F1 | Gian Carlo Minardi "It would take more drivers like Hamilton"

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After the first events in Australia and Bahrain, Nico Rosberg guides the Driver standings with 50 points resulting from two clear wins. This chain of victories has continued for 5 consecutive weekends (three in 2015), bringing to sixteen his personal successes.

On pole position front, anyway, the star performer is definitely Lewis Hamilton who made a perfect lap also in Sakhir, beating off his competitors. He was less good in both starts in which his team mate got the better of him. In Bahrain, he even ended up in the middle of the group due to a contact suffered from Bottas, maker of a colorless race. Critics took the occasion for condemning his too dissolute lifestyle made of parties and worldliness.“A driver who achieves a pole position like that signed by Hamilton in Bahrain he can be everything but not out of focus. Also in race, despite his car was damaged by the contact with Bottas, he has been very good in recovering and achieved the podium, behind Raikkonen. His two mistakes at the start can be ok. When you have a perfect and superior car like Mercedes in this moment, you pay each little mistakes with the team mate’s victory”, Gian Carlo Minardi observes. The chronometer shows Mercedes faster than Ferrari, second power in the World Championship: 0,8 “ in race and 1′ in qualifying.

“We should have more Hamilton in this Formula 1. In his spare time he enjoys life and cultivates his hobbies, but when it is time of getting serious, everything disappear, and there are his performances to prove it. In a certain sense, it’s like 20 years ago”.

In this moment, Maranello has to face reliability that blocked Sebastian Vettel during the formation lap in Sakhir. This headache could affect the development of the SF16-H. “The famous “little knob” works very well on Mercedes, whereas it creates reliability problems for Ferrari due to the temperature emitted by the Power-Unit, even if it helped to decrease the gap” , the manager from Faenza concludes and invites us to watch the Chinese event that will take place in just over a week.

F1 | Qualifying, about-turn in the format

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A step back of the stables regarding the new qualifying format: starting from the Cinese Grand Prix, scheduled April 17, we’ll have no more eliminations every 90 seconds, that we experienced in Australia and Bahrain. Instead, we’ll still have three turns. We are back to the format of 2015.

Teams have joined to ask unanimously Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt to abandon the new format that had collected a lot of criticism by fans, teams and drivers since its debut. The new technical rules remain a mistery.

“It’s time for F1 to sit around a table and start working with an entrepreneur’s attitude and make medium and long-term programs instead of chatting fruitlessly. April is also started and we haven’t still any signal about the new technical regulation for 2017. Unfortunately, there is a strange trend of pushing back any decisions with just the aim to not change anything”, observes Gian Carlo Minardi who last days has focused the attention on free practices opened to the rookies.

Gian Carlo Minardi "F1 must value young drivers"

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The weekend in Bahrain delivered the first spark to McLaren-Honda, thanks to the rookie Vandoorne called back from Japan at the last minute to substitute the injured Fernando Alonso. It was a difficult task for the Belgian driver 24 years old catapulted into a car that he had never tested because of his engagement in Super Formula. His debut was important, and he didn’t do a poor figure among World Champions.

It was a good weekend also for another young driver debuting in the World Championship: Pascal Wehrlein that in qualifying brought the little Manor in sixteenth, and ended his race ahead of two Sauber and Force India.

A result that should make us meditate. “It’s true, fortune has a great role in life, beyond the talent, but the fact that we don’t create specific occasions to test these young, excluding sporadic episodes linked to the accident of a regular driver, is ungenerous toward them. With tests blocked, the free practice on Friday would be an excellent occasion for young drivers. This way, we can also add value to the work of Federations”, says Gian Carlo Minardi consulted by www.minardi.it.“Only one in a thousand succeeds, but we ought give him the chance to test himself. Don’t forget that Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, just to name two, became what they are thanks to thousands of free practices on Friday morning dedicated to rookies where they proved to keep up with the job”, remembers the manager from Faenza who in his long career in the World Championship has promoted a lot of young drivers.

“Vandoorne was very fast and didn’t any mistakes. He caused some problems for Jenson Button, a World Champion, bringing the first point to McLaren. Without Alonso’s injury, he wouldn’t had this chance. It would have been a great pity. Who knows how many “Vandoorne” are there, just waiting their chance. Wehrlein’s weekend is also noteworthy, with a great past in DTM, but heavily debated. In spite of some complications of his Manor, he defended himself with a good qualifying and an excellent race”.

“Formula 1 must give a chance to the young. Today, instead, everything is blocked. This way isn’t the right one”, Gian Carlo Minardi concludes.

F1 | Haas kept targeted by Red Bull and Williams. Minardi “A dangerous game"

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Haas is surely the wonder team of this seasonal start. In the first two Grand Prixs, the Us group managed to gather 18 points thanks to Romain Grosjena and his fifth and sixth place in Bahrain and in Australian at the opening race. A booty that put the stable in the fifth place, behind Red Bull and just at two lengths from Williams. Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen have the same points. A prize list that could have been greater without the double zero of Guttierez who slowed down due to some troubles in Sakhir and by a contact suffered from Fernando Alonso in Melbourne.

As Gian Carlo Minardi had anticipated in his post-race clip “We are entering a dangerous arena for F1. They are rewriting the “Constructors” meaning“, Christian Horner and Pat Symonds feel themselves threatened and condemn this new kind of F1.“In Sakhir they raced fast and their strategy worked very well. The VF-16 is fast and solid. Last year model of Ferrari looks still very competitive” the Red Bull team principal lampoons them. “If we do the same of Haas, F1 will be less and less prerogative of constructors and frame makers. Undoubtely, they have done very well and legally acted. Anyway, is this the right way? I am not sure”, the technical director of williams says.

An opinion shared with the manager from Faenza who analyzes what happened last Sunday, after the grand prix where Grosjean ended ahead of Verstappen and his Toro Rosso, Kviat and his Red Bull and the two Williams. “If our future is having three or four constructors/frame makers, the World Championship should be opened only to them. I don’t find fair to split the royalties cake also with the assemblers. In this moment, Haas team is not a constructor because has too many changeable pieces”.Nothing new, anyway, since we had this scenario already in 2005. “At first, the stable of Toro Rosso was a Red Bull clone. Then Williams, quoted at the stock exchange, made actual the definition of constructor and that of intellectual property. A step back was made, and, with some difficulties, they became again independent“.

“Ferrari, anyway, has been very good at playing with the gaps in regulations and has made very valuable choices, that on paper, could open new scenarios with Sauber and Force India destined to disappear because they are no longer marketable. With the assemblers’ entrance, the value of a team as a constructor deteriorates. Instead, Mercedes could strenghten its cooperation with Manor, whereas Red Bull will have to find a constructor.” Minardi continues confirming what anticipated us last months, “They have always declared they are in F1 to win. So, I am quite sure that they are now looking around”.

 

WSK | Top-five for Karol Basz in Muro Leccese

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An Instant redemption for Karol Basz back at the top positions of the standings in Muro Leccese, stage of the third WSK Super Master Series event. During a weekend free from external factors, the Polish driver of the Kosmic Racing achieves two third places in Qualifying Heat that are worth the second row in Pre-final.An act of force for the standard-bearer of the Minardi Management, after two first rounds heavily affected by some contacts.

After ending the Pre-final in sixth, Karol concludes the penultimate session of the series by gaining the top-five, thanks to the fifth place in Final achieved after a great recovering. The result relaunches him into the general standing and makes grow his booty to 44 points, even if it remains the regret for the points lost in Castelletto di Branduzzo and Sarno. The showdown will be in Adria next May 22, waiting for next international challenges.

“The final fifth place is quite good, but we could surely done better. We have recovered a good pace and this is useful after the complications we faced in the previous events. The weekend started uphill, but we managed to recover. Unluckily, it’s too late for a recovery in the standing, even if we there is the round at Adria. We’ll try to end with a good result”, Karol Basz comments.

“The vehemence of some drivers frustrates the efforts and the final results too many times, but I never had any doubts about the qualities of Karol and of the Kosmic team as sprinters. This weekend we were able to move up the ranks with great determination. A good test for the forthcoming events of CIK FIA and of the German Championship“, manager Alberto Tonti says.

Photo: Alexandros Vernardis/The Racebox

F1 | GP Bahrain – SCORECARDS

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Nico Rosberg – 9. Second seasonal winning and perfect score. Once again, he did better than his team-mate at the start and handled the race very well. Surely, he was helped by an impeccable Mercedes that outperforms the first of its chasers with a gap of 0,8”.

Kimi Raikkonen – 8 like in the last season he made a great race, without any mistakes, bringing Ferrari to the second place. In qualifying, anyway, he can’t get Vettel concerned.

Stoffel Vandoorne – 8 an amazing debut for the substitute for Fernando Alonso called back in Japan at the last minute. He didn’t any mistake. Perhaps, we should give more chances to these young drivers. I continue to be a supporter to free practice open to rookies on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton – 7,5 he has frustrated a pole position for the second consecutive time because of a faulty start. At the first bend, he was in the middle of the group where Bottas did the rest. Anyway, in spite of a defective strategy, he gained the third position.

Max Verstappen -7,5 once again he delighted us with excellent overtakings, particularly to the detriment of Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat bringing his Toro Rosso in sixth.

Daniel Ricciardo – 7,5 he can’t do more with this engine, but he reached the third place in the Drivers World Championship, dragging his Red Bull behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

Pascal Wehrlein – 7, he is building his Formula 1 future very well. He was great in qualifying (P16 with the little Manor) and didn’t save any energy during the race, ending ahead of Sauber and Force India.

Romain Grosjean -7 an excellent seasonal start for the French driver that brings his Haas in fifth, behind the two Mercedes, a Ferrari, and a Red Bull. Surely, next days, the performance of the American team will make us discuss. They are changing the definition of “Constructors” because their car is a Ferrari clone.

Carlos Sainz -6,5 the start was good, but once again he was very unlucky also because of Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez – 4 definitely a bad day for the Williams and Force India standard-bearers. They did their best to ruin their race and that of their team-mates.

The Race Direction – 4 we are talking so much about security, but then when cars lose some pieces on the track they aren’t even called to pits.

 

F1 | Gp Bahrain – THE POINT

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We watched an interesting and animated Grand Prix. It was rich in overtaking thanks to the strategies and choices made by the teams. From this point of view, Williams has been catastrophic. Once again, the race was marked by unreliability at Ferrari that forced Vettel to park his SF16-H during the parade lap. The race was also marked by a new mistake done by Hamilton at the start that has frustrated his amazing pole position. Second victory for Nico Rosberg who achieves five consecutive wins (three of which in 2015) and sixteen seals in his career. This perfect scoring in the World Drivers’ Championship launches him powerfully into the World Championship.

Ferrari consoles itself with the second place of Kimi Raikkonen, but has to look over its shoulder because of Red Bull: Ricciardo is now third in the drivers’ standings, ahead Raikkonen and Vettel (in sixth with 15 points). We experienced the excessive power of Mercedes one more time. Despite their mistakes, also strategic ones, Hamilton ended in third after having tried to mount the Medium tires and after his contact with Bottas at the start.

Next days, Grosjean’s fifth place with his Haas will make discuss. Considering the substantial resources invested for making the frames, Williams, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, and Force India will hardly swallow this new format launched by the American group, which is going to redraft the definition of Constructor. If you exclude the nose and few other components, it is a Ferrari clone. They are rather assemblers. It has been undertaken a dangerous road.

I must congratulate Vandoorne entirely. At his debut, he brought to McLaren the first seasonal points, making a real wonder. Recalled from Japan and catapulted into the car without any tests, he gained the top-10 without doing any mistakes. Given the results of his prize list, there was no doubt about his quality as a sprinter. It’s a pity that teams aren’t obligated to let racing these young drivers on Friday morning, letting them the chance to show off and not just to hope lucky circumstances for putting themselves to the test.

Before concluding, I’d like to highlight what left me puzzled. We always talk about more security, and Halo, the device for the driver’s head protection, made its debut during Barcelona testing days. In Bahrain, the Commissioners didn’t reprimand cars loosing pieces on the track. In our Italian Championship weekends, Commissioners oblige drivers to pit to repair their car. Here no one has said anything.

In fifteen days, everyone in China.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

F1 | Gp Bahrain – Preview

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We can expect a strategic Grand Prix with tires in a leading role. Pirelli will take the Medium, Soft, and Super Soft tires. Teams will have a variegated assortment. Someone has already shown us his possible strategy. In fact, Mercedes will take just a set of Medium tires per driver, and six sets of Soft and Super Soft ones, proving their intention not to use the Medium tires. Instead, at Ferrari, Raikkonen and Vettel will have four sets of Soft (that they will use in qualifying and in the first part of the race) and six sets of Super Soft. Last year, Soft tires had a leading role in this GP, with a two stops strategy. They used Medium tires because so required by the rules.

We are approaching a “real” circuit after the city circuit in Melbourne. Heat will have a key role, even if the race will be at the end of the day, with less torrid temperatures. The brakes will be stressed due to the long straights. It will be interesting to see, beyond the chase of Mercedes, the role of Haas and Toro Rosso that last year achieved the top ten.Today, they can count on a greater reliability and on a Ferrari engine.

Twelve months ago, Sebastian Vettel gave us the first raw, few tenths of seconds from the poleman Hamilton, whereas Raikkonen had his best race, ending in second.

There are a lot of cues to expect an amazing race weekend, starting from Friday with the two rounds of free practice scheduled at 13.00 and 17.00 (Italian time), and Saturday at 14.00 in view of qualifying (17.00). After a lot of  criticisms, in Bahrain we’ll have again qualifying with eliminations every 90 seconds.

Friday 1 April

Free practice 1       13:00-14:30

Free practice 2      17:00-18,30

Saturday  2 April

Free practice        14:00-15:00

Qualifying             17:00

Sunday 3 April

Race 17:00  ̶  57 laps

Save the date: Formula 1 back in Imola

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Easter is coming, and taking the occasion to send their best Wishes, Gian Carlo Minardi and the whole Minardi Team have arranged a unique surprise.

During the “Historic Minardi Day” June 25, 2016 Formula 1 will be back at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit of Imola. Alongside the single-seaters having characterized the Team from Faenza for 21 years in the Formula 1 World Championship, cars from F1, Formula 2, and Formula 3 that wrote the most important pages of the circuit in 35 years, will hurtle again along the famous chicanes at “Acque Minerali”, Rivazza” “Tosa” “Tamburello” “Villeneuve”. A unique event to see again on the track the colors of the Minardi Team and some “unique pieces” of the Circus.

“I am really glad to announce the birth of this first Historic Minardi Day, and to bring back Formula 1 in Imola. We will have the occasion to see again on track some single-seaters coming from F1, F2 and F3 that struggled along the track named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari. These ten years out from the Circus have passed quickly, but the fondness of collectors and enthusiasts and their interest in the Minardi Team are really strong and warm. The Historic Minardi Day will be the occasion to meet up again on the track”, an enthusiastic Gian Carlo Minardi explains.

 

F1 | Gian Carlo Minardi “Gap on track increased”

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Gian Carlo Minardi on the Australian GP that launched the new season of the F1 World Championship: as we expected Mercedes signed the first double win Rosberg-Hamilton ahead the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel who ended in third with a time little less than 10”. Fourth place for Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa, respectively at 24”and 58”.

F1, Australian GP – SCORECARDS

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We watched a funny grand prix that hasn’t still displayed us the real forces in the field.Rosenberg won ahead of Hamilton, signing the first Mercedes double-win, ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg – 9 despite a mistake on Saturday and an early weekend dominated by Hamilton, he didn’t succumb but managed to make a better start than that of the English driver. His race was exemplary even if the strategy and the safety car “helped” him.

Sebastian Vettel – 8 he could have been discouraged by his gap in qualifying, but during the race he optimized every resource of his Ferrari with a flash start. The Weather and temperatures dictated the strategy based on Soft and Super Soft tires.

Romain Grosjean – 7,5 bringing a rookie car to the sixth place is a feat. I congratulate the whole team.

Daniel Ricciardo -7 he never gives up. His Red Bull has an excellent frame even if it pays a penalty for its Power-Unit.

Carlos Sainz -7 I watched Toro Rosso carefully. A family fight is beginning. I hope they can handle this in the better way. The Spanish driver made a good race and in Q2 was faster than his team-mate. I don’t get why Verstappen would had to pass ahead.

Max Verstappen -6,5 surely he proved to keep up with the situation, but he looked too nervous and at the limit of fair play with his statements on the Radio.

Felipe Massa – 6,5 in both qualifying and race, he handled the weekend to his advantage bringing to Williams a lot of points and winning the comparison with his young team mate who has to prove to be a first guide.

WSK, Sarno – Basz “After pole position, another weekend ruined by accidents"

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At the International circuit in Sarno, stage of the second event of the WSK Super Master Series, Karol Basz, at the wheel of his Kosmic Racing material, had started with a peremptory pole position in the OK category, going on with an excellent third place in Qualifying Heats.

These results, besides proving the great technical value of the Polish driver that is also a great sprinter, made us hope for an exciting weekend after the regret for the final at “7 laghi” fifteen days ago when he happened to be in the middle of a carom between Sergeant and Van Leeuwen. However, once again all the preparation work and the fine-tuning were frustrated by the impetuosity of young drivers.

In Sarno, Karol had the chance to work as a supervisor and coach for the very young Andrea Antonelli, protagonist of Mini.

“Another unlucky weekend, after an excellent qualifying with a pole position and the third place in Heats. Unfortunately, Pre-final and Final went bad, not as we expected. I can only wait the next event at La Conca”, Karol Basz regretfully comments.

“There is not much to say, unfortunately. On one hand, I am very glad to see how this guy is strong. He is always ahead, ready to fight for an important result. After pole position, he has also gained the third place in Qualifying Heats. Unluckily, the whole work made by Karol and by the Kosmic Racing was frustrated by a too impetuous young driver”, Alberto Tonti comments from the Minardi Management.

Photo: Alexandros Vernardis/The Racebox

F1 | Australian GP: The POINT

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This season started with a bang, literally. The accident of Fernando Alonso with Gutierrez changed the circumstances in the Grand Prix, frustrating the amazing start made by Ferrari, which has optimized the new system. Then, the red flag changed the strategies in the game.

Surely, Mercedes made the best choice with Medium Tires, whereas Ferrari chose the Soft tires because in Barcelona the SF16-H had turned out more comfortable with tires Soft and Supersoft. A guided choice with the aim to cause problems for rivals. A glass half full for Maranello, especially after qualifying.They have a lot of work to do, but now their race solutions are better. Compared with a year ago there is an improvement. We had some mistakes, with an aggressive strategy not fully rewarding on the track. Vettel had a problem at the pit stop, and the withdrawal of Raikkonen from the race.

We experienced a nice Sunday morning with several family struggles. After a weekend lived in the shadow of Hamilton, Rosberg prevailed, and we watched an amazing challenge between Verstappen and Sainz at Toro Rosso. In my opinion, the Dutch driver has been too harsh, also verbally toward both the team and his team-mate. We have to applaud the starting of Haas. A debut with the sixth place equals a victory. Daniel Ricciardo had an excellent strategy and managed to recover up to the fourth place, signing the fastest lap of the race.

F1 will get to a “real” circuit in 15 days, where hot temperatures will rule the roost, and Ferrari could cause trouble for Mercedes. In qualifying, we will make a step back: the format of last year.