F1 | Megaride simulation: Imola, what changes with the green asphalt

This weekend the F1 circus will face the first European stage on the historic Imola circuit for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The Italian stage marks the start of the second quarter of the championship and will be the scene of the introduction of numerous technical updates by the teams. In particular, the long-awaited updates from Ferrari are bringing a true evolution of the SF-24 to Emilia.

In addition to the teams, the racetrack has also been the protagonist of an important update: the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in fact, is the first in the world to “cover” green, innovative and sustainable asphalt, the result of six years of research years completely made in Italy.

The new asphalt, composed of recycled hard plastics and graphene, increases the useful life of the pavement and significantly reduces environmental impacts thanks to reduced maintenance. The resurfaced areas are those that go from the Rivazza entrance to the paddock area, most affected by the passage of heavy vehicles.

The Imola circuit hosted the first F1 Grand Prix in 1979, becoming sadly famous for the terrible weekend in 1994 in which Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna died. It is an old style track: fun and challenging for the drivers, but often treacherous.

It features 19 corners, but only 3 challenging braking areas. Particular attention must be paid in turns 9 to 15, modified with new curbs and a greater quantity of gravel to the detriment of the concrete escape routes.

• The temperature graph does not show any major thermal stress on the tyres. The right tires are slightly more stressed, thanks to the anti-clockwise travel. The most critical corners of the track are 5-6, the Villenueve variant, which place a lot of strain on the front right; and 5-6pm, the two Rivazzas, characterized by a change in slope and the most demanding braking of the entire route.
• For this weekend, Pirelli has chosen the softest set at its disposal: C3-C4-C5, despite medium level abrasiveness. This choice could favor different strategies on a track where it is very difficult to overtake.
• The grip level expected over the weekend is good: the small Nurburgring, as the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is nicknamed, being an old style circuit is fun in itself and should not offer much evolution session after session. Qualifying is fundamental given the difficulty in overtaking.

Megaride GP Imola chart

Photo credit: MegaRide

The track is moderately abrasive on all tyres, favoring a good level of grip but also medium wear. The critical sections are the Villenueve variant, turns 5 and 6, and the two Rivazza, turns 17-18, where the greatest amount of heat is generated, thus favoring the phenomenon of wear.

From a strategic perspective, pay attention to the length of the pit lane, the longest in the World Championship: it takes around 28 seconds to travel through it, significantly influencing the choice of the number of pit stops. The objective of reducing the number of pit stops will therefore be further favored by this important variant, on a circuit where overtaking is quite complex and where strategies therefore have a significant specific weight.