Race Lap Record: H.H. Frentzen 1:25.531 (Williams, 1997)
Qualifying Lap Record: Jacques Villeneuve 1:23.303 (Williams, 1997)
A Lap of Imola
The circuit starts with the drivers hard on the power, passing the start-finish line flat out, heading towards the entrance of the Tamburello. After shedding around 100mph and dropping down to 2nd gear, the cars are back hard on the power again on the run up to Villeneuve, a 4th gear (130mph) corner completely destroyed by the "improvements".
A short spurt back onto the power on the approach to the tight Tosa corner. The cars slide quite a lot on the exit as they try to get the power down hard on the run up the hill. At the crest of the hill there is a quick flick right at full speed before the drivers have to scrub off some speed for the entry of the 4th gear Piratella.
After Piratella there is a short downhill section before the Acque Minerali. Once again, the drivers have to get on the power as soon as possible for the short, but relatively steep climb to the Variante Alta, a tricky third gear chicane with very slippery curbs on the exit.
Yet again, it is hard on the power, for a very fast downhill right-hand bend, passing under the bridge. Hard on the for the deceptive 2nd gear (70mph) Rivazza section, and then back on the power as the drivers speed towards the end of the lap. The cars usually hit around 170mph before scrubbing of half of their speed for the entrance to Variante Bassa and the final corner, Traguardo. After the exit it is hard on the power and a quick glance at the pit board before the next lap starts.
San Marino - Trivia Notes
This will be the 21st Grand Prix to be held at Imola: 19 San Marino Grands Prix have already taken place, so this will be the 20th of those, but the first Grand Prix at Imola was the Italian in 1980.
When it comes to past winners, there's an ongoing needle match between Williams and McLaren. Williams have won seven times to McLaren's six, but McLaren have finished 1-2 on three occasions whereas Williams have finished 1-2 only once as have Ferrari. In the qualifying stakes, however, McLaren have started from pole six times (including the last two years) to Williams's four.
Renault, however, have an extraordinary record at the circuit, with six victories including a 1-2 in 1992, while Honda have four wins - but all of them are 1-2s! One person who was very much involved in that record is Ayrton Senna, and he tends to be associated with Imola for the saddest of reasons. But don't forget that he also holds a remarkable record at the circuit: he started from pole position an incredible eight times and seven of those were in succession.
Several drivers have good reason to favour Imola. Reigning World Champion Mika Hakkinen, for instance, scored his first World Championship points there in 1991 with fifth for Lotus. Curiously, however, his best result at the circuit was third in the sad 1994 edition. Since then, he's only had a fifth and a sixth - in spite of starting on the front row of the grid for the past two years.
Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, has retired only twice at Imola in eight visits - both times because of accidents. He's won the race twice and otherwise has finished second, four times. Incidentally, if the Ferrari driver sets fastest lap in the San Marino Grand Prix, he will equal Alain Prost's all-time record of 41 fastest laps.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen scored his first World Championship win there in 1997. Giancarlo Fisichella is another who scored his first World Championships points there: fourth for Jordan in 1997. Eddie Irvine has only retired once at Imola - due to engine failure last year - while a good outside bet would be Jean Alesi who has finished in the points for the last five races, three times in sixth place.
In terms of margin of victory, the smallest margin was when Gilles Villeneuve harried Didier Pironi all the way to the line in 1982 in their Ferraris, and Pironi was the unscheduled winner by just 0.366s.
The largest margin of victory was a full lap in 1985, but then that was an odd race anyway: Ayrton Senna was heading for victory when his Lotus ran out of fuel. That put Stefan Johansson into the lead but he, too, ground to a halt for the same reason. Alain Prost took the chequered flag followed by Elio de Angelis's Lotus. The Italian was a lap ahead of Thierry Boutsen's Arrows which freewheeled across the line with empty fuel tanks. But then Prost's car was found to be under weight, so de Angelis was declared the winner - a lap ahead of Boutsen.
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