F1 News
Binotto: "That's why it's going to be very interesting at Imola"
- GPblog.com
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix promises to be a special weekend for Formula 1. The royal class of motor racing will be experimenting with a two-day format. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is hopeful about the new format.
Too little time for the trip
Formula 1 director Ross Brawn had been looking forward to the experiment for a long time. Until now, the teams have always been fiercely opposed to a two-day event because they can make good use of the practice time. However, according to the CEO of F1 Chase Carey, there was no other way, because otherwise, the teams would not have had enough time to go from Portimao to Imola.
For this reason, Formula 1 will only have one free practice session of an hour and a half on Saturday. Shortly after that, the drivers and cars will have to be ready for qualifying. Also on Sunday, we see a small change compared to the 'normal' European schedule: the race starts at 13:10 instead of 14:10 because it gets dark a lot earlier in November.
Special weekend
Binotto is expecting an interesting weekend at Imola: "Let's see what happened on Friday in Mugello. There were considerable differences between the drivers and teams. If the free practice is shortened, the drivers will be less prepared for the race", he says to SpeedWeek.com.
"Of course the teams and drivers had already practiced Mugello in the simulator. But in Tuscany it became clear that it's different to drive on a real circuit", says Binotto. "That's why it's going to be very interesting on Imola."