what f1 should do: cancel the race and support the circuit with ticket refunds or postpone the race to a new date, donate to help efforts in the region, ensuring that no emergency personnel is hindered by the race weekend and no crowds attempt to travel to the area
what f1 will do: wait to take a final decision until way too late, then announce they’ll do quali and the race on sunday without any free practice, maybe ban crowds from attending but offer no refunds to ticket holders due to “higher powers”
“Sending all our love to everyone in the Emilia Romagna region right now. ❤️🙏“ - may 17, 2023
📷 @.mercedesamgf1 / instagram
(transcription under the cut)
George: "Hello, everyone. We just wanted to send a message firstly wishing everyone the best in the region around Imola. Obviously it's really not good to see what's going on there, so just wishing everybody the best. Obviously it's a shame we're not racing, but ultimately the right decision, I think's, been made."
Lewis: "Yeah, absolutely. We're here at the factory, we were getting all ramped up for the weekend. Naturally was very excited to get going again, but I think this is the right decision and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that is there on the ground, and wishing all the emergency services all the best. They're obviously there in full force.
We wish we could be racing, but this is definitely the right decision, so we hope the fans, we just wanna send you our love and support, and we'll keep our fingers crossed for everyone. Stay safe, and hopefully we get to see everyone in Monaco."
glad and surprised f1 did the right thing here but,
the bigger picture is that seb was right even if his prediction was 37 years off. climate change is affecting us faster than we could've ever expected.
Apparently people’s common sense is dead so let me spell it for you:
DON’T. MAKE. JOKES/MEMES. ABOUT. IMOLA. FLOOD.
There are dead people. There are more that 5.000 people that can’t go back to their homes. They are saving people trapped on the roof of their houses or in the cars. Imola might not be the most dangerous city right now, but just 20km away there’s people that lost everything.
So please, if you have friends that have bought tickets to the gp, advise them not to go because their health is more important than lost money. AND STOP MINIMIZING IT AS A “small rain” “we had worst in X country” “not a big deal” as F1 medias are telling you. If u don’t believe me, go search #EmiliaRomagna tag on twitter and see yourself
Our man Giles Richards at The Guardian reporting on the increasingly dire situation in Emilia Romagna.
Read more at The Guardian
How the heck do they expect to host 120,000 people when there is potential of flooding and landslides, and authorities are urging people to stay home??
Lets be honest, if F1 and the FIA didn't cancel a race even though there were literal missile attacks happening near the track, they won't cancel a race over severe flooding.