F1 | Abu Dhabi GP – Rosberg World Champion. Ferrari on the podium

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In the night of Abu Dhabi, Nico Rosberg wins his first world title. A German driver at the wheel of a German car. It is the proper ending of a very long season characterized by 21 races. Rosberg had started in a great way, showing a downturn in July and then getting back the lead of the standings. He has fought against a three-time world champion who made things difficult for him, in this last grand prix as well. In spite of everything, he has maintained the coldness, proving to deserve the title. It has been an exciting race and ended with four cars in a space of 2”, thanks to the strategy of Hamilton who made an all-out attempt. A very technical and tactical race where drivers have given their 100%.

I didn’t appreciate the behavior of the English driver at Mercedes’, he will have to meditate and vent during the holidays. It is not fair to complain about team’s negative moments on the podium. It has been a long championship in which driver’s reliability and mistakes are part of the game. Till the end, Mercedes put both his drivers in condition to play for the title at par. He should show more sportsmanship. This is why I appreciate Nico’s style more. Even in hard times, he didn’t find any justifications. We must remember that in some occasions he has been victim of subjective (and not objective) decisions by the commissioners.

The overtaking at the detriment of Verstappen was beautiful. It has been a crucial action for defending the title. A calculated risk that was to be taken. With this success, he has equaled his father, who is always very attentive, and never intrusive. He reached the track when the titled had been already conquered. Congratulations to Rosberg’s whole family.

Ferrari ends the season in a great way with the third place of Vettel, maker of the fastest lap and of an amazing overtaking at the detriment of Max Verstappen, protagonist of a mistake at the start and of a beautiful recovery. A Red Bull that has something to complain regarding Daniel Ricciardo penalized again by the team strategy.

The curtain falls on a long season, but 2017 is coming. We will experience a demanding championship with cars certainly different and new regulations that could determine a mixing of the powers on the field or lead to a more fought championship and the hope to have more satisfactions with the Italian colors.

A significant year for ACI Team Italia is filed thanks to the second and third places in GP2 accomplished by Giovinazzi and Marciello respectively, and to Fuoco’s third place in GP3. I want to thank these boys because they made us hear the hymn of Mameli a lot of times, proving how much the work of the Federation is a successful. Italy can manifest itself at the highest levels along with its drivers. There are still some unoccupied places in F1, and we hope to have a nice surprise in the upcoming weeks.

F1 | Ecclestone inclined to two races. Minardi «A correct choice»

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Formula 1 tries to look ahead, looking for new formats and solutions to attract a moving away audience.

It does this through Bernie Ecclestone who points his finger at too long races, proposing to split the Grand Prix into two races, 40 minutes each, with different starts.“90 minutes of race (if not more) are really too many for the current spectators’ needs. Other sports are considering shorter format, as well. Having two races on Sundays could be the right solution. Between a race and the other, the mechanics will have the chance to work on the cars and the drivers will make the interviews”, Mr. Eccletsone explains.

A solution backed by Gian Carlo Minardi who had already proposed the idea of making two separated events. “We have to promote spectators’ needs, who are changing faster than the show offered today does. I surely agree with the choise of two races. The audience would benefit from this choise, and the show as well because there would be two separated starts – the manager from Faenza tells us – . As it was Formula 2 in the 70s. I hope that the weekend in Abu Dhabi is the occasion to speak about the future. In 2017 there will be significant changes, around the calendar there is a lot of uncertainty. We know that Sepang will exit from 2019. Singapore is thinking of not renewing and Brazil is hanging the balance. Against the current, Montreal has renewed his agreement”.

 

F1 | Abu Dhabi GP – The final challenge

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After 20 grand prix, and such a long season, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton will put the World Champion title on the line in Abu Dhabi, to the delight of Eccleston and of the Arabs. In fact, the agreement provides an extra payment if the world championship title is assigned in the last race. Both the Mercedes drivers are equal regarding victories – nine each- with an advantage of Rosberg if we take the second places into account, and with an advantage of Hamilton if we sum the fourth places. This means that if Rosberg pass the third position (and Hamilton wins), the points being equal, the title will go into the English driver’s hands.

For all these months, Nico has proved to deserve the win, due both to his perseverance and his education with which he swallowed some very questionable decisions made subjectively and not objectively by commissioners. Otherwise, we would already have the new winner.

After his beautiful presentation in Sao Paulo, the attention will also focus on Max verstappen that will have to prove to be mature for be a protagonist in 2017. We hope that the praises that he received the following days don’t distract him. The Dutch driver at Red Bull will try to oust Vettel, trying to tear off the fourth place in the drivers’ standings. For the German driver it would be surely a negative result. Ferrari will have trouble in opposing Red Bull that is going to close a growing season.

Abu Dhabi will also be the stage of the final challenge between Force India and Williams for the fourth position, with the advantage of the team from Silverstone. Toro Rosso and McLaren will fight each other for the sixth place. Sainz and Kvyat will try to hit at the detriment of Woking. Regarding the tires, teams and drivers will have at their disposal all the soft tire compounds, from the Softs to the UltraSofts. Mercedes and Ferrari will carry seven violet tire compounds, Red Bull six. Vettel, Ricciardo, and Verstappen will have five sets of “yellows” each, the couple Nico/Lewis and Raikkonen will have four. Only Seb will have at his disposal a set of red SuperSoft, his principal rivals will have two.

It will be a very hot paddock also due to the new regulations. These days, Bernie Ecclestone, proposed to divide the Gran Prix into two races. A solution that I had already proposed and with which I agree. Anyway, this is another story…

World Championship | Karol Basz vice-champion

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For the second year in a row, Karol Basz conquers the World Championship podium thanks to an authoritative weekend in Bahrain. After winning the world title in 2015, the Polish driver of the Kosmic Racing Team followed by the Minardi Management, signs the absolute second place in the OK category authoritatively , proving to be a great professional. A result that put Karol among the best world karting drivers, letting him end a season rich in success.

The second world title in a row was missed just few meters away from the Final checkered flag, after signing a victory in the first two qualifying rounds Heat 1-2 and the third place in the third round that gave him the pole position in Pre-Final that was closed by him in the second place with the fastest lap of the race after a recovery. In final, Karol is among the protagonists of a great fight with his direct rivals and finally conquers the leadership that went then into the hands of the winner, Hiltbrand, a few meters away from the finish line.

“This weekend was raced constantly at the maximum, since the first rounds. We had an excellent speed and it was a fundamental experience for me. For the second year in a row, I am on the World Championship podium. We played for the victory fighting lap by lap, even if I am sorry for the way it finished. For me, anyway, it has been extremely important to finish the race”, Karol Basz comments.

“For the second year in a row, we went onto the world podium with Karol. Once again, he has been a true professional and has fulfilled a great work on the most important stage of karting. I must compliment the whole Kosmic Racing Team, the OKT group that put the best material at Karol’s disposal and the new world champion Pedro Hiltbrand for his win as well. From now on, we will start preparations for the next season”, Alberto Tonti and Giovanni Minardi say.

F1 | McLaren Earthquake Minardi "New scenarios in sight"

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Ron Dennis has resigned from the McLaren Group CEO and AD position after seeing his appeal to the High Court rejected. After 35 years, a significant era, tied to the world of Formula 1, finishes. The British manager, 69 year old, entered into McLaren in 1980, taking full control the following year. Under his guidance, the stable won seventeen world titles, 10 drivers’ titles (with Lauda, Prost, Senna, Hakkinen, Hamilton) and seven constructors’ titles. In 2015, a black year arrived in conjunction with the partnership with Honda.

From the Chairman’s headquarters, the already former McLaren shareholder, has announced that he wants to take a new challenge and undertake new projects.

“With the rejection by the High Court, at McLaren, ends a significant era started in 1980, surely rich in successes, but not immune to errors – Gian Carlo Minardi consulted by www.minardi.it says – this change at the top brass could reopen the doors to some scenarios already contradicted in the last months, with important economic and technical consequences in an immediate future. I will make a more in-depth analysis as soon as rumors become certainties”, the manager from Faenza concludes.

F1 | Alonso criticize F1. Minardi “A difficult situation”

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“Watching this Formula 1 is impossible”, these are the strong words used by Fernando Alonso in the Interlagos weekend. The McLaren driver, who is accustomed to these kind of externalization (his team radios about the Honda engine and against his team are already famous) used fire words to describe the lack of show in the modern Circus. “I was away from the track for 30 minutes and I got asleep. We should pay spectators for getting them to come to the circuit.

Thus, we consulted Gian Carlo Minardi who is engaged to follow the boys selected for the ACI Supercourse on the Vallelunga track.“These are difficult days for Formula 1, due both to the unclear regulation and to the offered show, except few episodes like the Brazilian Grand Prix to which the weather conditions gave a determinant contribution. I believe that Nando refers also to the limits imposed by commissioners for the fights on track.

The other big issue is determined by the strong technical and economic gap among the teams. In the specific case, McLaren is facing a hard moment at a corporate level with Honda that is not able to retrace the path of Renault. It is a pity to see a driver like him staying away from top positions. Both in qualifying and in race, he did not give away nothing, fighting constantly”, the manager from Faenza explains.

F1 | Brazilian GP – Minardi “10 to Verstappen”

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Taking into account the harsh weather conditions with which the drivers had to fight,I just think that every driver is to be applauded, independently from the fact that he reached the finish line or was protagonist in some accidents. Visibility was low and the aquaplaning risk around the corner.

Anyway, I want to give a great 10 to Max Verstappen that amused us with significant overtakings, detachments, and countersteers with which he managed to recover to the third place in spite of the hazard strategy of the pit. Being equal the car, he defeated the competition of his team mate, his first rival.

10 to Felipe Massa who raced his last Brazilian grand prix and ends his career in fifteen days in Abu Dhabi. The fondness he received was touching. In these years, Felipe has proved to be an honest gregarious and an excellent worker. He made the Ferrari fans dream. They celebrated with him – even if for few seconds- the world title.

The Brazilian Grand Prix was also important for several other stables like Toro Rosso that conquered an important sixth place (for the constructors’ world championship title) with Carlos Sainz, and Sauber that achieved two points at the last minute, outdoing Manor (the eleventh with a point) in the standings. At some points during the race, Manor and Sauber were equal in the standings. It was a beautiful fight. Both their pits must have experienced moments of tensions.

F1 | Brazilian GP – THE POINT “Chapeau, Verstappen!”

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Such a difficult grand prix raced in demanding conditions, it lasted three hours and showed us an incredible Verstappen. He amused the whole world with a lot of detachments, recoveries, and countersteer, in spite of a risky strategy coming from his pit that could have been costly for him.He made us experience again an old-time GP. The little boy, if well managed, has an important, potentially unlimited, future ahead of him.

Verstappen exploited the potential of his Red Bull at 100%, which adapted itself very well to those particular conditions, showing the grip and the aerodynamic impact of the car. A Verstappen who outclassed Ricciardo, car and strategy being equal. Once again, I must say that I don’t agree with the commissioners about the penalty to the Australian driver (who entered the pit lane in spite of the fact that it was closed in that moment). Five seconds are too few. The pit-stop would have given him a remarkable advantage if the conditions had changed, with the payment of a minimum penalty.

Everything according to script at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton wins and Nico Rosberg arrives second. An Hamilton that attacked for all the weekend. He had just to win. The race was more difficult for Nico Rosberg- under a psychological aspect – because he had everything to loose.

Ferrari greets Brazil with the fifth place of Sebastian Vettel. He was good at recover the car without any damages, differently from Kimi Raikkonen.Seb saved a not exemplar weekend not exemplar, after being defeated by his team mate in qualifying. After the mistake, he became protagonist of a great recovery.

This race gave us significant duels. Force India consecrated its fourth place in the world championship ahead of Williams, and Sauber could save its balance sheet- at the expense of Manor – even if it remains a grand prix in the calendar.

Let’s wait for Abu Dhabi for the great final, but keep following us because next days we will deepen some topics regarding the Brazilian weekend.

#HistoricMinardiDay | Space to Classic Cars

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On 6-7 May 2017, at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola, the appointment with the history of the Minardi Team and of Motorsport will be renewed.
The organizational machine of the Historic Minardi Day is at work to arrange the second edition, after the success of last 25 June with seven thousand fans crowding Santerno’s pits and grandstands.

The formula of the first edition is confirmed with the paddock and the pits – along with the grandstands – open to the fans and aficionados that will have the chance to see and touch many cars and single-seaters that wrote important pages of motorsport. The main point of the event, once again, will be the single-seaters of Formula 1 that were built in 20 years by the stable from Faenza, along with the cars that made this sport great.

Last June, the Ferraris of Alesi, Prost, Capelli, and Niki Lauda were back to roar along with The Williams , 1980’s World Champion , the 1972’s Techno, the March-BMW and the Dallara’s F3s,The Renault F2000, the Ralt F3000, the Chevron-Toyota, and many other Grand Touring cars. More than 60 cars were displayed.

“The main newness, along with the fact that the event will take place on two days, will be the strong presence of amazing classic cars from the 60s and the 70s. In addition, on F1 cars side, we are receiving an incredible number of registrations“, comments Gian Carlo Minardi. “We also satisfied the request coming from our fans by scheduling the event on Saturday and Sunday. We added a little bit of charm in choosing as the date for the second edition of the Historic Minardi Day the traditional weekend of the Grand Prix in San Marino”.

F1 | Brazilian GP – Spectacular track, but at risk

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Two races to go. After a 19 events long path, Formula 1 is ready to land on Brazil – Saint Paul – for the second to last round of the season. We gets to a demanding track, with an insidious descending bend, stage of spectacular contacts and overtakings. This will be the principal concern for Nico Rosberg who will try to close the game with his team-mate here, where he usually goes fast.

The Brazilian Grand Prix will also be the last “home race” for Felipe Massa who will try to honor his fans with an important result, even if his Williams seems to slack off.A track that crowned him world champion for a few seconds, before definitely giving Lewis Hamilton the scepter.

Sao Paulo has also been land of conquer of the last world title of a Ferrari driver, thanks to Kimi Raikkonen. A Ferrari now called to face a confused situation. Once again, it will have to deal with the frame and with the aerodynamics of Red Bull.

Regarding the tire compounds, Pirelli will carry the Hards, Mediums and Softs. Differently from Ferrari and Red Bull that will carry seven sets of tire compounds for each driver, Hamilton and Rosberg will have eight sets of “yellows”, four of “white” mediums and just a set of two “reds” each.Differentiated solutions at Ferrari with five sets of mediums and an hard one for Vettel, against four sets of mediums and two hard ones for Raikkonen.

Sao Paulo is one of those circuits that could lose the Circus, renouncing to sign the renewal. I hope there will be a large number of fans because it deserve to stay on calendar due to his fascinating payout and the enthusiasm of its audience.

This circuit reminds me significative memories.With Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, in 2003 we were in the top positions when it started to rain, he rolled over and went out of the track at the Do Sol Bend. The same situation with Christian Fittipaldi.

We had the pleasure to cooperate with many Brazilians – Tarso Marques, Christian Fittipaldi, Moreno Roberto – in addition to make our debut into F1 World Championship in Brazil on 5 April, 1985 (in Rio). With Marques, in 2001, we achieved the top ten, ending in the ninth place, as with Piero Martini in 1990 (9°), and Gianni Morbidelli (8° in 1991 and 7° in 1992).

Minardi Story – Brazil, where it all began

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On April 5, 1985 with the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Circus inaugurated its new season, and Gian Carlo Minardi with the Minardi F1 Team signed his debut in Formula 1. After building a good reputation as a constructor in the minor formulas, the stable from Faenza was ready to write a new chapter in its story and share the paddock with giants like Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Brabham, Ligier, Renault, Alfa Romeo, and Tyrrel. For his debut, Gian Carlo Minardi decides to consign his only M185 to a young Pierluigi Martini.

“On Friday, April 5, in the occasion of the first free practices, we realized to have entered into F1. A dream come truth”, Gian Carlo Minardi remembers. A dream and an adventure long 21 seasons during which he was able to build a significant reputation, becoming a springboard for drivers, mechanics, and engineers. The first Grand Prix was raced on the Jacarepagua track in Rio and finished at twenty laps from the checkered flag, due to an engine problem.

Anyway, satisfactions aren’t missed. In 1990, in Sant Paul, “Piero” Martini places the Minardi M190 in the fourth row thanks to his eighth absolute time, and closes the race in the top-ten, in the nineth place. The best result is reached the following year by Gianni Morbidelli who at the wheel of the Minardi M191 achieves the eighth position, after springing from the twenty-first place, ahead of Mika Hakkinen’s Lotus and behind the Benetton of Moreno. The win went to Ayton Senna (McLaren), ahead of Pratese (Williams) and Berger (McLaren). Those were the years of the prequalifying, with a selection of cars composed of almost 40 elements, and of the points assigned to the first six placed.

Focus on Mexican GP – Hamilton was to be panalized. That's why

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What happened in the last laps of the Mexican Grand Prix is still discussed within the Circus. Particularly, they accused the colorful team-radios of Sebastian Vettel against his colleagues and Charlie Whiting, and the penalization for the contact with Daniel Ricciardo. Christian Horner and Max Verstappen attack the Ferrari driver for insulting the race director via radio. For its part, “Seb” would have offered mea culpa with a letter to the Federation.

In my opinion, the fact that Verstappen keeps to attack Vettel is ridiculous. I also think that who has to pour the oil on troubled waters is the Team Principal (Christian Horner). All this is the consequence of the soft line chosen by the FIA that files this – unpleasant – episode with a simple reprimand, accepting an apology letter. Rules are not applied or are interpreted by a commission that changes at every race. During the weekend, in Mexico City, we had two clear demonstrations of this fact, at the start and at the end of the race.

RACE START – at the start of the grand prix, Lewis Hamilton makes a long braking in detachment and comes back onto the track with a great advantage on the group. The same situation for Max Verstappen. The young Red Bull driver, however, finds Rosberg’s Mercedes. Fortunately, in the contact, nobody has damages.

RACE ENDING   – MaX Verstappen attacked by Sebastian Vettel, arrives again into a too long braking. This time, he hasn’t  any cars to touch. Thus, he is forced to cut the chiacane, remaining ahead of Ferrari without loose time, favoring also Ricciardo’s recovery. Thus, we arrive to the fight. In detachment, Vettel moves (an action not allowed under the new rule) leaving anyway the place to Ricciardo who, at the same time, extends his braking by 50-60 meters, and blocks the tires. Vettel sets up his bend, and the drivers touch each other. Even in this case, if Ferrari wasn’t there, Ricciardo would have gone straight, through the escape route.

Safety comes first, but it mustn’t go to the detriment of the sport regulation. Two white strips limit the track, if a driver takes an advantage by cutting a bend, it has to be penalized with a drive-through.

A mistake is admitted, but in this case both Hamilton and Verstappen got an important advantage (Hamilton came back into the track 100 meters ahead of Rosberg), it is also due to the “serenity” of finding asphalt and grass in the escape route.

With sand and gravel, we would be talking about another kind of race. Proving to have slowed down is not enough. We need concrete penalties.  A penalty of 5″ is ridiculous. These days, I saw the fight between Villeneve and Arnoux in 1979 that then became a legend. It makes me smile to think about nowadays. Too many confused rules, object of different interpretations, and little show.

Formula 1 must change its direction. The audience is falling into depths as the reliability of this sport…

F1 | Mexican GP – SCORECARDS

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The winner of the weekend is the audience that deserves 10 because of its cheerfulness and its large presence.

Lewis Hamilton – 8.5 pole-position and win, but the small imperfection of the first bend remains. A mistake capable to  prevent him from winning the world championship without these modern escape routes.

Sebastian Vettel – 8 with an illegible car and a Ferrari in regression compared to 2015 that abandoned its dream of grasping the vice-champion title among the constructors in favor of Red Bull, was protagonist of a strong race. I didn’t appreciate his comments on the team-radio.

Nico Hulkenberg – 8 a good race that stresses how much it is strong Force India despite its problems. He has almost achieved the fourth place in the world championship against a giant like Williams.

Nico Rosberg – 8 someone says that he didn’t make his best, I would say that he managed the race at the best, optimizing the result. In Brazil, he could attempt the success since the track suits him. It is good to spare the car.

Williams drivers – 7 a good race for Bottas. It is nice to see that Massa still desires to fight in spite of the fact that there are just two race to the end of his career and that he hasn’t a top car.

Daniel Ricciardo – 7 he showed good actions in race, even if the first pit-stop didn’t bring great results.

Kimi Raikkonen- 6.5 he made an anonymous race unlike what he usual does on Sundays.

Max Verstappen – 5 he cannot continue to race against everybody, and they should reprimanded. Unfortunately, his team defends him, without helping his growth. His strategy is wrong. Excepting the Dutch, his fans are going away.

Sports commissioners – 5 I haven’t agreed with their decisions since a long time. Ecclestone should make self-critics.