After a whirlwind season-opener in Bahrain, Formula 1 is now set to move to Imola for the upcoming weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP. The race weekend will last from 16 to 18 April. The qualifying was supposed to be between 15:00-16:00 CET on Saturday, April 17, 2021.

But His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, unfortunately, passed away a few days ago. And his funeral will take place on Saturday. So, in a bid to avoid a clash with it, the FIA has adjusted the schedule for Imola.

The qualifying, along with the final practice sessions, will take place on Saturday. As the royal funeral itself begins at 15:00 CET, the FIA has moved qualifying back an hour earlier to 14:00-15:00 CET.

Moreover, the regulations in the FIA rule book have also forced changes to the timings of the practice sessions. They stipulate that FP3 must take place 120 minutes before qualifying. Hence, FP3 will now take place between 11:00-12:00 CET.

There’s another relatively unknown regulation for a race weekend. It states that there must be at least a 19-hour gap between the second practice session on Friday and the final practice session on Saturday.

So, to comply with that, they have moved the practice sessions on Friday back by half an hour. FP2 will take place between 1430-1530 CET. The rules also require a minimum of 150 minutes gap between FP1 and FP2. So, the first practice session will take place between 1100-1200 CET.

There will also be a minute’s silence before qualifying begins on Saturday to pay respect to the deceased Duke.

Where can the fans watch the Emilia Romagna GP?

Sky Sports hold exclusive rights for broadcasting the race. It also holds the same exclusivity over the qualifying and all three practice sessions. Channel 4 will have to settle for showing highlights.

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F1 community paid tribute to Prince Philip on social media before Imola

After hearing the news of his passing on April 9, many F1 teams took to social media to honor the late royal. The British outfits like McLaren, Williams, and Aston Martin were more active in particular.

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Aston Martin is one of the oldest British brands. It is also a sense of pride among the nationals and it has a past association with the royal family, too. Naturally, they were grieving after learning of his demise.

Across the UK, all the other sports are also making changes to their schedule, as well. So, it is only right that Formula 1 also joined in to show their respect.

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