"Imola, which was dropped from the F1 calendar in 2007, has now declared itself in a position to host a grand prix after passing the requisite homologation test by motorsport's governing body the FIA." This is great news, well for me it is. I've always loved Imola and found it to be a real drivers track and was very disappointed to see it dropped which is one of the many reasons why I have a strong dislike for Bernie. The pits and paddock area have had a huge redevelopment by none other than- yep, you guessed it- Hermann Tilke. Thankfully, the track remains relatively untouched but it would need to be brought up to FIA saftey regulations. The question is though, as I stated in one of my previous threads, where do you put it in on the calendar? Do you rotate it with Monza? This wouldn't be a huge loss for me as I've always been a bit bored by Monza but if you're going to have both of them on the calendar, they should have permanent reservations. Do you rotate Barcelona with Valencia and free up the European slot? Everyone but Bernie would love that, but, as we're constantly being reminded, he has all the power. Could you drop an existing race to make way for the return of the San Marino GP? Only if it's one of the exciting races that brings in no money. Whichever way you look at it is great to see some of the old tracks like Imola and Paul Ricard wanting back into the modern F1 rather than all these pointless races in the middle of nowhere (not mentioning any names.....Bahrain).
There are plenty of races which could/shoud be dropped in place of Imola. Unfortunately they wont. the trade off at the moment seems to be if you want to put a brand new venue on the calendar you may to dispose of a slightly older venue (e.g turkey) or maybe convince Bernie into adding yet another date onto the calendar. If you want to reintroduce a classic racce you are going to have to trade it on the calendar with another classic race or maybe host alternately with another classic race (e.g France/Belgium)
I'd like to see them race share with Monza, prefer Imola as a circuit and no country should have two.
Monza is better than imola but both are good traks worthy of being on the calandar without sharing. with Spain track sharing Valencia and Barcelona maybe there is an opening to hold the European GP?
In my opinion seven tracks should always be kept on the Calendar : Monaco Monza Spa Silverstone Suzuka Interlagos Melbourne Montreal
Spa, Silverstone, Montreal? And unlike Monza they actually have corners. There's no skill in driving down a straight at speed, a strategically placed brick could do it.
F1 is supposed to be High Speed. 220 MPH cross across the kerbs. Yet some people want it to go to Imola!
I wish it would return it's produced some great races there are several overtaking opportunities but alas I don't think it will happen.
I can't see Monza race-sharing, the Tifosi would be uproar. But then again it is Bernie and the FIA deciding... Personally I think El_Bando is right, Spain should track share
I have to disagree with you about the great overtaking opportunities. In 2005 the quicker Schuey couldn't pass Alonso for the lead, whilst in 2006 the roles were reversed. On both of these occasions the driver behind spent lap after lap on the gearbox of the car in front. Personally, I cannot see it and don't want it to return.
Don't blame Imola for the ineptitude of the driving. Edit: That was a joke before anyone goes off on one.
The regs have changed since then though. New tyres alone would create much more overtaking opportunities, DRS might not be as effective there as in other places but would still add to overtakes. Apex, as I said in one of my threads earlier, thos tracks you listed were the exact same ones I thought should stay. By the way you listed eight tracks, not seven
