Archive for year: 2019

The first race of the season has been filed away with the win by Mercedes with Valtteri Bottas in front of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Honda. And Ferrari? Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line in fourth place with a gap of nearly a minute, in front of Charles Leclerc.

The result surely was less than expected, especially after the winter tests in Barcelona.

“The winter tests did not prove to be true and I hope that, from what we saw in Melbourne, it is not the reality,” analyzed Gian Carlo Minardi, “We are only at the first race of the season made up of 21 rounds and we do not see the day from the dawn. We have to consider that Albert Park is an abnormal track with many bumps that alter the geometry of the suspensions. Furthermore, the race was conditioned by the tyres that did not answer as expected with the surprise of the Hards. In Bahrain we will have truer results and it will be a more realistic gauge, also because, considering the expected temperatures, it could highlight some problems,” continued the manager from Faenza.

“I am still convinced that the main difference between Mercedes and Ferrari is in the power unit and the best management of the power must be found by one team rather than the other. Sunday’s debacle must surely make them think”.

The post race period left a trail of criticism, both Ferrari, guilty of also finishing behind the Red Bull, as well as having paid too big a gap to be true and also of Daniel Ricciardo from Abiteboul.

“It makes me smile and I find it hard to believe some criticism, after only gp, directed at a driver who in recent years achieved more than respectable results, above all if these come from one of the people most criticized for Renault’s lack of results. Renault should think about the criticism about the motor, especially compared with the excellent result obtained by the direct rivals of Honda that, with Red Bull, celebrated the first podium of the hybrid era. I have the impression that certain statements are expressed to divert attention from more important problems.

“We need to recognize that the Japanese made a great step forward and the result gives morale and solidity to the work carried out both by Honda and Red Bull”.

The first two points for Lance Stroll with Racing Point, ninth behind Kimi Raikonnen and in front of the Toro Rosso’s Kvyat on his comeback. “He was very good and, unlike Perez, made no mistakes It was not easy for him putting aside the label of the paying driver, but I am convinced that he has his papers in order to stay in F1. Last year he was in a team, Williams, which had a number of problems that sadly have grown exponentially this year. I saw him in action in the lower formulas where he won. When you win it means you have the right characteristics. But becoming world champion is another story,” concluded Minardi.

I am shocked and incredulous at the premature death of Charlie Whiting, a person who made Formula 1 history in recent years. My course through the world championship was tied to him as he became part of FIA in 1988 and Race Director in 1997. There was mutual respect and he was always close to my staff when we brought innovative solutions onto the track. I extend my condolences to his family.

Sadly, in these cases the show must go on and we are at the gates of the first grand prix of the new season. We finally get back to racing and the teams will be forced to put all (or nearly) their cards on the table to show the true values on the field.

I am still convinced that the reins of the race are once again in the hands of Mercedes and Ferrari despite an important compaction of performance towards the top also by second level teams where the drivers will have to make up the difference. The tests show how all the teams have worked very well and the expectations for Melbourne are for a weekend of competitiveness.

Last year we had a remarkable start by Ferrari that scored first and third places with Vettel and Raikonnen and Lewis Hamilton in second place. We are only in the first round of a very long season made up of a good twenty one races. It will be very important to keep both feet on the ground regardless of the final result.

It is the start of a season full of talking points.

ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI: Beginning with the return of one of our flag bearers on the starting grid, something that has been missing for too long. I hope he and Alfa Romeo will be able to fight it out for the places just behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull that will have the unknown factor of the Honda engine. Reliability will be an important factor for all the teams, as we saw in the second session of tests in Barcelona, even if for some years they have accustomed us to incredible results right from the start.

KUBICA’S RETURN: After eight years since his last grand prix Robert Kubica will make his second debut in F1. Sadly the premises are not rosy with the expectation of Williams in great difficulty. It is inexplicable what is happening to a team that has written some of the most memorable pages of this sport. I hope that the earthquake that it is experiencing –Paddy Lowe will leave the team – will be turned into an incentive to find the right road and to rise again since it does not deserve these results. We can sense they miss founder Sir Frank Williams who has been kept away from the team and the tracks by sickness

A POINT FOR THE FASTEST LAP: In the last few hours the allocation of an extra point for the fastest lap in the race was approved (if the driver places in the top ten) which will be valid for both the drivers’ and the constructors’ ladders. It seems banal, but in the course of the season these are twenty one points that can make the difference. An extra variation on the strategy front comes into play, especially in a very close season.

I await with great anticipation the free practice but especially the first qualifying session that will have us a measure of the world championship to come. I will catch up with you on Sunday to comment the Australian Grand Prix. Good world championship to you all.

Gian Carlo Minardi

“We are only in the first week of testing and the times recorded have not yet given us a realistic ranking, as we saw with the best times by Renault on the SuperSoft tyres (1’17″393 with Hulkenberg) and Toro Rosso (Albon 1’17″637) against the1’17″8 of Mercedes and Ferrari’s 1’18″0 with the medium mix.”

These were the first comments by Gian Carlo Minardi after the first four days of collective testing on Barcelona’s Montmelò circuit that inaugurated the F1 World Championship season have been filed away.

“Those under special observation were surely the current world champion, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, and Ferrari. Toto Wolff’s men retraced last season’s programme with a number of different trials aimed at development, just as the team with the prancing horse has not yet looked for performance”.

The new racing cars ran the first kilometres and they have already shown important reliability as shown by the laps run. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took the titles of the workaholics with 610 laps on their account, in front of the Ferrari duo Vettel-Leclerc that completed 598 laps.”

“An important signal comes from the very many kilometres covered by all the teams, with the exception of Williams over which we should draw a veil. It is inconceivable that such a successful team threw away two days of tests. I hope that they can make up the time lost next week.”

Third place for Alfa Romeo Racing thanks to the work by Raikonnen and Giovinazzi who completed 507 laps against the 482 by Toro Rosso’s pair Kvyat-Albon and the 475 by Verstappen-Gasly, both with Honda engines.

“The other fact that came out was how the forces on the field have come closer together. It will be a great battle between Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull and a tight battle between Renault-Toto Rosso-Alfa Romeo and Haas. The times are already very close to the best in 2018. This means that in a short time the engineers have already managed to recover part of the aerodynamic load lost with the new regulations.

“Each team knows exactly its potential and especially its position depending on the fuel on board. Next week we will have more significant results in the light of the weekend in Melbourne,” concluded the manager from Faenza.

The drivers and cars will be back on the Montmelò track next week from February 26 to March 1 before flying to Australia for the season’s first grand prix.

We are quickly approaching the presentation of the new racing cars and the winter tests that will usher in the F1 World Championship. This is a season that promises to be full of new developments and with a starting grid made up of ten (out of twenty) drivers under 25.

It was on this very topic that we chatted with Gian Carlo Minardi who built his career as Team Principal by working together with young drivers.

“Well done having a starting grid rejuvenated so much, despite the presence of some long serving divers such as Raikonnen. We predict a fascinating and interesting season because each young driver that enters into Formula 1 or in a top team brings the will to emerge and to put into difficult his team mate,” was the analysis of the manager from Faenza who sees Charles Leclerc (born in 1997) as a danger for Sebastian Vettel.

“Having a young driver such as Leclerc rather than a satiated driver like Raikonnen will be an important incentive for Vettel who must show that he has left behind negativity of last season in which some mental gaps emerged and come back to being the four times world champion at the start of the season. I consider Leclerc predestined with fantastic natural talent. I hope that, even if in the short winter, that Ferrari managed to take the final step that as missing in 2018 to overtake Mercedes,” concluded Minardi.