F1 Imola GP under serious doubts after regional weather service issue highest rain warning in the area

The 2023 season might get its first wet race of the season as the weather authorities have put the upcoming F1 Imola GP under serious doubt with massive thunderstorms during the weekend.

The Emilia Romagna GP will kickstart the European leg of the 2023 season and will see many teams bringing their first round of major upgrades. However, their understanding of the new parts may be curtailed if there is less running on the track due to heavy rains.

In 2021 and 2022, the race day at Imola has been a wet start and provided some jeopardy for the F1 drivers. However, there is a possibility that the race might be canceled this year given the intensity of the rain showers as the authority has issued the highest warning in the region with a chance of floods as well.

“I think they're very quick in a straight line just generally" - Alpine F1 technical director on Red Bull

Red Bull's straight-line speed advantage in the races has been a talking point in the first five Grand Prix in 2023. It has aided them in zooming past other cars whenever they have found themselves behind in the grid.

Alpine F1 technical director Matt Harman said, as per Motorsport.com:

“There's a lot of talk about that visually but I think if you actually dig through the data, I'm not so sure about that. I think they're very quick in a straight line just generally. So, from what we see, it is not something that we are looking to try and understand in great detail."

“There are some things we probably have no clue on because there are some things that we do they won't have either. But their ability to run their car the way they do is quite impressive. I think that's certainly an inspiration to us all. So that's where we're moving towards.”

Haas' principal aerodynamicist Juan Molina added:

“If you think about active suspension, and I'm not saying anybody has it, but if you had active suspension, then you probably win the championship because you can get the car and you can develop it in a specific position."

"So that's why we think if you understand what your car is doing, or where you want to put your car, and you can put your car there, you can get performance."

The advantage has certainly piqued the interest of other F1 teams on the grid as they try to claw back the deficit in the remaining races.