People’s Committee chairman Duc Chung, who was closely tied to the new-for-2020 event which was cancelled due to the pandemic, that does now appear a genuine possibility.
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If it did go ahead, Imola would reclaim the late-April date it had during its 26-year stint hosting the San Marino GP between 1981 and 2006.
But RaceFans do note that no deal is yet agreed, and Portimao, which held the first Portuguese GP since 1996 this year, is also in the running.
Another fan favourite to return to the calendar this year was the Turkish GP at Istanbul, where Hamilton claimed his seventh F1 title.
However, that race is not expected to put itself forward as the date would clash with Ramadan, when Muslims around the world fast during daylight hours.
As for the fate of the Vietnam GP, it does appear a future return is not completely off the table, with Chloe Targett-Adams, F1’s global director of race promotion, saying the sport does remain in contact with the Hanoi organisers.
