F1 | United States Grands Prix, the weekend of the “first times” with Gian Carlo Minardi

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We are entering into the weekend that will bring us to the eighteenth round of the calendar: the United States Grand Prix, an appointment that for the Minardi Team is synonymous with unique results that played a part in changing its history.

We are talking about Detroit 1988, the grand prix that gave the team from Faenza its first world championship point with Pierluigi Martini (sixteenth place on the starting grid) and at Phoenix 1990, again with the driver from the Romagna who placed on the front row in qualifying (out of 27 qualifiers) in the M189 with only Berger’s McLaren-Honda ahead of him and in front of De Cesaris in the Scuderia Italia, Alesi’s Tyrrell, Senna’s McLaren, Piquet’s Benetton and Prost’s Ferrari.

As we await Austin we decided to relive these two important events with the direct protagonists and today we met with Gian Carlo Minardi,

“I still remember those events with extreme pleasure, beginning at Detroit. It was the season’s sixth round and we came from the Canadian Grand Prix where we once again had problems with Adrian Campos’ car, he was the official driver together with Luis Pérez-Sala,” remembers the manager from Faenza.

“We needed to give the whole team a shake and, for this reason, I took the difficult decision to substitute Adrian with Piero Martini who had raced for us in the debut season in 1985. Our main sponsor was the Spanish company Lois and I notified its President of this change, assuming all the risks. Piero came to the track without having tested the M188 and anyway he managed to qualify with an excellent 1’45″048 that earned him sixteenth place, in front of drivers of the calibre of Arnoux and teams such as Tyrell and Ligier. In the race Piero climbed up to sixth place giving us our historic first world championship point. The final laps were highly charged for us, especially after Luis’ retirement with a broken gearbox. For us it was the first point after three uneasy years since our arrival in Formula 1 and marked the beginning of constant improvement. That evening we celebrated with a dinner at the top floor of the Detroit Tower, together with the main sponsor’s president who had accepted, with reservations, the substitution of Campos,” said Minardi who continued his memory up to the first grand prix in 1990.

“The following year, 1989, was a better season for Minardi. The M189 constantly climbed up the starting grid finishing in the third row in the final grands prix up to the opening race of the 1990 world championship on the track at Phoenix with the front row. It was an incredible result since it was the first years of the dominance of McLaren and Williams. In the race Martini and Sala had to give way, however, they finished at the fringe of the points zone, in sixth and seventh positions”.

“Staying on the theme of the Grand Prix of America, the other result that deserves a mention is Indianapolis 2005, even if it is a story to itself. Together with Ferrari and Jordan, we honoured the presence since the Bridgestone tyres did not have the problems that on the other hand stopped the cars with Michelin tyres, crossing the finishing line in fifth and sixth positions with Albers and Friesacher,” concluded Minardi.

F1 | Russell signs with Williams. Minardi “A positive sign for all young drivers”

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Next year’s starting grid will host another young driver after Antonio Giovinazzi and Lando Norris. This iwll be George Russell who will wear the colours of the Williams team thanks to a multiyear contract, even if we do not yet know the name of his team mate.

Russell currently leads the Formula 2 ladder with an important gap from his direct rivals. The championship will close at Abu Dhabi.

“Russell’s arrival is an important signal to all the young drivers, as well as a good sign of change and I must congratulate Williams. We can expect an interesting 2019 with a number of new faces on the starting grid of the 21 grands prix. In all probability, the other side of the medal will be the loss (I hope temporary) of Esteban Ocon, a very promising young driver who will know how to come back into the group shortly,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

F1 | Minardi “Sand is needed along the track side”

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The Japanese Grand Prix has gone into the record books with another Mercedes one-two and fifth and sixth places for Ferrari. In between were the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

There was no lack of after effects and twists, like the minor collisions between Verstappen-Raikonnen, Verstappen-Vettel and Magnussen-Leclerc with the Dane who, in trying to avoid being overtaken by the driver from Monte Carlo, moved at the last moment cutting the Sauber driver’s road. “Magnussen can have his license taken away since it is not the first time that he has been the antagonist in these episodes,” was the harsh comment from Gian Carlo Minardi who also accented another argument

“Too many concessions are being made in favour of safety that are detrimental to fairness and this is not good. If we take the examples of the two points of the track where Verstappen collided with the Ferrari drivers, without focussing on who is right or wrong. Until a few years ago the side of the track – that section of asphalt between the two white lines – there was sand which was fatal to anyone who made a mistake,” was the analysis of the manager from Faenza.


“In the first episode Verstappen approached the chicane long but passed through the curb coming back on track and then in the subsequent collision with the Finn, ruining the Raikonnen’s race, when he got a penalty of barely 5”. In the episode with Vettel, the German came out worse when he left the track, however he found asphalt on the escape route thus avoiding the worst.”

“I have the impression that we are hiding behind the factor of safety to allow actions that are not clear and not easily comparable between them that bring the marshals to issue subjective judgments. I believe that when a car exceeds the white line with more than two wheels that the driver must be punished heavily”.

“Otherwise we change the rules and leave the drivers free to fight it out, classifying all collisions as race incidents with no sanctions,” concluded Minardi.

F1 | Gp Japan, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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This was another favourable weekend for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton who is heading towards his fifth world championship. The weekend was unfavourable for Ferrari (that finished behind Red Bull) from which emerged the nervousness of the drivers, as well as from within the team. I certainly cannot share the Team principal’s declarations.

It was a race conditioned by two minor collisions with Verstappen in which both Raikonnen and Vettel suffered some damage but I would not use this as an excuse for justifying a lacklustre performance since in any case Vettel managed to set the grand prix’s the fastest time on the very last lap.

Once again there was no uniformity in penalties since I do not consider the episode between the German and the Dutch drivers as a simple minor race collision. The Ferrari driver was already inside by more than a car’s length and Verstappen could easily have widened out after what happened with Raikonnen (once again not incisive) for which he had already received a 5” penalty (maybe too few as well). More uniformity is needed, regardless of the driver’s name.

Mercedes put away Suzuka with another one-two finish. It again showed that it can manage every situation in the best way possible and to be able to dictate the race. There are four more races until the end and only the mathematics does not allow the team to celebrate yet another triumphant season.

Red Bull lost an opportunity, especially after the very good performance in qualifying that was annulled by a mistake in race strategy. The duel with Sauber for eighth place is still alive, while Haas and Racing Point Force India have made up points respectively on Renault (only one point with Sainz) and McLaren.

The GP’s best driver? Surely Lewis Hamilton who was perfect in every occasion.

Gian Carlo Minardi

GT Italia | Basz the great protagonist at Monza in GT3

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On Monza’s very fast track Karol Basz was the great protagonist of the penultimate round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship at the wheel of the Imperiale Racing Huracan GT3, together with team mate Vito Postiglione. The Italian and Polish drivers, who were already the lead players in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa, showed excellent teamwork that was transformed into two podiums on the strength of the second and third places achieved in race-1 and race-2 respectively.

For the driver from Krakow followed by Minardi Management this was his absolute debut at the wheel of a GT3 car and confirmed the excellent speed qualities that made him the current leader of the Super Trofeo that will hold its final round at the Vallelunga circuit on November 15th and 16th.

Right from qualifying Karol found an excellent feeling for the car and constantly took the car into the front positions, taking second place on the grid in his turn at qualifying.

“It was a very positive weekend. Climbing into the podium twice on my debut in GT3 is very positive, even in view of the future and I must thank all the Imperiale Racing team and Vito Postiglione. Closing race-1 in front of a great driver such as Giancarlo Fisichella was very satisfying, despite of the difficult weather conditions”.

“We are very happy with Karol’s work here at Monza. Despite being on his debut in an GT3 car he showed right from the start that he could play for pole position, closing the weekend with second place in qualifying and two podiums in the two races. It was an excellent debut. We thank everyone in the Imperiale Racing team and especially Ivano Pignatti who gave us this important chance,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

F1 | Gp Japan, MINARDI “Ferrari can make no more mistakes”

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There are still 5 rounds until the end of the season on the Formula 1 World Championship that this weekend lands in Japan at the historic Suzuka circuit. After Lewis Hamilton’s win and Mercedes’ 1-2 double the gap between Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari has climbed to 50 and 55 points respectively in the drivers’ and the constructors’ ladders.

Ferrari must admit its fault for the points lost at Monza as at the other circuits in the times that was most favourable for it. The gap would have been much smaller, just like the pressure. Mercedes has shown great strength both technically and strategically. Even if some did not like the team games, the history books will only show the titles won.

Toto Wolff’s are making the most of all the material available to them by exploiting every favourable opportunity. Unfortunately Ferrari has not managed to do it just as well, despite finishing within a few seconds after a very tight and tough grand prix.

Suzuka is surely not an easy circuit where in recent years the weather was an important variable. This weekend too the forecasts are not the best since there is a tornado and we do not yet know which direction it will take. I may be the case to change the date of the race since the bad weather has always been a constant factor. I remember the 1994 edition when Alboreto and Martini touched without even noticing because it was raining so much. It went decidedly better for Fittipaldi in 1992 when he crossed the finish line with the Lamborghini powered M192 in sixth place, giving us the only point of the season.

Pirelli will bring the Medium, Soft and SuperSoft mixes and Mercedes and Ferrari have focussed on different strategies with 10 sets of SS for Vettel and Raikonnen and 7 for Hamilton. It will crtainly be the case to intervene with the tyres in view of next year since this year they are not achieving the results hoped for with negligible differences in performance from one mix to another.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Karol Basz at Monza with the Imperiale Racing Lamborghini GT3

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An extra appointment on the calendar for Karol Basz who this weekend will be one of the protagonists at Monza in the penultimate round of the Italian Gran Turismo Championship on his debut in GT3.

The driver from Krakow followed by Minardi Management will defend the colours of Imperiale Racing at the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 paired with Vito Postiglione on his return after six months to the temple of speed where he triumphed in the opening round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa with a win in race-1 and the second fastest time in qualifying (the fastest in the PRO class).

“I am honoured that Imperiale Racing once more repeated its faith in me for the Monza appointment of the Italian Championship at the wheel of the powerful Huracan GT3. I am very happy to come back to Monza again beside Vito with whom we already gained a great victory together. Naturally I will do my best to come back home with a new trophy,” commented Karol Basz.

“We are very happy with the call from Ivano Pignatto that gives for Karol the chance to come back to racing in a selective reality that he knows well such as the Italian GT Championship. It is the demonstration of having made the right choice at the beginning of the year in choosing the Imperiale Racing structure and the confirmation that Karol is doing very well in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa. Monza is a track that is very suitable for his speed qualities and already at the beginning of the year he gave a great show with the win. For this we are certain that he will be competitive right from the start despite his debut at the wheel of a GT3. It will be a very important experience for him and we will do everything to achieve the best result, together with all the team, seeing the excellent feeling with Vito,” commented Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

F1 | GP Russia, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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It was a very tight grand prix when Mercedes had to resort to all the possible strategies in order to beat a good Ferrari which can only regret giving 2-3 tenths of a second to its direct rivals. Once again Bottas sacrificed himself for his team mate (but I do not condemn the act) even though we saw the essence of the weekend in the fifteenth lap when Hamilton overtook Vettel.

Toto Wolff’s team found once more found the policy of the best times and Ferrari must regret its mistakes (in strategy and drivers) when the circumstances favourable.

Bottas was the weekend’s best driver and was perfect in both qualifying and the race when he managed to keep Hamilton’s rhythm. It was the perfect race for young Leclerc who finished in seventh place with the Sauber, just behind the two Red Bull drivers and so gave the team important points in the direct duel with Toro Rosso. The driver from Monaco set fantastic times, especial between the 34th and 42nd laps. Max Verstappen was very good in taking full advantage of his tyres by covering more than 40 laps. Pirelli should give us some explanations since these tyres are performing very differently from the expectations and the technical desires at the start of the season.

In a week’s time we will be back for a new duel between Vettel and Hamilton on the track of a circuit with a historic flavour like Suzuka.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Giovinazzi in Sauber next to Raikkonen. MINARDI “Line-up perfect”

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upAfter seven long years Italy will once again have a standard bearer in the F1 World Championship. The long wait was ended by Antonio Giovinazzi who from next season will defend full time the colours of Team Alfa-Romeo-Sauber beside Kimi Raikonnen.

The twenty five year old driver from Apulia will take the take left free by Leclerc (promoted to Ferrari next to Vettel), returning to the team that gave him his debut in 2017 when he raced the Australian and Chinese grands prix in place of the injured Wehrlein.

We spoke on the telephone to Gian Carlo Minardi who is busy is Rome. “I am very happy for Antonio and for all of Italy’s Motorsport which, after seven years, has once again found its fulltime standard bearer in F1. This is a very important step for the project being carried out by ACI, with its roots beginning in karting and then continue in the training categories,” commented the satisfied manager from Faenza, “the pair of Raikonnen-Giovinazzi is exactly right because the team will be able to count on the experience of a master such as the Finn who will give a hand to the young driver to learn and grow. I hope that the student will quickly overtake the master,” concluded Minardi.

At Hinwil Giovinazzi will find not only Raikonnen once again but also Simone Resta whose career began in 1998 in Faenza with the Minardi Team, in his role as Technical Director who will look after the C38 Project.

F1 | Gp Russia, Minardi “Only one result is possible for Ferrari”

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We have reached the last six races in the calendar and this weekend in Sochi Ferrari has only one possible result: the one-two. Maurizio Arrivabene’s men must try to makes things difficult for Hamilton and Mercedes that naturally start as favourites.

In this moment Mercedes has the peace of mind missing in Maranello and the awareness that it can manage the good lead in both ladders. Last year Vettel and Raikonnen were able to fill the front row of the grid but the race went to Bottas. They will need to avoid this.

We must make one consideration. It seems to me that we are experiencing once more what happened last year with the first part of the season favouring Ferrari and Mercedes growing up and making a comeback. This is exactly what is happening now. We must understand if we are faced with an opportunist Mercedes, or Ferrari that makes too many mistakes and annuls its advantage. Certainly the drivers and team are not exempt from blame.

On the tyre mix front Pirelli will bring the Softs as the hardest mix and down to HyperSoft. I hope we will see a greater difference in performance between the mixes because it is one of the elements that have been missing this year. Pirelli would like to reduce the range for 2019 but the objective should be to increase the difference in performance between the mixes.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Super Trofeo | Pole position and win at Nurburgring for Karol Basz who increased his championship lead

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In the fifth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europa at Nurburgring Karol Basz, together with Vito Postiglione, in the Imperiale Racing Huracan number 44 drove the (nearly) perfect weekend with pole position, a win in race-1 and second place in race-2 and setting the fastest lap.

Only the win in race-2 was lacking but on his debut on the German track Basz confirmed that he is the top driver in the single make category by closing the weekend run constantly on the charge, without making the slightest error and achieving the objective of increasing the lead in the championship. The Italian-Polish pair drew up to the starting line with a lead of four points over its direct rivals and will go to the Vallelunga track on November 15 an 18 with a ten point lead.

During his qualifying round the Polish driver followed by Minardi Management set an important pole position confirming that he had reached an excellent feeling for the track. In race-1 Basz took part in the second part of the race and completed the comeback that his team mate had already begun by crossing the finish line with a lead of nearly 12 seconds over their direct rival and so scoring the fourth win of the season.

Karol made the perfect start to race-2, keeping pole position and dictating a rhythm that started a great tussle with Zampieri run on the edge of tenths of seconds and he returned to the pits as race leader.

“I am very happy because we managed to increase our lead in the championship by taking pole position, the won and second place. I liked Nurburgring from the first lap and this is seen in the results on the track. I am very happy with how I drove in all the sessions and I really look forward to the final round at Vallelunga to be able to race for the title,” commented Karol Basz.

“We say goodbye to Nurburgring with another win and pole position and a lead in the championship that grew to ten points. Karol was very fast during all the weekend and practically perfect in every situation. In qualifying he just missed out on the perfect lap but took pole position anyway. In the two races he was one of the fastest and even set the fastest time in race-2 with an impressive stint. Now we will prepare for the final round at Vallelunga where we will go onto the track with the aim of winning both the European and World titles,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

Karol will fly to Kristianstad in Sweden to take part in the Karting World Championship to defend the Kosmic Racing colours to try and repeat the 2015 title won on the Muro Leccese track.

F1 | Minardi “Ocon deserves to stay in F1”

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We are at the door of the Singapore Grand Prix, the fifteenth round (of twenty one) of the world championship and a drivers transfer market surrounded by deep uncertainty. It has been some years since we last saw so many changes of teams (see the retirement of Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo’s passage from Red Bull to Renault or Force India’s change of ownership which saw the cancellation of its points at the Belgian GP) and, above all, there are still pieces that have to find their places.

At this time Ferrari is tipping the scales with the unknown factor tied to Kimi Raikonnen’s future. Despite many rumours, there has been no denial or official announcement from Maranello, even if what happened with the official account from Garage Italia that belongs to Lapo Elkann is striking when it announced the arrival of Charles Leclerc beside Vettel and which then modified the post’s text.

As long as this point has not been clarified it is difficult to see other movements since Ferrari conditions two teams (Haas enjoys greater autonomy compared to Sauber on the drivers’ front). Sadly Esteban Ocon could pay the price of this game of changes, especially since the arrival of Lawrence Stroll as head of the group that saved Force India (renamed Racing Point Force India) with the great probability of bringing his son Lance into the team (freeing a place at Williams).

The one paying the price for this would be the Frenchman. I hope that a skilled manager such as Toto Wolff would not allow such a mess to happen since, in my modest opinion, we are talking about one of the most interesting emerging drivers who deserves to stay in the Circus. It would be absurd if he were not one of the twenty drivers on the starting grid in 2019.

At the present time Ocon occupies tenth place in the drivers’’ ladder with 45 points, one less than Sergio Perez.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Minardi “YES to the third car, NO to clone cars”

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The rumours of recent weeks were confirmed in a 2018 drivers transfer market that continues to amaze us. This morning Ferrari officially announced Raikonnen’s departure at the end of the season and subsequently the arrival of Charles Leclerc. The real surprise was the confirmation that the Finn would go back to Sauber, the team that launched him into the F1 world championship in 2001, taking the place of the driver from Monaco.

Raikonnen signed a two year contract with the Swiss team and he will therefore have the chance to finish his career in the world championship where he began it, as well as finding once more Simone Resta who transferred to the team from Hinwil a few months ago to take the role of Technical Director. There is still the unknown factor of who will be his team mate. Another piece has found its place in the puzzle.

Over the last few days Toto Wolff used harsh words when he threatened to close the Mercedes Young Drivers Programme if Esteban Ocon could not find a team to drive, however, he opened a possibility that Gian Carlo Minardi had already launched a few years ago, that is the third car for rookie drivers. “I have long favoured this option, just as for years I have been asking that Friday morning be opened to rookies,” commented the manager from Faenza, “We must give a chance to those who invest in young drivers right from with the training formulas, starting already in karting. On the other hand, as of today it is increasingly difficult and the funnel is becoming ever smaller. If we do not put in place some new initiatives we will be faced with an extremely serious crisis,” he continues, launching a warning.

“We must consider that not all the teams have the financial strength to build and manage three vehicles on the track at the same time. Therefore we would need to review the whole points system by creating a class dedicated to rookies – as happens in the GT categories – in order to give the smaller teams the possibility to battle it out for the points zone which otherwise would be off limits with three Ferraris and just as many Mercedes, Red Bulls and Renaults,” proposed Minardi.

“By doing this the possibility of having four top teams and as many clones would be avoided, this is a road that does not fascinate me and which could distort the championship’s DNA. We are faced with an important change in an F1 that is in the hands of four great constructors such as Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda. We hope that they have the intelligence, the skill and, above all, the desire to manage to situation in the best way possible,” concluded Minardi.