F.1 – Brazilian GP: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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FAENZA – One of the most enthralling World Championship of the last three years came to an end. The Brazilian track hosted an exciting race, which was so difficult to run from a technical point of view.
When weather changes so quickly, sport and technical staff are always put to the test. No doubt we have to praise Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull for winning the third World Championship. Three world titles are never won by chance. It was a pity, because, besides the value that no one wants to deny, luck played a key role again. Even yesterday, those drivers who were involved in the accident at the beginning, had to quit the race, while Vettel was able to restart and cross the line despite a little damage occurred.
As we pointed out several times, McLaren and Lotus played the role of Championship arbiters, even if their roles were so different. Considering the final result, the zero points scored by a “guiltless” Alonso at Spa and Suzuka, had a heavy impact on the Spaniard’s racing season. In a 20 races Championship, 3 points advantage can be as many as nothing. Ferrari had many technical issues, anyway the team was able to handle each race in a very good way, managing to bring both racers on the podium, fighting against the dominance of Red Bull and McLaren. Until the Safety Car got on track, the gap between Button and Alonso was so big, this proves that Ferrari still has so much work to do, especially with the 2013 racing season nearly around the corner. The gap with the World Champions is so big and McLaren will be fighting for the World title until the final race next year. Massa’ good performance should also be noticed. Thanks to his last three good races, the trust put in the Brazilian driver by the “Scuderia”, was finally rewarded. He’s the racer Ferrari needs to have to win the Constructors’ Championship again. He finally succeeded in leaving the fear behind and, in my opinion, he found himself again. Having regard to his good shape, it’s a pity that the racing season came to an end, however, when a driver find the right path again, it is difficult for him to make the same mistakes.
Hulkenberg handled an excellent race, too. He left the team in the best way. I think Sauber made a good choice as Nico is a young emerging driver, but he was a little too aggressive and impetuous during the race. He was very performing at the beginning, just like Button, when he decided to keep on running on slick tyres, instead of switching to medium like other drivers. I do not agree with the penalty imposed to him. More and more passes are requested and more and more means are invented to facilitate them, but, as soon as someone try to make passes in hard condition, he’s penalised because he causes a car clash.
Last GP for Michael Schumacher who greeted the world of F.1 after handling a very good race and showing his great talent by scoring the last points of his career. We have to praise Kimi Raikkonen who finished third ahead of Hamilton, completing all races. At the beginning of the racing season this result was almost unpredictable for Lotus.
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Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – GP USA: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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FAENZA- The first Austin GP was amazing both for the track layout and for overtakings. According to forecast, we saw a very performing McLaren on hard and medium tyres and a Hamilton so determined to have an impact on the team before leaving it.
Sebastian Vettel was extremely competitive over the weekend but he will have been afraid to have the same technical issue which forced his teammate to quit the race. Once again the Ferrari and Fernando Alonso optimized both the strategy and the result, getting a valuable third place finish which allow the Spaniard to play it well for the next race in Brazil. It won’t be an easy task for sure, especially if we consider the points gap with the 2 leaders. What is more, we should also consider that in the last few seasons Interlagos didn’t bring good luck to the Italian team.
Given the very short time between the last race and the next one, I don’t expect big technical amendments to be made on the cars. Tyre compounds and weather will have a deep impact on the final result. The Ferrari should improve its downforce while, unlike Red Bull and McLaren, its strength is reliability. Beyond a little mistake made on Saturday when trying to make an all-out effort on used tyres, the Ferrari didn’t make any mistake over the last few races, demonstrating to be the best team. The Red Bull issues come from an extreme downforce. Anyway, the Austrian team won the constructors’ championship on Sunday. With only one race to be run and a wide points gap between Alonso and the Red Bull driver, the zero point scored by the Spaniard because of car clashes caused by other racers weigh against the “Scuderia”, especially if we compare them to Vettel abandons due to his car technical issues.
Praises have to be conveyed to Felipe Massa who, after accepting the team orders, jumped up to 4th, finishing just behind the Spanish teammate and setting the second fastest lap of the race. That is the Massa the Ferrari needs to have; on the domestic track the Brazilian will probably creep up the 13 points gap between Vettel and Alonso.
Good weekend for Lotus; both Lotus drivers finished the race in top 10. Raikkonen is fighting against Hamilton and the Williams, to preserve the third place. Unfortunately the Sauber lost another chance to attack the Mercedes to get the fifth place in the world championship. One more disappointing weekend for the German team which scored no points.
With a view to the final race in Interlagos, Raikkonen and the McLaren will probably be variables in favor of Ferrari. The Scuderia is now less performing than the rivals.
Gian Carlo Minardi

Gian Carlo Minardi “ Vallelunga confirmed the value of our Championships”

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Last week the “Piero Taruffi” circuit at Vallelunga hosted those young talented drivers who enlivened the exciting Italian-European F.3 and F.ACI CSAI Abarth racing season.
The two F.Abarth young drivers Luca Ghiotto ( born in 1995 and vice-Italian Champion) and Santiago Urrutia (born in 1996, Uruguayan 2012 Rookie Champion) made their debut into the F.3, doing battle with each other over the four days of the ninth ACI-CSAI Federation Supercorso, while the kart drivers Zani, Corberi and Iacobacci, selected by the Federation School and the Ferrari Driver Academy, undertook the Tatuus FA provided by the Federation itself, for the first time.
“ Once again the guys kept up with the situation. Despite their young age, they paid so much attention to the Federation School instructors’ advices and to the FDA Engineers’ suggestions, demonstrating an aptitude for open wheels. The kart drivers Zani, Corberi and Iacobacci had the chance to “taste” the power of a single-seat car for the first time, while with Ghiotto and Urrutia, the drivers who enlivened the Italian and European F. ACI CSAI Abarth Championships, we’ve had a further confirmation of how competitive and training the series is. The two drivers did a hard battle with each other behind the wheel of a F.3 car, the “elder sister” of F.Abarth, running very fast times compared to the ones run by the league winners few weeks ago during the Championship “, says Gian Carlo Minardi.
The “five racing days” on the Roman track ended up with the Italian F.3 Champions running the traditional test behind the wheel of a F.1 car such as the Ferrari F60, provided by the FDA. Along with Riccardo Agostini and Eddie Cheever Jr, the European F.3 Championship winner Juncadella was capped to take part in the race, as well “ It was so interesting to technically test guys coming from different driving experiences. Once again this event showed the value of the Italian F.3, which represents the first step for those drivers coming from promotional Championships. We’ve been so pleased to notice that both Agostini and Cheever, two drivers who have run in all stages (from kart to F.3), managed to be a match for a more experienced racer such as Juncadella, who is older than them and has much more technical experience.
Last week results are a proof that the work done by the Federation School and FDA is bearing fruit. No doubt Italy doesn’t lack talents, it only lacks financial resources to support their career into the world of motorsport. We shall work harder to find the right synergy and, as ACI CSAI we’re all working to support as best we can drivers and Championships”, ends up Minardi, a former Italian constructor and current Federation advisor.
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F.1 – GP Abu Dhabi: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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We saw an exciting GP, with the 4 World Champions occupying the first four places. Fernando Alonso ran a good race; once again the Spaniard was able to make the best use of his car’ s potential; Raikkonen finally made it onto the highest step of the podium with his Lotus.
As we pointed out last weeks, Kimi and Hamilton can play the role of killjoys in the Championship, even if, once again, the McLaren Englishman was deceived by the reliability of his car. On the contrary, reliability still supports the “Scuderia” and helped the Italian team to recover from a difficult weekend. Fernando couldn’t do more than he did. He had a very good start and the strategy was characterized by a lower down-force. The Spaniard was very good in managing the car since the beginning, with the car filled up with petrol. He didn’t make any mistake and the laps he ran looked like “qualifying laps”. He made three points up, which is so important with the racing season coming to an end. He finished second, behind a very performing Raikkonen who scored the 18th good result to preserve the third place in the standing. A good performance also for Sebastian Vettel who, after a big mistake made by his team ( or made by the engine supplier), was able to recover, supported by a very performing Red Bull, but also by luck. Thanks to the safety car two re-starts, the German driver was able to recover from his pit-lane start and managed to finish third. If he had pitted one lap later, everything would have changed. What is more, some cars which were just ahead of him and could have hindered him, got off the race. Therefore, we don’t have to forget the alliance with the “Scuderia Toro Rosso” who made overtaking easier for him.
The closing stages will be exciting, with two drivers technically in the world championship battle. For sure, Fernando will have to make no mistakes and will rely on other drivers’ mistakes. The two Red Bull were weak under pressure. The English-Austrian team has a better car, but, as far as reliability and team management are concerned, it is second to the Ferrari cars. The Ferrari had many problems in bringing tyres to the right temperature. In re-start and qualifying, the Ferrari gives something to rivals, but later it was able to set some fastest laps In the last lap the Italian car was overreached by Vettel on soft tyres.
We missed the two second leaders, Webber and Massa. The Australian had a messy start and wasn’t able to recover. The Brazilian made a mistake after a clash with the Red Bull driver. He didn’t have enough sangfroid to manage the situation. Webber should have left that position to the Brazilian to avoid penalty. He could have given Vettel a rough ride , as well.
One more disappointing race for Mercedes, out of the score zone, while Williams, Sauber and Force India ran a very good race. Despite a KERS problem, Maldonado ran a very good race. Senna was involved in an accident during the first laps, so he dropped to the bottom of the standing. Unfortunately Perez made some mistakes because of which the team didn’t score important points.
The next two races will be hard to foresee. Drivers will play it hard until the end and those out of the championship battle will act as the balance of power.
Gian Carlo Minardi