F1 | Gp Hungary, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Ferrari must regret two mistakes”

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Lewis Hamilton closed the tour-de-force of 4 grands prix in five weeks with another very important win that brings his advantage over his direct rival Sebastian Vettel to 24 points. Hamilton is the driver in the best shape at the wheel of the best car supported also by the most valid squire, Valtteri Bottas who was certainly the protagonist of a great race when he thrashed Vettel, even if he then ruined everything in the final laps when he touched the Ferrari driver and then also Ricciardo. Bottas clearly had problems with his tyres and now we will wait and see what the marshals decide.

Ferrari says goodbye to Budapest with second and third place and more points than expected, even if they must regret the two mistakes in the pit stops that cost Vettel and Raikonnen precious seconds that would surely have allowed them to come back onto the track in front of Mercedes’ Finn driver.

It was a great race by Ricciardo. On this occasion Red Bull did not live up to expectations and also suffered problems of reliability that forces Verstappen to retire. The Australian was very good as he managed in any case to finish at the foot of the podium after the order to Bottas gave him back the position.

It was a very good result also for Toro Rosso reaching sixth place with Gasly and for McLaren that finished in eighth place with Fernando Alonso. I am sorry to see Force India in difficulty as the team had achieved incredible results in the last two years.

Now we have to wait three weeks for the world championship to start once more at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. However, this Mercedes is now scary, especially in view of two such very fast tracks.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Super Trofeo | Podium and leadership for Karol Basz and Vito Postiglione at Spa-Francorchamps

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At the fascinating circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, the stage for the fourth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa, Karol Basz paired with Vito Postiglione at the wheel of Imperiale Racing’s “Lambo” Huracan number 44 won the Championship’s leadership thanks to the third  places achieved in the two races on Friday and Saturday. Race-2 was interrupted for a few minutes by the chequered flag due to a terrible accident between the front two drivers,

Due to the conjunction with the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps the whole programme was brought forward by one day and in Thursday’s free practice Minardi Management’s driver set the best position subsequently closing his qualifying round with the sixth time without committing any errors and gaining confidence with the Eau Rouge and the many pitfalls of the Ardennes track.

In race-1 Vito Postiglione started in pole position but at the first curve collided and fell back to 23rd position. Luckily the car had no major damage from the impact which allowed Postiglione to recover a number of positions before handing over the wheel to Basz who, at the end of the pit stop re-entered the track in ninth place. The Polish driver took advantage of the restart after the exit of the safety car and became the protagonist of an incredible last lap overtaking four cars before finishing the race in fifth place. After the penalty inflicted on Altoè/Zampieri, Karol climbed up to fourth place (third in the class).

A few minutes after the start of the race-2 it began to rain on the circuit and the race director decided for a start behind the safety car which exited after 8’, in his 50 minutes of the race Karol Basz was able to retain his position holding back the charges by his rivals without making any mistakes before handing the car over to his team-mate who went on to the finish line in third place, confirming the excellent feeling for the track. The race was interrupted a few minutes from the chequered flag because of a terrible accident that involved the front two drivers with the race director freezing the ladder at the previous lap.

“We say goodbye to Spa-Francorchamps, as incredible track, with a lot of points and the championship lead. Today’s was a crazy race. We decided to keep the slicks despite the wet track because we knew that ot would have dried quickly. Then Vito was very fast. It was a pity about the accident at the end that took away the chance to battle it out for the win. It was not an easy weekend but it was very positive. Now we go to Nurburgring as leaders” commented Karol Basz.

“Karol was the protagonist was a positive weekend run on a very demanding track that ended with solid and important results that delivered the championship lead. In the three days he worked hard to constantly improve since it his debut at Spa, one of the most selective tracks in international Motorsport. Sadly race-1 was conditioned by a touch at the first curve which took away the win, while in race-2 both drivers were perfect despite the tricky asphalt that continued to change. “We are very happy with Karol’s path that, on his debut and after only four rounds, went to the top of the championship. With the help of our sponsors and the Imperiale team we hope to reach the end of the season,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

Super Trofeo | Karol Basz is on the prowl for the fourth win at the kingdom of Spa-Francorchamps

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This weekend Karol Basz will make his debut at Spa-Francorchamps for the fourth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa. The 26 year old driver from Krakow, together with Vito Postiglione, at the wheel of Imperiale Racing’s “Lambo” Huracan number 44 will be on the prowl for the fourth win in just as many appointments to continue the climb up the ladder where he now in second place.

Up to now the path has been impeccable by Minardi Management’s flag bearer event if there is still the regret for some unfortunate episodes that denied the deserved double win at Misano (due to a puncture) and at Silverstone due to a problem with the door handle during race-2’s pit stop. These episodes do not affect the value of a driver who has become part of the Lamborghini Programme and who experienced the first session at Vallelunga with an intense programme of athletic preparation and lessons in classroom.

Given the concurrence with the 24 Hours also in programme on the same track in the Ardennes, the whole programme has been brought forward by a day with two rounds of free practice on Thursday 26 at 10.35am and 2.55pm in preparation for the qualifying session on Friday 27 at 9.50am and Race-1 at 1.50pm. The fourth Racing Weekend will draw to a close on Saturday 28 with race-2 at 10.25am. Both heats will be transmitted live on the Lamborghini Racing Team Official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LamborghiniSquadraCorse/

“Spa will be another new track for me, but I am looking forward to this weekend. It will be interesting to see how level differences will affect driving sensations and whether they will coincide with the simulator. Last year my team was really strong here, so I hope that this season we will maintain this trend and we will fight Vito for a set of points” – said Karol.

“We are sure that at Spa-Francorchamps Karol will once again be able to fight it out for the top positions. In the previous editions Team Imperiale and Vito Postiglione were always very quick and this gives us hope. At this time Karol is more determined than ever, thanks also to the excellent and intense work of athletic preparation that intensified during the Lamborghini Academy session at the Vallelunga track,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

Memories of the Hungarian Gp ’94, Michele Alboreto just misses out on the Top-six

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Michele Alboreto had the best result for the Minardi Team on the track in Budapest which this weekend will host the 12th round of the World Championship.

At the wheel of the M194 Minardi with the Ford HBC7/8 engine with team mate Pierluigi Martini, he was the protagonist of an important comeback. Taking off from twentieth place the driver from Milan cut the finish line in seventh place behind Ligier-Renault’s Olivier Panis and just missing out on the points zone. In those years only the first six drivers at the finish line were assigned points (from 10 to 1). The grand prix was won by Michael Schumacher driving the Benetton in front of Damon Hill in the Williams and Jos Verstappen (Benetton). The German went on to become World Champion with just a one point lead over the Englishman. In the constructors’’ championship the team from Faenza closed the season with five points and tenth place overall.

The following year the team founded by Gian Carlo Minardi finished once more in the top ten with Luca Badoer eighth (behind Jordan’s Rubens Barrichello) and Pedro Lamy ninth at the wheel of the M195, again with the Ford engine. Of the 24 starters only ten managed to reach the finish line with the Williams of Damon Hill and David Coulthard achieving a double in front of Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger with leader Michael Schumacher forced to retire with a breakdown of his Renault engine.

The biggest regret is tied to the 1993 edition with Pierluigi Minardi in the M193 (the first Minardi racing car equipped with active suspension and the first sequential gearbox with powered by a Ford engine that enjoyed low fuel consumption) who, as he was overtaking another car, ended up spinning neutralizing an important result.

F1 | Minardi “F1 has lost the certainty of penalties”

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Lewis Hamilton’s action in the final phases of the German Grand Prix when he came back onto the track after cutting through the grass after having taken the entrance to pit lane caused a lot of discussion after the race. Some hours after the chequered flag the Mercedes’ driver’s win was confirmed after having received only received a reprimand from the marshals. For Race director Charlie Whiting there was no correlation with the 5” penalty given to Kimi Raikonnen during the 2016 Baku Grand Prix.

We asked Gian Carlo Minardi, who gave us his point of view. “At this time in F1 there is no certainty in the penalties which are the basis for the regularity of world championship. In order to justify FIA’s position Charlie Whiting climbed up walls, hid behind very soft mitigating factors such as the presence of the Safety-car and not having created a risk situation due to the lack of other cars present,” commented the manager from Faenza.

“This championship will be won by who makes the least mistakes compared to his rival and seven points can make the difference at the end (with a 5” second penalty the Englishman would have finished in second place behind Bottas). In my opinion the regulation was distorted. Unfortunately these episodes also have consequences on the other introductory categories since very often F1 makes the law and is taken as an example by young drivers as well. It becomes very difficult teaching them,” continued.

“I do not want to take anything away from Hamilton who was the author of an extraordinary race, while Vettel make a very serious mistake that could cost him very dearly but there is a need for clear regulations that must be respected”.

F1 | Gp Germany, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “A very serious mistake by Vettel”

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A few laps from the finishing line Sebastian Vettel threw away a win and a very important result in light of the world championship. In 11 grands prix this is already the fourth mistake made by the German and this must give Ferrari something to think about. They must be proud of the work in the factory but they have to ponder on how their drivers work. Compared to Mercedes Ferrari came out defeated.
The race confirmed that this is a season in which mistakes will play a crucial role and, once again, the the leadership changed with Hamilton taking the lead with a gap of 17 points from Vettel. He took off from fourteenth place and played the leading role with a sensational comeback that ended with a win in front of his team mate and also after setting the fastest lap time during the final stage. It was an impressive show of force by Mercedes with Toto Wolff taking back the reins of the team.
All weekend Ferrari showed that it has a truly great car but it was not enough. In seven days we will be back on the track in Budapest which will conclude the tour-de-force and usher in the summer break. It will be a good opportunity for Vettel to be on the prowl for redemption and we hope that this episode will not have repercussions on the rest of the season. On this occasion I wish Sergio Marchionne all the best for a quick recovery and to the new president John Elkann.
It was certainly a race that became exciting only with the arrival of the rain with some teams that tried to make a master stroke with strategies that did not pay off such as Red Bull and Sauber. It was choice that cost important points, especially for Sauber’s Leclerc. We anxiously await the race in Hungary.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Germany, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi “Keep an eye on Red Bull”

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After a year the German Grand Prix will come back to the Hockenheim circuit where Pirelli’s stronger tyres will make their debuts. The Milanese tyre maker will bring its Medium, Soft and UltraSoft mixes. Hamilton and Vettel have “marked” each other man to man with the same number of sets of each mix, whereas Bottas and Raikonnen have mixed their choices.

We have reached the halfway point of a very long championship with Ferrari that will take to the start with its morale high and at the top of both ladders and Mercedes that cannot make any more mistakes. However, we must not underestimate the two Red Bulls that could come out by exploiting its excellent chassis, especially in the mixed/slow part of the track. As happened two weeks ago at Silverstone, we will have a highly fought qualifying on the edge of thousandths of a second and a race that will be decided by strategies and weather that could give the cars in red an advantage since the prediction for Sunday is for a sunny day.

I am pleased to see Antonio Giovinazzi in action once more with the Alfa Romeo Sauber. I hope that this is a good sign for his future. It will not be easy coming to conclusions since the teams’ plans for Friday usually involve a mix of work with their drivers in order to collect the greatest number of indicators for qualifying and the race.

There has been much talk in recent days about Liberty Media’s new proposal of changing the system of points. Fernando had said that he is opposed to the move as it opens the points to twenty drivers which would reduce his worth and he used as an example the uproar that was raised by Jules Bianchi’s ninth place with Marussia that was the result of a masterpiece of race at Monte Carlo. For many years I found myself fighting with my cars to enter into the top six, therefore the chance to widen the ladder could also be positive. It would help to increase the spectacle in the back lots with more tussles.

I have the impression that they want to draw attention away from much more important problems since this would require giving the Technical Regulations instead of the Sporting Regulations that do not change F1’s image. We need resolve the issue of the future engines, even if the four constructors seem oriented to continuing with the Power Units.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Minardi M191B-Lamborghini, Bortolotti “An unforgettable moment”

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26 years after Christian Fittipaldi and Gianni Morbidelli the steering wheel of the Minardi M191B, the protagonist of seven F1 grands prix in 1992 (before giving way to the M192) powered by the LE3512 Lamborghini engine designed by Mauro Forghieri, was passed onto Lamborghini Factory Driver Mirko Bortolotti who had the task of shaking down the seven months of restoration work carried out by the Polo Storico (historic programme) of the carmaker from Sant’Agata Bolognese.

Lamborghini’s official driver completed the twenty planned laps without encountering any problems.

“Seeing the technicians working on the original plans and become excited the first time the motor of the V12 Lamborghini engine was switched on was an unforgettable moment,” commented the driver from Trento, “These ‘old school’ cars are truly fantastic and unique. Congratulations to all the members of the Polo Storico Lamborghini for having made all this possible after a restoration that lasted seven months”

The M191B is now ready to go back to the racing and competing in the championships dedicated to historic F1 races.

This link will take you to the film made by the Lamborghini Racing Team

The Minardi 191B F1 with Lamborghini engine returns to racing after 26 years

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Twenty-six years from its last Grand Prix, the Minardi M191B chassis #003, equipped with a Lamborghini LE3512 V12 engine and one of the protagonists of Formula One in 1992, is back on the track.

The exciting shakedown organized by Lamborghini Squadra Corse is the result of a meticulous restoration carried out by Lamborghini Polo Storico with the support of former Lamborghini Engineering personnel, the active part of the Lamborghini F1 project in the early ’90s.

The Minardi M191B #003 is the first single-seater to be restored by Polo Storico. After being on display at the Lamborghini Museum in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the car underwent seven months of work to return to its original efficiency, with most of the original components maintained.

The tires, fuel tank, engine control unit, seat belts, and fire extinguishing system were replaced, while the other components were carefully restored, starting from the engine designed by Mauro Forghieri. The 12-cylinder LE3512 is still able to deliver the original almost 700 HP, enabling enthusiasts to relive the emotions of the golden years of Formula One.

The guests of honor on the occasion of the grand return are Mirko Bortolotti, Lamborghini Factory Driver, and Giancarlo Minardi. The founder of the Faenza-based team recalled the fruitful collaboration with Lamborghini that lasted for the entire 1992 season: “Seeing the models of 25 or 30 years ago is still exciting. They are the last cars before the beginning of telemetry and automatic transmissions. Apart from the rumble, which still today brings back those wonderful times, it was a very flexible engine with enormous power starting from the low rpms.”

Entrusted to drivers Gianni Morbidelli and Christian Fittipaldi, the Minardi M191B #003 competed in the first Grand Prix races of 1992 before being replaced by the M192, also equipped with a Lamborghini engine. The best result achieved by the single-seater restored by Polo Storico was 11th place with Christian Fittipaldi at the wheel at the Spanish GP, and it is now ready to return to racing and competing in the championships dedicated to historic F1 races. The testing outcome was very positive: the car ran more than 20 laps without any problem and the Lamborghini engine perfectly maintained all the features that had so impressed Ayrton Senna during the tests at Estoril in 1993.

Foto: Lamborghini Squadra Corse

F1 | Gp Great Britain, Ferrari wins with Vettel. THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Ferrari that wins so well on a track such as that of Silverstone, which on paper should have been unfavourable, says a lot about the path to the world championship and can only be a good sign in view of the next two rounds in Germany and Hungary.

We saw an absolutely fantastic weekend and race that was run to the sound of battle until the last lap. Ferrari showed that it is decidedly worthy of the situation with excellent work by the drivers, mechanics and the people at the wall. Qualifying was also stupendous with records and a minimal gap (44 thousandths of a second) between two world champions who shared the front row.

Lewis Hamilton will surely be very angry even though he made a great climb back to second place in any case, limiting the damage. I surely do not share his behaviour because a World Champion such as he must respect the rules and must know how to deal with any negative situation even from the media point of view.

Kimi Raikonnen took all the blame for colliding with the British driver even if I do not share this manner of assigning penalties with decisions far removed between one episode and another and too subjective. The Finnish driver made a mistake and he was rightly penalized but in other occasions the penalties were much lighter. Excluding the mistake in the first lap the Finn became a leading player with a solid race that finished in third place ahead of Bottas.

Ferrari leaves Silverstone after having consolidated its leadership in both ladders, with the twenty point advantage over Mercedes in the Constructors’ championship and with Vettel holding scoring an eight point lead over Hamilton.

We prepare for the second part of the tour-de-force in two weeks time with another two grands prix (Germany and Hungary) in successive weeks before the summer break.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp England, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The July tour-de-force continues. We move from Austria to the historic circuit of Silverstone in England and then continue our journey towards Germany and Hungary which will mark the beginning of the August summer holidays.

This is a very technical and demanding circuit, for the tyres as well with lateral forces of 5G. For this reason Pirelli has opted for the Hard, Medium and Soft mixes (with the tread lowered 0.4mm) to try and compensate for the excessive wear. After the race a lot was heard and said about the tyres and I do not understand the need to intervene for change by hiding behind the problem of safety. If the tyres wear too much then you stop and change them.

Silverstone promises to be an important round, above all for those who suffered from problems of reliability at the Red Bull Ring since there was really too little time to intervene.

The weather is still an unknown factor, even if for the time being the forecasts speak of a hot weekend and of the safety car as well. Last year Lewis Hamilton dictated the race in front of his public and this weekend Mercedes is still favoured to win. Ferrari comes to the race reinvigorated after having taken back the leadership of both ladders, even though it was not free of errors with the penalty that hit Vettel for having slowed down Carlos Sainz in qualifying (Q2). The championship confirms that it is characterized and conditioned by errors (drivers and teams) and who will know to make the fewest errors will, in all probability, take home the crown for 2018.

After Sunday’s retirement the British champion will take to the track psyched up and with a strong desire for a comeback. It will be a great struggle to be follow, beginning with the free practice.

Personally, I have wonderful memories tied to this circuit, especially the ’89 edition which ended with fifth and sixth placings for Martini and Sala. It was a decisive weekend for the survival of the team. The phantom of pre-qualifying was just around the corner, as was the loss of the television rights. We were obliged to take home two points. We said goodbye to the eighth round with three points. For us it was like winning the world championship. The M189 proved to be a good and constantly growing car that gave us a lot of satisfaction.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 |Gp Austria, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “It was the weekend of mistakes”

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The weekend in Austria was the festival of mistakes by the teams. It began Saturday with Ferrari’s people at the wall who did not advise their driver that Sainz was arriving and today with Mercedes that did not call Hamilton into the pits under the VSC after Bottas’ retirement.

I think the marshals used a heavy hand with Vettel since Sainz had in any case reached Q3 but in all probability they did not want to set a precedent. Hamilton’s retirement at the 54th lap patched up the strategy. Despite an important technical advantage Mercedes confirmed the reliability problems of its gearbox. It was a race full of retirements caused by the very tight rhythm. We have come into a very heated month of July which from now until the end will give us another three grands prix. It will be interesting to see who will be the best at managing this tour-de-force.

Formula 1 is once more going back to the maximum competition with a large gap between the three top teams and the rest of the group. We witnessed an order of arrival that rewarded the teams in pairs with 2 Ferraris, 2 Haas, 2 Force Indias and two Saubers with the only exceptions the winner Max Verstappen with the sole Red Bull and Fernando Alonso who finished in eight place after starting in pit lane.

It was a result that surely rewarded Ferrari with an outcome that was almost unexpected. Kimi Raikonnen deserved to finish in second place having tried until the end to attack the Dutch driver, by setting fast lap times and therefore it was correct for the people at the barrier to maintain the positions of the two drivers. For the third time in as many grands prix the head of the ladder changed with Vettel in command once more.

In seven days we will be back on the track for the tenth round of the world championship at the British circuit of Silverstone which, on paper, will favour Mercedes, even if Vettel and Ferrari will come to the appointment with its morale high.

We are waiting to see what will happen.

Gian Carlo Minardi