F1 | MONZA, MUGELLO, IMOLA. GIAN CARLO MINARDI “SOURCE OF GREAT PRIDE”

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It is official. In addition to Monza (6 September – Italian Grand Prix) and Mugello (13 September – Grand Prix of Tuscany) Italy will also have another round.

Imola’s Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit will host once more a round of the Formula 1 World Championship 14 years after the last round won by Michael Schumacher in 2006 with Ferrari, in front of Kimi Raikonnen and Robert Kubica.

“Three grands prix on three different circuits must be a source of great pride for Italy. The inclusion of Imola gives me much pleasure both as a Motorsport enthusiast and as President of the ACI Sport Speed Commission on Circuits. It’s certainly a circuit that I’m very fond of since I live barely 14km from the Circuit and, not by chance, we chose it as the venue for the Historic Minardi Day.

We have given a major, as well unique, show of strength managing to make up for the lack of others without having to resort to a double grand prix on the same circuit which, in the case of Silverstone, could become even triple. This is a solution that I honestly don’t appreciate. ” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

The Circus will return to the track alongside the Santerno River during the weekend of 1 November, a week after the Portuguese Grand prix, the other novelty together with the Eifel Grand Prix which will be run at Nurburging on 11 October.

F1 | GP HUNGARY, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MERCEDES OVERWHELMING. EXCELLENT VERSTAPPEN”

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Here in Budapest Mercedes showed all its overwhelming power in both the chassis and the engine. They were perfect in both qualifying and the race showing supremacy that is more unique than rare. With Hamilton they took the luxury of stopping for a final tyre change three laps from the finish crossing the finish line with a lead of more than 8” on Verstappen and also setting the fastest lap, leaving only five drivers at full laps.

We have to go back to the Williams era to find similar overwhelming power.

Not only do Hamilton and Bottas have a car bordering on perfection but Mercedes manages to also supply excellent material to its clients as we saw especially in qualifying. Let me be clear, I am absolutely against the clones and the assemblers because they go against the logic of the constructors’ championship.

Congratulations to Red Bull that gave a great show of strength, above all after Verstappen’s mistake in the warm-up lap. A second place, maybe unexpected, that rewarded both the driver and above all the whole team for the excellent work done. Albon is indecipherable after paying a gap of more than 1” from his team mate.
The two McLarens were missing in this grand prix but most probably their chassis was not suitable for this particular circuit that is very slow.

Chapter Ferrari: I would not give too much importance to the mistake (if we can say this) of strategy on Leclerc with the choice of the red tyres since the weather forecasts were put aside. This was shown by the result achieved by Vettel who finished in sixth place, a lap behind McLaren.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Stiria, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MERCEDES BREATHTAKING. LECLERC FROM RICHES TO RAGS”

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For some time and a few years we had already understood that Mercedes came from another planet but this weekend they gave us proof of an incredible supremacy in both the wet and the dry.

In qualifying Hamilton put himself on show with a breath-taking lap, leaving Max Verstappen more than 1.2” behind and his team mate more than 1.4” as a demonstration that in addition to the DAS there was something else. I am more and more convinced that they are developing steerable rear tyres.

They confirmed this in the race with a perfect Hamilton who dominated the race from beginning to the end, followed by the comeback by Bottas who finished ahead of Verstappen and Albon’s Red Bulls. For a good part of the race the latter raced with very high times compared to his team mate, waking up only on the occasion of the tussle with Perez. Unfortunately, Verstappen can do no more than that.

We are witnessing a very positive compaction of the forces in the field behind Mercedes and Red Bull with McLaren, Racing Point, Renault and Alpha Tauri that are giving us exciting finishes to the GPs, as was also highlighted during the winter tests. Praise once more for Lando Norris who brought home a very important fifth place for both him and the team. I am sure that these young men will give us wonderful races.

Ferrari deserves a chapter apart after experiencing a dark weekend. On this occasion, both the car and the drivers were not worthy of the expectations. Leclerc committed an amateur’s mistake. He went from riches to rags in only one week. Very possibly a part of the nervousness was also due to the poor competitiveness of the car. The situation is very serious however, as was also shown by the results of Haas and Alfa Romeo that finished outside the points.

The new developments here in Austria did not show a great step forward, even if the proof in the race is lacking since it finished too early.

In a week’s time we will be back on track in Hungary. This very tight rhythm does not help those who must chase the others.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | ALONSO TOWARDS RENAULT. MINARDI “COPPIA INTERESTING PAIR WITH OCON”

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An official announcement is expected from Renault from Renault from Renault tomorrow that it will bring back to Formula 1 the two times world champion, in 2005 and 2006, with the French team, Fernando Alonso.

Two years after his last grand prix with McLaren and after his win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the experience in the Dakar Rally and in the 500 Miles of Indianapolis, Alonso is ready to re-enter the Circus beside Ocon who performed well last weekend.

At the present time Renault is a team that is difficult to interpret, even if, compared to last season, it is in line with the improvements and they are working only on the chassis and engine which were left unchanged by the regulations, as were the mixes. After the loss of Ricciardo (destination McLaren alongside Norris) they needed a point of reference and with Ocon this will be a great challenge.

Fernando’s arrival makes me think that Mercedes has already renewed both Bottas and Hamilton since the Finn’s name had often been linked to Renault. At this point, for Vettel there is the prospect of at least a year of sabbatical.

However, I do not exclude the possibility of seeing changes already this year. In Austria I noticed some “abnormal” strategies towards the drivers with their suitcases ready and this could create some discontent and upset some equilibriums.

We are faced with a new season under the sign of Mercedes that in Austria showed overwhelming power. Only the five safety cars did not let it lap practically everybody. I am more and more convinced that they are working on something exceptional in the rear, such as steerable wheels.

Unfortunately, we could not fully appreciate Red Bull’s real potential, Despite the yellow mixes (Hamilton and Bottas had the reds) they behaved well but were betrayed by reliability. Albon however, without the collision with Hamilton could have given Bottas some bother. It had an important pace, also helped by an excellent strategy. At the moment they are the only ones that can annoy Mercedes.

We are waiting for the second and third grands prix to see how Ferrari will react, especially in Hungary where a new car with some new features is expected. To date, it is the only car that did not have reliability problems but at the same time, the only car to have worsened compared to last season…

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Austria, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI THE 5th FORCE”

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The Formula 1 world championship started again with a “bang”. The grand prix showed all the problems tied to a championship that started four months late between reliability problems, mistakes by the mechanics and a certain nervousness by Vettel and Hamilton, the latter certainly helped by the marshals who decided to give him a 40’ penalty for the start of the race.

The grand prix was distorted by 4 safety cars (this had not happened in a while), just as seeing only eleven cars cross the finish line. All the teams had problems, except for Ferrari that however saved the weekend thanks to a great driver, a good strategy and a lot of luck.

Ferrari was the only team not to improve its lap time compared to the previous edition despite running with the same mixes and showed problems also on the engine front as also emerged from the times by Alfa Romeo and Haas. Beyond the result Ferrari is the championship’s fifth force behind Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Racing Point, paying a gap of more than 1” second from the top. The result in qualifying certainly reflected better the real forces at play.

It was a pity for Albon. He was the only driver to keep up with Mercedes, helped by an excellent strategy by Red Bull’s men on the wall. The work was thwarted by the collision with Hamilton who was then rightly penalized.

Unfortunately, we lost one of the protagonists right from the start, Verstappen.

Congratulations to Lando Norris who reached his first podium at 20 years of age with a McLaren in good shape, even if I did not understand the strategy used by Sainz. I hope that this is not the beginning of a political and not clean ploy in regards to the Spaniard.
Honestly, I also did not understand the strategy used by Alfa Romeo with Giovinazzi which was remedied under the safety car with the Italian managing to finish in ninth place in front of Vettel.

There was another mistake by Vettel who was nervous when he came to Austria. I did not understand his declarations during the press conference that went against what we had read up till then and had never denied by him.

This will be replayed in a week’s time, even if with different mixes. There really is little time with a lot of work to do.

In the next few days I want to discuss the clones with you which should race in a separate championship.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP AUSTRIA, MINARDI “IT FINALLY STARTS”

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Tomorrow it finally starts after the very long lockdown. It will be a restart full of variables starting with the weather forecasts that promise rain for Friday.

We are faced with a situation that is anomalous and new for everybody with a calendar that at the moment is made up of 8 rounds compressed into two months with the Italian grand prix scheduled for September 6.

It starts again on a track characterized by heavy braking and demanding bends where the gas will be open to the max for 78% of the lap. It is a considerable challenge for the drivers who have been practically stopped since the March tests except for some sporadic outings on the track.

Red Bull will take to the track after the wins in the last two editions but Mercedes is still the car of reference despite the reliability problems that emerged during the Barcelona tests.

The teams have had little time to work on the developments that were initially planned and they will restart from the winter tests that highlighted great competitiveness with the cars enclosed within a gap of barely 1.7”.

Amongst this season’s anomalies we have to also add the change of colours of some drivers with Carlos Sainz’s arrival in Ferrari, Ricciardo’s in McLaren and Sebastian Vettel momentarily on foot.

We will also have to watch what will happen inside the paddock considering the significant financial problems of the teams (see Williams and McLaren) and also on the part of Liberty Media.

There is a lot of meat on the fire but one thing is certain. At 11.00 am tomorrow, Friday, the motor will roar once more.

Gian Carlo Minardi