Archive for year: 2022

The last day of “school” has arrived for Formula 1 which gave us a fascinating and tight grand prix right up to the final lap. An unstoppable Max Verstappen took the win ahead of an excellent Charles Leclerc who won his personal challenge for second place with his direct rival Sergio Perez.

Despite the difference with the Red Bull Perez took a feat to its conclusion, also supported by correct strategy by the men on his wall. Ferrari took second place in the constructors’ title ahead of Mercedes after having finished last season in third place. An important step forward to try to race for first place next year.

As we had predicted, a swallow does not a spring make and Mercedes went back to what it was before Mexico. Since the start of the season they were the protagonists of significant growth but in Abu Dhabi whey were not able to replicate the performances seen in Brazil.

Now for the holidays, even if the time available is very short as on March 5th we start again with the first of the twenty four grands prix in 2023. A new year awaits us with many changes on the grid between changes of colours and new arrivals. I am very pleased to see two drivers on the track who worked hard in the lower formulas to force people to respect them such as Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries who already on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza gave us a first taste of his potential by taking ninth place on his debut in the little competitive Williams.

Having said goodbye to Latifi the English team is getting ready to welcome the third debutant, the American Sargeant who in race 2 of Formula 2 obtained the points for the Superlicence thus completing the 2023 mosaic. Despite a few “old men” on the starting grid has been rejuvenated

The affection shown by the world of Formula 1 to Sebastian Vettel who finished his career in tenth place was very nice.

The test day on Tuesday dedicated to the young drivers is to be followed closely. Despite all the teams being projected towards the new year we will be able to make a comparison with what we saw this weekend.

Gian Carlo Minardi

 

After the two drivers’ titles won by Max Verstappen in Suzuka Red Bull took out the constructors’ title thanks to the Dutchman’s win and Perez’s fourth place that in this way interrupted the domination by Mercedes that this year has had a drought of wins.

Austin showed all the supremacy of the team headed by Horner but especially that of Max Verstappen. For the first time since the start of the year the team made a mistake during the Dutchman’s stop making him lose something like eleven seconds that he quickly recovered on the track and taking the win ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

This win was the demonstration of the strength of the pair and also being able to count on a good margin of potential that has still not been expressed. Unlike the other grands prix, in Austin Verstappen had to take risks highlighting the big difference between him and Perez. This aspect should also open the eyes on the question of the budget gap that should contain all the costs without exception. It is one thing to have a team of good drivers of the calibre of the Mexican and many others. Another is to be able to count on the talent of Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc… drivers who affect both the results on the track and the expenditure. The same also applies to the engineers of the calibre of Adrian Newey. The budget cap makes sense if it contains 100% of the expenses of the team, with no exclusion. I will not enter into the merit of the figure.

Going back to the grand prix, it was interesting, certainly conditioned by the huge mistake made by George Russell at the first bend that led to the retirement of Carlos Sainz, the protagonist of an imperfect but faultless start. An episode sanctioned with a ridiculous 5 second penalty. Absilutely ridiculous like the penalty inflicted on Fernando Alonso. Thirty seconds for racing without a mirror. Apart from the fact this was not a blunt element that had not even broken off but if an F1 driver cannot drive without a mirror then he should change jobs. Two absurd penalties.

Well done Lewis Hamilton who brought out all his class, as did Leclerc who, starting from twelfth place took his Ferrari onto the podium showing once more a major problem of tyre wear. The battle for second place with Perez is still open and they will go to Mexico in less than a week with the same engine strategy.

Since announcing his retirement I seem to see a new Sebastian Vettel. He raced like a four times world champion and Sunday he was the protagonist of a wonderful race fighting until the final bend. It was the demonstration of how much different components can come into play in this sport. We see it also with Gasly, ready to say goodbye to Alpha Tauri and Ricciardo who went from the stars into the mud in a few seasons.

The American weekend brought Antonio Giovinazzi back onto the track. It was a mistake that could have cost him dearly in such a delicate moment in his career. Running against the barriers after a few laps is not a positive sign, even if I do not know the causes the led to him going off the track. On the other hand, Mick Schumacher did nothing exciting on the track.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Max Verstappen is the World champion for the second time in his short career.

This is the first fixed point, with no ifs or buts. Regardless of the rain that hit the Suzuka circuit, regardless of whether the race lasted only 40 minutes, regardless of the penalty inflicted on Charles Leclerc by the sporting regulations and by the system of attribution of the points.

Both the Dutchman and Red Bull also dominated the Japanese Grand Prix taking out pole position and the win with almost a half a minute advantage on second place confirming the position at the top of this sport. A result that was also consolidated by the second place by Sergio Perez who, in the final laps, put Ferrari’s driver from Monte Carlo under pressure leading him to the mistake at the very end. With second place he equalled Leclerc’s points (249 points for both) and at this point of the season the situation for the Ferrari driver is not so rosy.

Even in the wet Ferrari confirmed its current limits. Competitive on the flying lap (in qualifying Leclerc missed pole position by only 10 thousandths of a second) while in the long run the differences with Red Bull come out, also linked to the degradation of the tyres that put Leclerc in crisis at Suzuka, but in any case he was the protagonist of an incredible defence stained only by the “long” stretch at the end that cost him second place.

Regulations in hand, I find the 5” penalty correct (this time coming after only a few minutes). Too bad that he had space to defend the position better but it is too easy to point the finger considering the difficult situation.

With the title definitively in Verstappen’s hands Leclerc has four grands prix (USA, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi) to try and save at least second place. It will not be easy staying ahead of Sergio Perez with this Red Bull.

Amongst the “others” congratulations to the two old men, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Thanks to their experience they knew how to handle a complicated situation finishing in sixth and seventh places. Well done also to Nicholas Latifi who, together with Vettel, was one of the first to pass from the intermediates so taking his Williams to ninth place ahead of Norris. It was an exciting tussle between Ocon and Hamilton for fourth place.

The real sore point of the weekend was the umpteenth case of confusion created by these absurd regulations. Despite having completed only 29 of the 53 laps (52% of the race) in the maximum time of three hours, full points were attributed. This is because the race was considered finished (the chequered flag was waved).
Honestly I find no big difference between finishing a race when the maximum time runs out or following a red flag.

After what happened in Spa-Francorchamps last year the Federation introduced new points systems that varied according to how many laps were raced. However, this points system is applied only if the race does not restart after a red flag…. To me this seems to be a useless complication, especially if it continues to be run on circuits hit by monsoons and/or cyclones. It may be appropriate to simplify these regulations and re-evaluate the calendars to avoid having three hour grands prix with cars committed on the track for much less time.

Gian Carlo Minardi

An intense and exciting weekend has ended with 336,647 fans present in the temple of speed in Monza that celebrated its 100 years of history in the best possible way. Beyond the full grandstands, I was positively struck by the presence of a very young public that is luckily getting closer to Motorsport.

We saw many duels on the track, starting from the Saturday in the challenge for pole position won by Charles Leclerc, author of an extraordinary lap. Both he and Carlos Sainz confirmed all the goodness of the Ferrari in a flying lap, while they were forced to pay a “cost” from Red Bull (Max Verstappen in particular) in the race.

It was a much deserved new win, the fifth consecutive win of the season and the first personal win at Monza for the Dutch driver who strung together a sequence of incredible laps, while managing to protect his tyres. Under these conditions the people on Ferrari’s wall tried all or nothing by bringing forward the card of the early pit stop, maybe hoping for a safety-car or VSC (that partially happened) even if it did not pay off at the moment, the fight for Leclerc is for second place with Sergio Perez, just as it is for Ferrari versus Mercedes. An interesting end of the season is expected.

Carlos Sainz’s comeback was also to be applauded. Having started from the rear he managed to climb up to the foot of the podium, crossing the finish line behind George Russell’s Mercedes. A positive result considering that the objective was fifth place, characterized by excellent overtaking. Behind him was Lewis Hamilton, he too forced to start from the rear, the author of a positive comeback but with times that were inferior to his team mate.

Also to be noted are the results achieved by Gasly and especially the debutant Nyck De Vries who immediately got into the points (ninth place) with the Williams and who was also voted the best driver of the day. He showed he is a reliable driver capable of not making mistakes. He deserves a chance. This was not a surprise for me since I had already had the opportunity to observe him in action in the karts.

It was a negative for the decision by FIA at the end of the race. The arrival behind the SC compromised an incredible show. The safety car entered the track too late and in an incorrect position. The double management with the race directors did not pay off. It seems to me that there is a lot of work to do in the relations between Liberty Media and the Federation.

Amongst other things, the Federation must seriously consider the idea of changing the regulations tied to the penalties for the replacement of parts. This weekend we saw nine of the twenty drivers penalized with an overturned starting grid compared to the result of qualifying. It is unsporting for the drivers to pay for the team’s mistakes. Besides, it is unacceptable to wait for more than 5 hours from the end of qualifying to have the definitive starting order. It is a regulation that must absolutely be reviewed.

Gian Carlo Minardi

We have left the summer break behind and the “new” season has begun with Red Bull always at the top but able to significantly increase the lead over its direct rivals Ferrari.

again Adrian Newey was the most skilled in interpreting the updated regulations. A superlative Max Verstappen relegated his team mate to more than 17” with the same car.

There are still 8 races to go to the chequered flag but now, – rightly – the title is in the hands of the Dutchman.

Ferrari said goodbye to Spa-Francorchamps with the podium thanks to Carlos Sainz’s third place but it paid a big gap of more than half a second a lap. The Spaniard made the most of his material while once again Charles Leclerc had to take “misfortune” into account. The rip-off visor (from the Dutchman it seems) got blocked in the brake socket overheating and damaging the sensors that led to the mistake of management of the speed limiter that cost the driver from Monte Carlo the 5” penalty. Honestly, I would not have risked the two points that were already sure to try and grab the extra point for the fastest lap. Each pit stop is risky. The choice did not pay off Sunday but it is part of the choices that must be made during a race.

It was a step forward by Mercedes. As expected Toto Wolff’s team benefitted from the change of regulations and moved to only 41 points from Ferrari which confirms the second place behind Red Bull but it must be careful.

Spa-Francorchamps was the also the stage for many penalties in the starting grid. Of the 20 drivers on the grid 8 had to serve penalties (Verstappen, Leclerc, Ocon, Norris, Zhou, Schumacher, Bottas and Tsunoda). It is a regulation I still do not like. Unsporting in that it nullifies the result of qualifying. Furthermore, it is mainly the driver who pays most when it should be the team to be sanctioned in terms of points. From here on will we be able to witness more and more of these episodes.

Now we await two tough races: the Dutch and the Italian GPs. For the spectacle I hope that it was only an unhappy episode for Ferrari even if the signs that we saw are unfortunately not positive.
On this occasion, I want to thanks all the fans who came to Imola for the sixth edition of the Historic Minardi Day. It was exciting seeing the garages full of young people.

Gian Carlo Minardi