Image source, Getty ImagesFernando Alonso, now 43, drives for Aston Martin these days but in 2005, the Spaniard was racing for Renault and battling on the Imola track with Ferrari's seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. Alonso beat the German to the race win, sealing his third consecutive victory of what would be his first championship season.
Michael Schumacher is the king of Imola, winning at the historic circuit a record seven times during his career. However, in 1992, it was a different story, as the German suffered his first retirement of the season for Benetton after he spun into the tyre wall when he and team-mate Martin Brundle were hustling McLaren's Gerhard Berger on lap 21.
On 1 May 1994, of the Williams team, along with the rest of the world, watched on anxiously as medics tried to save the life of their iconic driver Ayrton Senna. The 34-year-old crashed into a concrete barrier at the Tamburello corner because of a mechanical failure on his car and died a few hours later in a hospital in Bologna. His death came the day after Simtek's Roland Ratzenberger had been killed in a crash during qualifying.
In the aftermath of Senna and Ratzenberger's deaths 31 years ago, Imola was given a revamp, with two chicanes added to the circuit to improve safety. The monument at Tamburello has become a pilgrimage for fans; a lasting reminder of Senna's legacy within Formula 1.
A Schumacher stood on the top step of the Imola podium in 2001, but it wasn't Michael who claimed the race victory - it was his brother Ralf. Driving for Williams, the younger Schumacher beat McLaren's David Coulthard and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello to the chequered flag, while Michael's day in the other Scuderia ended in retirement.
One of the reasons fans love the old-school charm of Imola is that it's one of the few circuits left on the calendar that has corner names, not just numbers. In sequence, they are Tamburello, Villeneuve, Tosa, Piratella, Acque Minerali, Variante Alta and Rivazza. In 2006, Variante Bassa was removed and a new pit lane and start-finish complex were built.
Senna won three times in Imola and took a record eight pole positions, but his second victory on Italian soil saw his rivalry with then McLaren team-mate Alain Prost turn sour. Following a red flag and delay for a terrifying accident involving Gerhard Berger's Ferrari on lap four, Senna overtook Frenchman Prost - who had been leading before the accident - halfway round the first lap after the restart, apparently reneging on a pre-race agreement.
