F1 | GP BAHRAIN, THE POINT BY MINARDI “MOTORSPORT IS DANGEROUS. NEVER LET THE GUARD DOWN AND FIA MUST INVESTIGATE THE EXPLOSION”

/in , , /by

“Motorsport is dangerous” We must never forget this.

We have undoubtedly seen first hand the gigantic steps that have been taken on the safety front and today we must say thank you for the Halo and the Hans, as well as all the rescuers. It is important to continue to work on this road without lowering the guard.

We had not seen such a frightening accident in decades and luckily everything went well. Grosjean was skilful and reactive managing to get out of that ball of fire in 20” but FIA must absolutely investigate the causes that set off the fire.

The grand prix was, to say the least, eventful, seasoned by the collision between Stroll and Kvyat after the restart and ended with the Canadian overturning but without any harm to the driver. For Racing Point it was surely an unlucky Sunday considering Perez’s retirement a few kilometres from the chequered flag due to the failure of the Mercedes power-unit.

It was a body blow for them considering the possibility of taking third place in the constructors’ ladder vanish and it is now firmly in the hands of McLaren thanks to today’s fourth and fifth places by Norris and Sainz.

It is a real shame, as well as absurd, that a driver fighting for fourth place in the world championship (Perez is fifth behind Ricciardo) will not be on the grid next year.

It was a grand prix based on the tyre strategy with many stops which rewarded Lewis Hamilton (95th win) ahead of the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Albon who returned to the podium. In Red Bull they are deciding about Albon’s fate and it will not be an easy decision since at this time it would be useless to break the balance inside the team. Verstappen is the first driver and needs a right hand man who brings the highest number of points to the team.

With today’s performance Ferrari definitively raised the white flag for taking new positions on the constructors’ ladder. Leclerc’s tenth place (1 point), the result of Perez’s retirement, is really too little. Next weekend we will see the second step in Bahrain (the penultimate round) but on a new configuration for the world championship which can be compared to an oval with a lap time that could be lower than a minute. This situation is even more unfavourable for the SF1000.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP BAHRAIN, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI CAN STILL AIM FOR THIRD PLACE”

/in , /by

We have come to the final three grands prix and, unlike what happened in the recent past, Bahrain will host two rounds in the space of ten days but on two very different configurations of the track.

This weekend will be run on the standard 5,412m long configuration, while the very fast outer circuit will host the penultimate round with a lap time of about a minute. Among other things the second will be run at night with a temperature difference of a number of degrees between qualifying and the race.

Despite the two titles, the constructors’ and drivers’, having been assigned, the challenge behind Mercedes is still alive, with a nice fight for third place which Ferrari can also aspire to. Of course for the men of Maranello this challenge will not be easy to win but would remain a good finish considering the conditions at the start of the season. It is essential that both drivers finish in the points.

In these rounds we will also have a “taste” of 2021 with Pirelli bringing the new compounds for free practice 2. Major, and just as worrying, news has come from England in light of the new season since Mercedes was already able to recover the aerodynamic load despite the limitations on the pan and the rear diffuser forced by the regulations which would cost 10% of downforce, as well as being able to count on 20 horsepower more.

It really seems that this Mercedes does not want to leave anything to the rivals, even if I hope for a change in view of 2022 with the upheaval of the regulations. More than anything else I would like to see greater competiveness between the teams, rather than such a one sided domination.

Its President Ola Källenius is in a tug of war with Hamilton for his renewal, which will undoubtedly come soon. Mercedes is in favour of the budget cap and therefore Lewis must accept the financial offer, even if an improbable non renewal would give life to an earthquake amongst the major driving places, especially amongst those powered by Mercedes.

Formula 2 is also back this weekend with Mick Schumacher currently in the lead with 191 points ahead of Ilott (169), ready to win the world title. Despite the incredible health emergency Motorsport knew how to react giving us very good races on new tracks that have left a positive sign.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP TURCHIA, IL PUNTO DI GIAN F1 | GP TURKEY, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “9/10 FOR THE GRAND PRIX”MINARDI “GRAN PREMIO DA 9”

/in , /by

We file away an exciting weekend from which yesterday’s difficulties resulted in a grand prix that rates 9/10, full of suspense from the first lap to the last. Zero instead for the organizers who wanted to resurface the circuit against everyone’s opinion.

Hats off to Lewis Hamilton who once again gave us proof of all his talents by mathematically taking his seventh world championship, reaching Michael Schumacher, and his 94th win. Despite a difficult start from sixth position he reacted by managing the race in the best way possible despite a car that was not at its best today. He chose to stay on the track in spite of the worn tyres, confirming himself as the leader within the team, finishing the race with a pit stop less than all the others (as did Perez).

It was a pity for the mistakes by the young drivers Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc who handed third place to a perfect Sebastian Vettel.

The German driver put together his best performance in two years, assisted by a good strategy. He was maybe the only one who did not make the slightest mistake, optimizing the SF1000 to the fullest, a car that is certainly not yet ready to win despite the steps forward. In normal conditions all the limits in regards to the very fierce competition emerged.

With Hamilton and Vettel there were eleven world championships on the podium. Between them was an excellent Sergio Perez. Despite a stupendous performance he is still a driver without a contract for 2021. Unfortunately, this is the nonsense of our sport but I am sure that we will soon find an arrangement.

In front of the two Red Bulls was Carlos Sainz’s McLaren. I have always maintained he is an excellent driver and team man. Once again he brought home vital points for the team. An excellent purchase by Ferrari as I already pointed out a number of times.

In a peculiar year, and certainly not the best for Formula 1, these grands prix rehabilitate our sport, which is still the best.

Gian Carlo Minardi

HISTORIC MINARDI DAY 2021 | THE F1X3 COMES TO IMOLA WITH ALEX CAFFI AND NICOLA LARINI

/in , /by

We are pleased to announce the first big news in view of the edition number 5 of the Historic Minardi Day which will take place over three days from April 9 to 11, 2011 at Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit as has already been announced in recent weeks.

Despite the health emergency that forced the organization to postpone the fifth edition by a year the organizational machine never stopped working to put together an even richer programme for all the fans that will come to Imola.

Thanks to former F1 driver Alex Caffi, who was already a leading player of previous editions of the Historic Minardi Day with the 1974 Ferrari B4 and the 1967 Ensing N179 (ex Clay Regazzoni) with which he won the 2016 Monte Carlo Historic Grand Prix, two F1X3 cars will take to the Santerno track driven by Alex Caffi, together with Nicola Larini which will let fans experience the thrill and the power of a real Formula 1 car with a lap of the circuit.

In fact, the cars managed by Alex Caffi Motorsport derive from the chassis  of the Jordan EJ13 that were brought onto the track during the 2003 World Championship by Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralph Firman, achieving a victory with the Italian driver in the exciting Brazilian Grand Prix and the EJ14 of Giorgio Pantano, Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock that got its best results with two seventh places (Monte Caro and Canada) and ninth place in the constructors’ championship.

For further information and to book a lap contact Alex Caffi Motorsport now at this email address: squadracorseangelocaffi@gmail.com

F1 | GIAN CARLO MINARDI “TOO BIG A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VERSTAPPEN AND HIS MATES IN THE PITS”

/in , /by

We have come to the fourteenth grand prix of the season, the fourth to last round. The Formula 1 World Championship has landed in Turkey after a long pause of nine years during which the facility has seen little use. As happened in Portugal, here too the asphalt has been re-laid.

Pirelli has brought the hardest compounds, from C1 to C3, since it is a demanding track for the tyres, especially as far as curve 8 is concerned. As has already happened this season, this will once again be a new track for some drivers, such as Leclerc, who have had the chance to test it only in the simulator.

After taking the seventh constructors’ title Mercedes is getting ready to celebrate Lewis Hamilton who, barring a calamity, will have the opportunity to equal Schumacher. Mercedes is preparing to renew the collaboration with Toto Wolff, for one year, since I have the impression that, considering the disputes with Liberty Media, from 2022 it will remain only as an engine supplier

Ferrari’s efforts are already aimed not only on 2021 but especially on 2022. For this reason Matteo Binotto will not follow the team in the last rounds. Ferrari has a lot of ground to make up.
We are heading towards the end of this certainly anomalous season with some drivers’ seats still to be assigned, above all in Red Bull and Alpha Tauri with the future of Albon and Kvyat in strong doubt.

The shadow of the Japanese driver Tsunoda is hanging more and more over the Russian, while Albon must try to come out of his lethargy even if I think it is not all his fault. For years the difference in performance between Verstappen and his team mates has been too much. I have the impression that all the cars have been designed only got the Dutchman.

All that remains is to also follow the Turkish GP in the best way possible. Look out for the times: qualifying at 1.00pm with the start of the race at 11.10am.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 |GP EMILIA ROMAGNA, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MERCEDES DOES NOT STOP AMAZING. I HOPE TO SEE IMOLA AGAIN IN 2021”

/in , , /by

Even here in Imola Mercedes did not betray the expectations by putting onto the track its overwhelming power assisted by a perfect strategy. The people on the wall kept Hamilton out to give him the possibility to make up the gap from Bottas, so giving him the lead right in front of his team mate who, with second place, completed the latest perfect weekend by taking its seventh consecutive Constructors’’ title.

As well as setting a new record by overtaking Ferrari’s six titles during the Schumacher era it is disarming to see their strength. Hamilton took the fastest lap in the final lap stopping the watch at 1:15.484, bettering the performance by Bottas who could not go under 1:15.902.

Max Verstappen’s bad luck favoured Daniel Ricciardo who, with an excellent third place, took his third podium finish for the season season with a Renault this is growing. It was an equally positive result for Alpha Tauri which took fourth place with Kvyat.

Leclerc’s fifth place was a positive result in terms of the result, even if the gap in lap times is important. The Ferrari driver’s best time was 1:18.173 (1:17.767 for Sebastian Vettel).

Plaudits for the Imola circuit. Going back to the Santerno on the occasion of an F1 weekend was very good and everything went nicely, receiving the compliments of the drivers who appreciated the historic layout of the track. I hope that Imola can be put back into the World Championship again next year.

I take this opportunity to thank them once more for the lifetime achievement award that was given to me on Saturday.

Gian Carlo Minardi