The area around Imola is home to several racing car manufacturers — Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Racing Bulls (formerly Minardi, then Toro Rosso, then AlphaTauri), Dallara, and Stanguellini. Following the Second World War, the town launched a programme to improve the local economy. Four local motorsport enthusiasts proposed a new road linking existing public roads for manufacturers to test prototypes; construction began in March 1950. The first test run took place two years later when Enzo Ferrari sent a car to the track and Alberto Ascari ran demonstration laps.
Motorcycle races began at Imola in April 1953; the first car race took place in June 1954. In April 1963, the first race with Formula One cars at Imola was held as a non-championship event, won by Jim Clark for Lotus. A further non-championship Formula One event in 1979 was won by Niki Lauda for Brabham-Alfa Romeo.
In 1980, the Italian Grand Prix moved from Monza to Imola — later known as Autodromo Dino Ferrari — partly as a consequence of the 1978 startline pile-up that killed the Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson. That race was won by Nelson Piquet for Brabham-Ford. The Italian Grand Prix returned to Monza in 1981, leaving Imola without a Grand Prix. The circuit's owners asked the Automobile Club of San Marino to apply for their own Grand Prix, which was approved, and the San Marino Grand Prix was born.
The inaugural 1981 race saw Gilles Villeneuve qualify his Ferrari on pole. He led the first 19 laps before pitting for fresh tyres; teammate Didier Pironi inherited the lead but was caught by Piquet, who won with Riccardo Patrese second and Carlos Reutemann third.
In 1982, most FOCA teams boycotted the event; only 14 cars competed. After the Renaults of Alain Prost and René Arnoux retired, Ferrari had no competition and finished first and second. However, Pironi and Villeneuve disputed a team order to slow down: Villeneuve believed it meant holding position on track, while Pironi believed the cars were free to race. Pironi passed Villeneuve on the final lap at the Tosa corner to win. Villeneuve, furious, said afterwards: "I'll never speak to Pironi again in my life." They proved prophetic words — Villeneuve died during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks later, still not on speaking terms with his teammate.
Patrick Tambay won for Ferrari in 1983; Riccardo Patrese crashed his Brabham hard at Acquaminerale while battling for the lead. Prost won in a McLaren in 1984. In 1985, Ayrton Senna led much of the race; Stefan Johansson, in only his second drive for Ferrari, passed Senna at the end of Lap 61 but retired with a fuel problem. Many others also ran out of fuel; Prost finished first but was disqualified when his car was weighed 2 kg underweight, handing victory to second-placed Italian Elio de Angelis. Prost won again in a fuel-starved 1986 race.
In 1987, Senna took pole narrowly from Nigel Mansell; teammate Nelson Piquet crashed heavily at Tamburello but received only minor injuries — FIA doctor Sid Watkins declared him unfit to race. The 1988 McLaren pairing of Prost and Senna qualified three seconds faster than the next competitor, Piquet in a Lotus.
In 1989, the circuit was renamed Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari to honour Enzo Ferrari, who had died the year before. Gerhard Berger crashed heavily at Tamburello, was knocked unconscious, and the car — soaked with fuel — caught fire. He survived with burns to his hands and missed the next race, the Monaco Grand Prix. After a red-flag restart, Senna and Prost had agreed that whoever reached the Tosa corner first would stay ahead. Prost led to Tamburello but Senna passed him through the Villeneuve right-hander into Tosa. Prost accused Senna of breaking the agreement; Senna won the race, Prost finished second.
In 1990, pole-sitter Senna suffered a puncture on lap three. Mansell and Berger battled hard; Mansell spun 360 degrees on the straight between Tamburello and Villeneuve after Berger forced him onto the grass but kept the Ferrari going before the V12 swallowed grass and failed. Patrese won in a Williams, followed by Berger. The 1991 race was rain-soaked; Prost stalled on the parade lap and spun off at Rivazza. Berger did the same but kept his McLaren going; McLaren finished first and second with Senna ahead of Berger. Finnish debutant JJ Lehto finished third and Mika Häkkinen fifth. Williams dominated 1992 with Mansell and Patrese, and Prost — now driving for Williams — won in 1993.
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was marked by accidents across the entire weekend. On Friday, Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello suffered a severe concussion in a collision at the Variante Bassa chicane, decelerating violently into the fence. On Saturday, Simtek driver Roland Ratzenberger crashed at the Villeneuve Corner after his front wing — damaged on his first qualifying lap — broke off; unable to steer, he struck a retaining wall at nearly 195 mph and suffered a basilar skull fracture, dying at the scene.
On race day, Benetton driver JJ Lehto and Lotus driver Pedro Lamy collided at the start, sending debris over the fences and injuring eight spectators. On Lap 7, Williams driver Ayrton Senna ran off course at the high-speed Tamburello at 325 km/h, downshifting twice to 225 km/h before colliding with the wall. A piece of suspension and the right front wheel struck and pierced his helmet; Senna was killed instantly. Later in the race, a wheel from Michele Alboreto's Minardi came off in the pitlane exit, injuring four mechanics from Ferrari and Lotus. Michael Schumacher won the race; Ferrari temporary replacement Nicola Larini finished second.
In the aftermath, Tamburello's flat-out left was converted to a chicane and the Villeneuve corner was similarly altered, forcing drivers to slow. Subsequent regulation changes were made to the cars in 1994 and 1995, and the changes catalysed safety improvements at other circuits.
For 1995, Tamburello and Villeneuve were altered from flat-out bends into slower chicanes, and the Variante Bassa was straightened. Damon Hill won that year and the next. David Coulthard took a marginal 1998 victory while his Mercedes engine was failing. From 1999 to 2004, Schumacher won every edition except 2001, which was won by his brother Ralf. In 2000, Mika Häkkinen hit debris and lost time; Schumacher came out on top after a slower pit stop for Häkkinen. In 2004, BAR driver Jenson Button took a surprise pole from the dominant Ferrari pair of Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, finishing second in the race. Fernando Alonso won in 2005. In 2006, Schumacher won for the seventh time while Japanese driver Yuji Ide caused an accident that flipped Christijan Albers's car, costing Ide his FIA superlicense.
On 29 August 2006 it was announced that the race would be dropped for 2007 to make room for the Belgian Grand Prix. It has not featured on the calendar under the San Marino title since.
No San Marinese drivers ever competed in the Grand Prix. Italians Elio de Angelis and Riccardo Patrese won in 1985 and 1990 respectively. In contrast, motorcycle racing from San Marino has produced riders such as Manuel Poggiali and Alex De Angelis.
Imola returned to the Formula One calendar from 2020 under the name of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 1 related image
