Following the cancellation of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Formula 2 director of operations Marco Codello has warned that transporting everything to Monte-Carlo for next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix is set to be incredibly difficult, with no plan having been made yet in regard to when they’ll leave Imola.
The Emilia-Romagna region has been devastated by torrential rain in recent weeks, causing widespread flooding and landslides.
It was announced on Wednesday afternoon by F1 that this weekend’s action had been cancelled, with it simply not being possible nor safe to hold a Grand Prix, especially with further rain forecasted.
F1 personnel were actually banned from entering the circuit on Wednesday due to the conditions; however, they were allowed to enter on Thursday to start de-rigging the paddock.
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F1 journalist Andrew Benson shared on Twitter: “Formula 1 personnel needed to de-rig the paddock have been allowed back into the Imola circuit today following the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Expectations are that there will be no delays in arrival and setting up for Monaco next weekend.”
Whilst the F1 paddock shouldn’t be an issue, the F2 and F3 paddock could face trouble, with Alpine engineer Karel Loos having revealed that as things stand “our trucks cannot leave”, due to some parts being knee-deep in flood water.
“At the moment, our trucks cannot leave,” Loos told the Sporza news agency, as reported by Grandpx.news.
“Our people on site are also stuck.
“Now have to wait until we can get back to the track to pack everything up and ship it to Monaco for the next race.”
With getting everything to Monaco looking set to be an enormous challenge, Codello has called for everybody to “stay calm”, with the situation continuing to develop as every hour passes.
Codello hopes the equipment can start to leave on Thursday; however, “no plan” in regard to transporting everything to Monaco has been made yet.
“Formula 2 and Formula 3 need two days to prepare, Formula 1 needs a little longer,” Codello said.
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“I hope the situation will improve and we will be able to leave Imola on Thursday, but there is no exact plan yet. Perhaps we will stay here and go straight to Monaco, where we should be on Monday evening.
“I imagine that Bologna airport will not only be flooded with water, but also filled with people who want to go home. But there aren’t many flights, so the only thing we can do right now is to stay calm,” Codello added.
“The emergency applies to everyone.”