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Formula 1 has rescheduled Imola qualifying and all three practice sessions to avoid track activity during the funeral of Prince Philip.
The Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth, died last week.
His funeral is being held on Saturday and F1 has changed its schedule for qualifying day at Imola out of respect and to ensure cars are not on track during the service.
Qualifying will now start at 2pm local time, one hour earlier than before, and all of the practice sessions have been rescheduled as well to comply with regulations governing the gap between different sessions.
Friday’s practice sessions will now start at 11am and 2.30pm respectively while final practice on Saturday has been moved to 11am.
There will also be a minute’s silence prior to the start of qualifying.
Various F1 entities paid tribute to the duke last week.
F1 said at the time: “The whole of Formula 1 wishes to pay tribute to Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, who dedicated his whole life to Great Britain and served his country with pride and devotion.”
Red Bull Racing even ran the flags at its Milton Keynes base at half mast.
Our entire Team is saddened to hear of the passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Flags will fly at half mast at our Milton Keynes Campus in remembrance of his devotion to Great Britain. pic.twitter.com/urSpRfTcsf
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) April 9, 2021
F1 is not the first sport to factor the funeral into Saturday’s scheduling.
On Monday, England’s Football Association said that it had consulted with the Departure for Culture, Media and Sport and opted to recommend no football fixtures take place between 2.45pm and 4.15pm on Saturday.
Likewise, Cricket County Championship games in the UK will be suspended from 2.50pm to 4.10pm.
