F1 alters Friday and Saturday schedule for Imola

Ahead of this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Formula One has announced tweaks to race schedule as a mark of respect for the funeral of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

The sport has confirmed that the schedule for this weekend’s Imola round of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship will undergo some changes out of respect to the funeral service of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh that will take place on Saturday 17th April 2021.

As a mark of respect for the Royal funeral, Qualifying will be moved to avoid a clash with the service. The change menas that the qualifying session will take place between 14:00–15:00 CET. As a result FP3 will move to 11:00–12:00 CET in order to comply with the regulations that state Qualifying must be 120 minutes after FP3.

The Saturday changes will also have an impact on the Friday schedule as a result of the Sporting Regulation. FP2 will move to 14:30-15:30 CET and FP1 will move to 11:00-12:00 CET due to the rules requiring those sessions to be separated by at least two and a half hours and FP3 needing to start no less than nineteen hours after the end of FP2.

There will be a minute of silence ahead of Qualifying as an opportunity for people to show their respects.