At the eleventh hour, local authorities have banned spectators from this weekend’s race at Imola. “Until the last, the municipality of Imola has tried to contain the health risk, further reducing the capacity that was initially granted by half, but there was no way to allow the open door event even in compliance with the proposed rules,” a spokesman said. Imola said ticket refunds will be made to spectators “in the shortest possible time”. Formula 1 said the sport “understands and respects the decision taken by the authorities”. When asked if he enjoyed watching on TV the recent Portuguese GP with a limited spectator attendance, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said: “Honestly, no.

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