As we wait for the real pukka soft-tire qualifying simulation efforts at FP3’s end, I’d like to roll the clock back (nearly) five years to the 2020 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix — the first time Imola had been on the F1 calendar since 2006.
Luke Smith and I, in another career lifetime, were standing at the same spot he is trackside today, soaking up the atmosphere of this famous track.
It wasn’t during practice for the race Lewis Hamilton would go on to win for Mercedes. We’d gone to the track a day early to take COVID tests as per the attendance rules of those dark days.
After a trip to visit the Senna memorial, we carried on around the outside of the track to see as far as we could get. Even on that day, with no action taking place, we met a woman who’d come to remember Gilles Villeneuve — her favorite driver — at the chicane that bears his name, where another memorial stands.
On our way back, we stopped at an unassuming cafe on the edge of the Acque Minerali park that the track runs through.
Grateful even for a couple of limp sandwiches at what looked like a classic tourist trap, we were treated to a sumptuous meal of local delicacies.