No Grand Prix in Imola this weekend, but everyone fully understood the inevitable cancellation. The people of Emilia-Romagna have whole other things on their minds after the devastating storm. In doing so, Formula 1 is not letting them down. The sport is once again showing its very best side these days.

The world is polarised as never before. Families get torn apart as some live up to different political views. On a smaller scale, Formula 1 is a mirror of society. The, let's call it emotions, regularly run high between supporters of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, among others. Even fans of drivers belonging to one and the same team can clash among themselves.

F1 teams united

It is in times of need that everyone - whichever team or driver you support - stands shoulder to shoulder again. While the Emilia-Romagna region has been hit hard by the all-destructive storms, the best in people are coming out: one relief campaign after another is being launched and generous donations are being made to the victims. Formula 1 and its teams - not known for their unity - are also showing themselves to be one powerful block, and have already donated a million euros. Ferrari added a million euros of its own.

Yet a few days after the disaster in northern Italy, the image of Yuki Tsunoda sticks most. The Japanese man from AlphaTauri - part of the Red Bull family - stood there with a shovel in the streets of Faenza, his hometown and badly hit by the washing water. Several photos can be found online of Tsunoda helping to clean up the havoc. The chaos is so great, recovery work will take months, maybe years. But Tsunoda helped clean up anyway.

Straight from the heart

There was no sophisticated PR campaign. No AlphaTauri press officer was around, no photographers had been summoned to show Red Bull Racing's sister team in a positive light. This came purely from his heart. As Max Verstappen, via Team Redline - the esports team the world champion is associated with - announced he was organising a virtual race at the circuit of (probably) Imola on Sunday. No doubt this is a way of raising money for the affected population.

Red Bull Racing and its drivers are regularly under fire from non-fans of the team; they cheat (see the whole budget cap story) or are a danger on the track. In the days following such a disaster in Italy, these men from the Red Bull hated by a section of F1 fans show who they really are: people who have their hearts in the right place. Just as Ferrari also deserves kudos for its generous donation.

Generous giver Hamilton

Or take someone like - and this is unrelated to the storm in Emilia-Romagna - Lewis Hamilton. The Briton transferred as much as £20 million to charity in 2022, the Sunday Times discovered. He does so out of the field of view of the cameras, no one else needs to know. Chances are the seven-time champion has already transferred a sum towards Italy. F1 fans who hugely dislike the Mercedes drivers probably never consider that.

On the track, the 20 drivers and 10 teams go to extremes in their battle for wins. Sometimes even over it. But at the end of the day, the men - often multi-millionaires - show that they still have both feet firmly in the middle of society. In times of need, Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, Mercedes and all the other teams prove that they really know there are more important things in life than winning a Grand Prix.