GP BAHRAIN, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “IF THIS MERCEDES IS IN CRISIS THEN THERE IS NOTHING TO BE CALM ABOUT”

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The Formula 1 season began with all the conditions for witnessing a thrilling championship. The tussle between Mercedes and Red Bull was very good with the latter confirming the positive trend of the end of the 2020 season by putting onto the track a further step forward helped by the Honda engine. Perez’s fifth place after starting from the pits is a further signal on the quality of their package.

But let’s be careful. If this Mercedes is in crisis then there is little to be calm about since they have always shown a very great capacity for reaction even if they made a mistake in the pits with Bottas, nullifying a possible double.

It is not clear what happened in the final laps with the overtake and counter overtake between Hamilton and Verstappen, also because the Dutchman was no longer able to attack the Mercedes driver. I absolutely did not like the decision of the race management to use two measures between qualifying and racing by deciding to not penalize the cut at curve 4. It is surely a terrible lesson.

We will file away a very tactical and technical first race. McLaren, which adapted very quickly to the Mercedes engine, also continues its growth by just missing out on the podium with Norris.

Despite the almost 60” delay paid in comparison to Hamilton and Verstappen Ferrari brought home a positive result, especially if compared to what happened only three months ago with Leclerc tenth a lap behind. Especially in qualifying the car has made a most important improvement even if the road is still long but positive signs can be seen.

Fabulous Yuki Tsunoda who marked his debut in the World Championship with the first two points ahead of a good Stroll. It was a decidedly negative weekend for Sebastian Vettel, the protagonist of two serious mistakes.

The World Championship will now move to the Imola track onto a demanding track that already gave us a good race last year. Too bad that it will be behind closed doors once again.

Gian Carlo Minardi
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FORMULA 1 STARTS FROM BAHRAIN. MINARDI “CRAZY STARTING AFTER ONLY THREE DAYS OF TESTS”

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And here we are. Formula 1 is finally ready to start again with a season, despite it being of transition, full of new developments not only on the driver’s market but also from the technical point of view. Despite the restrictions imposed by the Federation to reduce the aerodynamic load the engineers have already shown they have made up the gap allowing the drivers to race with times that are already very close to those of 2020 despite only three days of tests.

I find it absolutely absurd that the teams have been able to enjoy only these three days of training to prepare for such a long season. They better not come and tell me that they do so for a matter of limiting the costs.

Amongst other things the budget cap will also make its debut this year which I will continue to oppose for how it has been put together. It is not at all functional. In order to make sense it must include all the expenses, without any exclusion. A team must be free to manage its assets without exclusions that still create differences. As it has been structured it does nothing for the spectacle and much less to create equality between the teams.

A season with many unknown factors starts from Bahrain and, to date, it is very hard to establish a ladder of the forces in the field, even if, as far as I am concerned, Mercedes remains the point of reference for everybody despite an uneasy start (as far as could be seen). I had an excellent impression from Red Bull and Honda, as well as Alpha Tauri. McLaren knew how to adapt the chassis very well to the new Mercedes engine. There are many young drivers at the start, with some “old men” such as the return of Fernando Alonso with Alpine’s colours and the 42 year old Raikonnen ready for a new season.

The Sakhir track hosted the third and second last rounds of the 20202 season. Therefore, we will quickly have an interesting comparison.

Let us hope that the pandemic will slow down and give the opportunity to experience a full calendar, even if it will not be easy. After Bahrain F1 will come to Europe, in Imola for the second round. However, Liberty Media has also been called to deal with another major problem, tied to the sporting and technical programmes tied to the 2025. Formula 1 must open itself to the new realities by intervening heavily on the registration fee which is absolutely too high.

Gian Carlo Minardi