Monaco GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

The sixth Grand Prix of Formula 1 is over, with another double scored by Mercedes. However, the real leitmotif of the weekend has been the debacle of the Renault engines, which have experienced several breaks. On this specific side, Red Bull is unable to free itself from next season’s contract for the supply of engines: this could open new scenarios, both regarding technicians and pilots. Adrian Newey might opt for a sabbatical year, waiting to return to the Circus in 2016 with other colours. This rumor could also lead other constructors, interested in providing their Power-Unit to strong technical partners, to change their “return-to-F1” plans – BMW in first place.

By the way, congratulations to Nico Rosberg, who repeated the success of last season, proving to have something more than Hamilton on this track; the team-mate finished in second place, allowing Mercedes to score the fifth double out of six races. Leaving aside controversies, with this victory Nico proved that he deserved the pole-position, being the only one driver to break the wall of 1’16’’.

As we said, it was a race characterized by many retirements, with only four cars at full speed (Rosberg, Hamilton, Riccardo and Alonso). A praise must go to Marussia, which – despite the difficulties – achieved with Bianchi the ninth place and two World Championship points. Two points that will be vital for the continuation of this adventure: as a former Team Principal of a small team, I know very well the significance of such a result.

Very good job for Red Bull too, a team constantly growing. Daniel Ricciardo scored his second consecutive podium and is the only driver to keep up the morale at Renault’s, with a great pace. Despite a Power-Unit with 80-90 hp less, he was able to fight on an even footing with a Mercedes.

A small praise goes to Ferrari, once again bringing both cars to the finish line. The result of Fernando Alonso highlights once more the problems at Ferrari’s. Too bad for Kimi Raikkonen: after a weekend troubled by physical problems, he was the author of a great start and of a good performance, messed-up only by race contacts. Unfortunately, in a track like Monte Carlo you have to put them into account.

Monaco GP – PREVIEW

Formula 1 gets to Monte Carlo, the most glamorous appointment of the season. It will be an interesting Grand Prix with regard to several respects, being the first race on a street circuit with the new Power-Units.

The biggest problems, for some teams, will be to successfully transmit the power to the road and to find the optimal traction: these elements will make a difference.

It will also be the first time with the Supersoft 2014 (together with the Soft), that could lead to a strategy of only one stop. I do not expect big changes, with Mercedes ready to play again the hare of the race. Just last year, they proved to be unbeatable with Nico Rosberg, author of the pole-position & fastest lap and winner of the race. In this appointment Nico plays a great card for the championship, as he will try to break the hegemony of Hamilton, author of a good poker, before team’s hierarchies are defined.

It will be interesting to see who will be the rival of Hamilton and Rosberg. In this sense, I see very well Red Bull. Ricciardo and Vettel might annoy the W05 most, since power, horse power and consumption fall to the background, in favour of traction and chassis. Monte Carlo could therefore be a race where it will be possible to twist a little the forces into play.

Moreover, the appointment through the little streets of the Principality is historically the time when teams start to lay the foundation for the programs of 2015, especially concerning the engine.

Within the Motor-homes, interesting meeting will start to take place especially for teams not completely satisfied with their current situation. As we know, there are several constructors ready to join the Circus, looking for a strong technical partner. It will be interesting to see who manages to break the agreements currently in place.

Gian Carlo Minardi: "Let's focus on competitiveness, rather than noise"

After the Spanish Grand Prix was over, Formula 1 has extended its stay in Barcelona for two days of collective tests.

The two days were led – as it regards timing – by Max Chilton on Marussia and Pastor Maldonado on his Lotus. “We must not be mislead by these chronometric surveys as it is virtually impossible to draw conclusions , without knowing the work programs of the teams. It’s likely that someone has worked looking ahead to Montecarlo”, Gian Carlo Minardi comments on the website minardi.it. “We cannot even make a comparison with the results on track during qualifying as the tyre compounds were different”. The two best times in tests have been realized with the supersoft compound.

“Pirelli brought different compounds after a Gran Prix, maybe with the intent of doing some checks both in view of 2015 and to define sets for the upcoming races”, the manager from Faenza continues. “An important fact that catches the attention is represented by the high number of kilometers covered by most of the teams which are focusing both on developments and reliability. A praise to Susie Wolff, who has covered 55 laps: an important technical and physical commitment, staying ahead of riders who have more confidence with the car”. The former constructor puts its attention on those teams that have focused on young pilots. “It’s good to see that some teams have decided to rely on young drivers. Some have done this for economic needs, but not all: an example is McLaren, who bet on Stoffel Vandoorne for tyres tests. My hope is that, in the near future, this may become a fixed and important rule for Formula 1”.

Wednesday was also the debut day of the “megaphone” to improve the sound of the V6 Turbo. “To me it’s absurd that we need to focus on noise, when it’s certainly not the primary problem. It would be better to achieve more competitiveness among the top teams. In Spain we registered a gap of 49’’ between Mercedes and Red Bull, the first among the chasers: an abyss”.

Spanish GP – Drivers' Scorecard

Fifth success in as many races for Mercedes, with the first official podium for Daniel Ricciardo. Let’s start with the votes.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – 9 From Friday to Sunday evening, they have been able to dominate the situation in an absolute way.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel – 9 While Ricciardo achieves his first official podium, Vettel performs a good comeback (starting from 15th place), finishing at the foot of the podium – despite a car which is not yet at the top, still evolving and trying to exploit the chassis as the best of its strength points.

Valtteri Bottas – 8 He did a great job, placing his Williams between RB and Ferrari, something which the team-mate failed to achieve. Thanks to the German power-unit, the English team is able to compensate for some chassis problems.

Roman Grosjean – 8 He finished behind the Ferrari duo, scoring the first points of the season for his Lotus.

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen – 7 They went into an incredible struggle to be able to bring a car into the score-zone.

Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez – 6 A vote of encouragement: again, new points for them and Force India in Spain.

The other drivers are at the same level, with Button and Magnussen who pay the price of finding themselves in a season of transition. McLaren is not helped by Mercedes and pays the duty; in the future, it will be a machine of which we will talk about. Magnussen has the opportunity to reinforce his experience in view of 2015.

At this time, the Constructors’ rank reflects the forces in the field, with Mercedes before everyone, with a technical advantage that makes it hard for rivals to catch up. From what we can imagine, they still do not exploit their power-unit at 100%. Behind them we find Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India and Williams. RB is trying to make the most of his chassis, despite some reliability issues, trying to make up to a Renault engine still not at the top. Ferrari is the third force, but they have so much work to do.

As said before, Williams takes advantage from the best engine of the lot, as well as Force India which hits consistently the score-zone.

Spanish GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

Five out of five: Mercedes continues its solo ride, thanks to the poker played by Lewis Hamilton who finished first, before (for half a second) Nico Rosberg, fierce until the last corner.

The Spanish Grand Prix underlined once again the great strength of the W05 and the gap on the lap of more than 1’’ between Mercedes and Red Bull and of 1’’50’/1’’80’ between Mercedes and Ferrari, with two teams, Williams and Lotus (the last scoring the first points just in Spain) which can be considered as outsiders in the second bracket.

Free practice, qualifying and race: Mercedes’ superiority is so high that they give the impression of “playing” with rivals, as we have seen with the strategies during the race. It won’t certainly be an easy mission to recover such a gap, as we are talking of a distance of 49’’ between the Mercedes and the first of the opponents, i.e. Ricciardo’s Red Bull.

This weekend we saw the result of the great work done in the last three weeks by Red Bull, Lotus and Williams, something that cannot be said for Ferrari, with Alonso first among non-dubbed pilots and Raikkonen opening the dancing between drivers outdistanced of 1 gap and the McLarens, still out of the score-zone.

Mercedes’ superiority makes me go back to the 80s and early 90s, when McLaren won as much as 15 races out of 16 starts, behind which other teams placed in pairs, just as happened in Spain with two Mercedes, two Red Bulls, a Williams, two Ferraris, a Lotus, a Force India and a two McLarens.

The race was animated by the recovery of Rosberg, who finished just over half a second from the teammate, and by the various overtakings performed by Sebastian Vettel, also helped by the strategies, who closed at the foot of the podium, after a fifteenth position on the starting grid.

Spanish GP – PREVIEW

We are almost at the first quarter of the World Championship, now preparing to get back to Europe, field of the competition until summer (exception done for Montreal).

The teams are preparing to get back on track, three weeks after the race in China. It will be interesting to see what they have been able to achieve in terms of development. Until now, the Circus, stage by stage, has made giant steps regarding the technique. Mercedes’ direct rivals will hardly manage to undermine Hamilton and Rosberg: at the time, the fight is between Ferrari, Red Bull and Force India for the third place.

Undoubtedly, the Spanish Grand Prix will be a weekend full of uncertainty. Behind the W05, we have seen great movement and liveliness. Rumors speak of a Red Bull with several innovations, as well as Ferrari, even though Formula 1 is not very “talkative” this year. There’s more talk about tomorrow, rather than about what happens in the present. We often hear about future regulations – with not really appropriate proposals – trying to distract attention from Research and Development issues.

About this silence and detachment, I’d like to open a parenthesis. Imola has just hosted a sensational show, with over 32,000 fans who literally invaded the “Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit” not to watch a race, but to remember Ayrton Senna – the man and the driver. The good thing is that the audience was mostly composed of young fans, who have not directly experienced Ayrton’s Era. What happened in Imola is the example that fans love to be in contact with their idols: Formula 1 should treasure this experience. The noise – a topic over-discussed in the last weeks – has nothing to do with a decline in interest. Regarding this, Ferrari deserves a 10+ because they showed a very sensitive attitude, approaching the public and getting close to fans. In Imola, I myself have been subject of sympathy, contacts, requests for autographs and photographs as it had never happened during my career in F1.

Going back to Spain, we come from a year in which Ferrari dominated with a first and third place, whereas this year they have to run after and catch up. Let’s see what happens. I myself will be in Barcelona to see this new Formula first-hand, to report the situation at best and to face this new era with you all.

Davide Rigon: "A podium which looks ahead to Le Mans"

“A podium is always great, but if you get there driving a Ferrari, during a World Championship race and on Spa circuit, then it becomes special and unique”: these are the first words of Davide Rigon, back from third place at finish in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, stage of the second round of the FIA WEC.

At the wheel of Ferrari 458 GTE, the talented driver from Veneto (Italy) has realized a great comeback, conquering the third step of the podium, assisted by teammate James Calado and by the excellent pit stop performed by the men of AF Corse, after a qualification below expectations. He drove in the first and third hour, with a double final stint, for a total of four hours at the wheel of the red #71 of Maranello.

“Unfortunately qualifying did not go as we wanted to, especially regarding the times of free practice. In the race, on dry conditions, I drove fast since the start, trying to attack Porsche, advantaged in straights and fast corners”, Davide Rigon comments. “Both James and I kept a great pace, that allowed us to catch up to the podium. It was a very competitive race – one of the kind I like most – and I have to congratulate all our mechanics for the fantastic pit stops. Every time we were able to nibble away something at our rivals”, David continues.


A podium that is good for the spirit in view of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and that represents a good close-up for the great weekend of Amato Ferrari Team. Le Mans is a race that is worth a whole season. My double stint on the final was also a test in view of the 24H, both for me and for the tires”.

With the third place, Rigon and Calado climb the standings arriving in fifth place, with 25 points and a gap of only two points from the Top 3, contributing decisively to bring Ferrari to the first position in the LMGTE Manufacturer’s World Cup.

Davide Rigon, from Silverstone to Spa-Francorchamps

Six hundred and forty Kilometres separate Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, location of the second round of FIA World Endurance Championship. Fifteen days after the inaugural race on the British historical circuit and the first point scored, Davide Rigon is ready to return on Ferrari 458 GTE #71 and continue his adventure in the World Championship alongside AF Corse.

Strengthened by the fifth place and by a weekend with no mistakes, despite the rain that has influenced the final result, the talented driver from Veneto is determined to improve its ranking by focusing firmly on the podium. “The weekend at Silverstone was positive, even if we were expecting something more in terms of final result”, Davide Rigon comments. “In qualifications we missed the top 3 for a tenth – the best result we could point to – contenting ourselves, however, with a good fourth place. In the race, both my teammate and I have not committed any mistake, despite the difficult conditions dictated by the rain, which came during the race. In hindsight we delayed the pit-stop too much, bringing this gap with us until the end of the sixth hour of race”, Davide continues. “Coming from two successful seasons, Ferrari has suffered the balance against Porsche”.

The mind has already turned to the next challenge and the Ardennes circuit should be more favorable for the car of Maranello, especially in dry conditions, although Spa is famous for its unpredictable weather, and not only for its charm. “The track is absolutely fantastic and racing here is always exciting. The ups and downs and the curves give you an adrenaline rush like no other track. Compared to Silverstone, Ferrari should be favoured, even if we suffer a bit in wet conditions”, the driver from Veneto concludes.

The weekend will unroll from Friday, with two free practice sessions and Qualifying, which will determine the starting grid for the 6-hour race scheduled on Saturday, May 3 from 2.30 pm onwards.

Minardi-Senna, a pair broken too son

Twenty years have passed already since that tragic 1st May of 1999, when the “Grim Reaper” ripped out the life of that amazing Brazilian driver that was Ayrton Senna.

Minardi Team – a springboard for many champions – should have hosted the last great season of Ayrton. Yes, Senna and Gian Carlo Minardi have always been tied by a sincere friendship and mutual esteem, whose origins are rooted before the arrival in F1. The first to reveal Ayrton’s will to end his career in the World Championship driving a Minardi has been his father, Milton Da Silva: “After the fifth World Championship Title, Ayrton would have joined the team of Faenza. Unfortunately, the destiny has prevented him to do so”. Ayrton and his father often “sought refuge” in the Faenza motor-home to dine with a good typical meal from Emilia-Romagna (the region where Faenza is based). Gian Carlo Minardi comments: “If the father had not revealed this story, it certainly would not have come out from me. It would have been just as cheating on a friend”.

The first contact with Senna came in 1982, with the Brazilian involved in Formula Ford and Minardi in F2 with his team. “Paolo Barilla noted him, driving in Kart races, and during the Hockenheim weekend invited the young Senna for a dinner at the hotel. I offered him up to 50 million of Lire to join us in F2, but Ayrton politely refused”. Already in those years, Ayrton had clear ideas on his route, which included winning the first title in Formula 1 World Championship in 1988. “He thanked me very kindly as I was the first to offer him some money to drive, rather than asking him for. Since that day, in conjunction of F2 and Formula Ford races, Senna came back again in our motor-home to dine with us, keeping a good relationship with us”.

Once arrived in Formula 1, Senna and Minardi and continue a positive exchange of ideas both inside and outside the paddock. “I often received his calls from Brazil and we talked on the phone for several hours. During the GP he often came to dine with us ‘secretly’. At the beginning of 1993, due to an almost worn relationship with McLaren, he had decided to join us and drive for Minardi, but I convinced him to avoid such a risky choice, giving the existence of an open contract with his team. After this episode, he signed the famous ‘1 million dollars per race’ contract: perhaps that year he played his most beautiful and fierce season”, the manager of Faenza goes on.

“The last exchange of ideas took place in Aida, fifteen days before Imola’s tragic event, when he asked my opinion on some facts and episodes that were occurring in his life, inside and outside the paddock”.

Only the cruel fate prevented Senna to keep his promise made to Gian Carlo a few years before, that could have changed the history of a small but glorious team: with its 21 years of Formula 1 and 340 GPs, Minardi Team has contributed to write a good slice of the history of this sport, playing as a springboard for drivers like Alonso, Fisichella, Trulli, Webber, Martini, Genè, Morbidelli, Nannini and many others. “History is not made by ifs and buts, ‘what could have happened’ actually counts nothing. Certainly, with Ayrton Senna in our team, relationships with various technical suppliers would have changed… With His experience and charisma, the Team could certainly have had a non-predictable evolution. Every time we met he reaffirmed his will to join us: this mere thought filled my heart with pride”, Minardi underlines.

From 1st to 4th May, Imola will celebrate the memory of Ayrton Senna e Roland Ratzenberger; the Minardi ’94 of Martini e Alboreto will be part of the tribute exhibition. Also, the colours of Team Minardi by Pastina&Friends will animate the “Memorial Senna Kart 2014”, an endurance race of 7 hours.

China GP – Drivers' Scorecard

The fourth GP of the season is over: Formula 1 is now coming to The Old Continent. Once again the Circus surprised us, with almost all cars arrived at finish – excepting Grosjean’s Lotus and Sutil’s Sauber: all teams are achieving extremely high reliability standards. Now they have just less than 3 weeks of intense work: I’m curious to see what will happen in Spain.

As far as now, Formula 1 deserves a good mark – I’d say a Seven – despite the scaremongering about audience decrease. There hadn’t been a F1 race in the Easter weekend for a long time: we cannot forget this aspect. Formula 1 started the season on a rising path, but it’s showing all its qualities very quickly and I’m sure that fights and battles will be back very soon.

Lewis Hamilton – 9 He would certainly deserve a 10, but with the car he’s driving we cannot give the highest mark. He did everything perfect, unlike his teammate.

Fernando Alonso – 9 He was the protagonist of a fantastic race and weekend, despite the F14-T still does not deserve the third step of the podium. From the 44th passage until finish he drove keeping a qualification pace, always pushing and trying to exploit the car at its best, unlike Kimi.

Nico Rosberg – 8 Since qualifications, he did some mistakes – being on the starting grid on the “dirty” side of the track – but then he was able to recover. Perhaps he suffered Hamilton’s pressure.

Daniel Ricciardo – 8 Well deserved for the race. Since the beginning of the season, he’s been showing qualities that I did not imagine: he really deserves to be rewarded.

Kimi Raikkonen – 7 He’s going through a difficult moment, perhaps suffering the troubles of Team Ferrari.

Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa, Daniil Kvyat e Romain Grosjean – 7 In particular for the Lotus driver, for his performance until his car abandoned him.

Sebastian Vettel – 6 An encouraging vote, for the unhappy moment he’s going through.

China GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

Mercedes supremacy has been reasserted, but the factor making this Formula 1 more and more exciting is what’s going among the other drivers and cars. At present, it’s not possible to make any previsions: after each GP, it’s much likely to be proved wrong rather than to be confirmed.

The first two places are reserved for Hamilton and Rosberg, but the game is open for the third step of the podium and for second and third places in Constructors’ Championship. At this moment, Mercedes – unless a debacle – is unbeatable: watching their camera-car is simply amazing.

The result of Ferrari imposes a reflection: no doubt, they really have the top driver. Alonso was the protagonist of a fantastic race, finished with the first podium of the season for Maranello’s Team. From the 44th passage, he drove 12 laps with a gap on only 4 tenth of a second, keeping a qualification pace. He’s the one who can really make the difference, obtaining last weekend a result that otherwise would have been very difficult. Maranello’s car has made significant improvements regarding consumption, and we start appreciating the results of the intense work with Shell. As already said at the beginning of the World Championship, fuel will be a permanent key issue this year. The merit of this podium goes to Alonso and Stefano Domenicali, who had the strength to step aside in a difficult situation.

China GP enlightened strong hierarchies within teams. Hamilton conquered the third consecutive victory, even though Rosberg is still leading the World Championship. Regarding Ferrari, I’ve never considered the chance that Fernando could suffer in the “internal” battle with Raikkonen – no offence for the Finn; the same is not true for Red Bull, where Sebastian Vettel is experiencing some troubles in the competition with the teammate. Ricciardo has proved to have a better control over Pirelli tyres and Renault power-unit. We also start observing a nervous attitude of Vettel, who did not take well the communication from the team. Force India is keeping the third place in Constructors’ Championship, with Hulkenberg closing in 6th position after the two Red Bull, restoring his internal leadership with Perez. Once again we watched a good performance of Toro Rosso’s Russian pilot, who is taking the reins of Faenza’s team.

Bad luck for Felipe Massa and Williams with that rear wheel problems during his first pit stop, throwing away all the work done on Saturday and in the first laps of the race. He could certainly have engaged a battle with “Hulk”, causing maybe some problems to Vettel too. At Williams, they have to do a careful reflection to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

In three weeks Formula 1 is coming to Europe: three weeks in which everything can happen. We’ll see which teams will achieve the best results regarding further developments and improvements of the cars. We’ll arrive in Spain with Red Bull-Force India-Ferrari comprised within 5 points only.

Four aces for Bhai Tech in Blancpain Sprint Series

New year, new challenge. After dominating the scene of International GT Open, achieving the Team and Pilots titles with Giorgio Pantano, for Bhai Tech Team it’s now time for a new and exciting challenge in Blancpain Sprint Series.

Eleven teams and forty pilots are participating to this championship: the Racing division of the Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre (based in Mestrino, Padova – Italy) will be this weekend on the starting grid of Nogaro (France) with its McLaren MP4-12C GT3 and a new group of drivers with high experience.

Together with the champion Giorgio Pantano, for the second season at Bhai Tech Team, we’ll see the young GP2 driver Fabio Onidi (from Milan, born in 1988) – for a completely Italian pair – whereas the second car will be put into the hands of two young talents: Sten Pentus from Estonia – born in 1981, with a past experience in WSR 3.5 – and the 22-year-old British driver Daniel Lloyd, ready to take the next big step into the international scene.

“After the success of last season, this year we intend to perform an even more competitive championship, with top-level drivers and teams”, Giorgio Pantano comments. “Last year I took the necessary steps with McLaren MP4-12C and with the GT world, and I won the title. We are back to aim high and, from free practice, I’ll do my best to realize all the work done in 2013”, the young talented driver from Veneto goes on, introducing also the new teammate Onidi. “Fabio is a very fast driver and I’m really happy to share the McLaren cockpit with him. Together we make an amazing pair”, the ex-F1 pilot concludes.

The goals have been defined: Bhai Tech Team will try to repeat the successes of last season, in a championship made of seven races, from France to Azerbaijan, touching Great Britain (Brands Hatch), The Netherlands (Zandvoort), Slovakia (Slovakia Ring), Portugal (Algarve) and Belgium (Zolder). On a stage that will host the competition of the major constructors, the “Fantastic Four” – Pantano, Onidi, Pentus, Lloyd – are determined to bring home a new title, counting also on the cutting edge full-motion 6-DOF driving simulator, which is situated in the Bhai Tech suite.

China GP – PREVIEW

As we know, the days leading to China GP have been “shaked” by the sudden and quick decision at Ferrari’s, with the resignation of Stefano Domenicali. Sincerely, I didn’t expect he would have done such a thing so quickly and at this point of the season. Stefano is a friend and a person I regard with a special esteem: beside this, in 23 years spent at Maranello he has worked as a good manager, bringing an active contribution to the growth of the team. In order to shake things up in such a critical season, he decided to stand up for it, personally.

He will be replaced as team principal by Marco Mattiacci, who will have to face and solve many problems and issues, also speaking in terms of human resources: he’ll certainly need to reset the situation. He has never been involved in the Formula 1 World Championship, and this may be of help in taking this decision: nonetheless, the context is not easy at all, with the Chinese weekend of race – where last year Fernando Alonso triumphed – quickly approaching. Now we just have to see how the whole team will react to this changing of the guard.

The Circus is coming to Shanghai, on a track of 5,451 Km with a straight of 1,3 Km, which does not entail a particular stress on the braking system, though last year Pirelli tyres struggled with heavy greening. This year the Italian constructor will make available two types of compounds, P ZERO WHITE MEDIUM and P ZERO YELLOW SOFT, which involve a difference of more than 1’’. Therefore, strategies become very important: last year,Fernando scored a success for Ferrari  with a strategy of 3 stops.

Last race in Bahrain was only 15 days ago: I don’t think there will be surprises regarding winners. I expect a great Hamilton-Rosberg fight again, especially if the team keeps leaving them “free”. It becomes interesting to see who will be able to get on the third step of the podium: the competition will be among the teams with a Mercedes engine, Force India and Williams above all. The beauty of Formula 1 is also the fact that a team with limited resources – such as Force India – can compete for a high ranking, with the goal of scoring as much points as possible.

For McLaren this is a transition year, given the change to Honda power-unit in 2015. We certainly have to keep an eye on the Red Bull of Vettel & Ricciardo, which remains the car with the best chassis: they could show their potential precisely in the mixed stretch, loosing something in the long straight. The Achilles’ heel remains the Renault power-unit and those 40 hp Horner is still asking for.

Now, let’s go to China, with the hope to see a Ferrari competing for the second place soon.