Archive for year: 2023

Forty-one years later Las Vegas once again hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix on a totally new circuit in both location and layout. A track that lived up to expectations by giving us an exciting race full of overtaking and duels in which the drivers certainly did not hold back.

An eventful initial phase: Verstappen (starting second next to poleman Leclerc) came wide receiving a 5” second penalty; Fernando Alonso spun and struck Lewis Hamilton forcing him to both a pit-stop and a nice comeback.

As it was easy to predict, the safety-car made the difference, especially on the second entrance during the 26th lap with some drivers having already made their stop. One of these was precisely Charles Leclerc who crossed the finish line with the tyres worn more having covered 5 laps more than Verstappen and Perez. The two Red Bull drivers had made their pit-stops precisely in the regime of the SC.

It was a last lap to be applauded by Leclerc who “snatched” second place from Sergio Perez also setting his best performance. It was a result that meant a lot for the driver from Monte Carlo, and also for Ferrari which reduced the gap from Mercedes to only four points. Ferrari completed the weekend with sixth place for Carlos Sainz, he too the author of a nice comeback after a penalty that I did not find very correct, starting from twelfth place on the grid after having finished qualifying behind his team-mate.

Once again, the track, in conditions with little grip and very fast, Ferrari managed to defend a fantastic pole position and second place behind the elusive Verstappen who scored his eighteenth win in twenty-one starts. For the first time, in addition to the title Red Bull placed both drivers in first and second place in the driver’s title.

It was an excellent race also by Esteban Ocon, fourth across the finish line, he too “victim” of the manhole cover and protagonist of a nice comeback from seventeenth place on the grid. From nineteenth place on the grid to tenth place for Oscar Piastri who was penalized by the tyre change. After two stints with the “whites” he had to mount the yellows in the final laps losing a few positions (partially recovered).

Nice comebacks also by Fernando Alonso (9°) and Lewis Hamilton (seventh) despite the initial pit-stop, with the Aston Martin taking 5° place with Lance Stroll.

The Las Vegas Circuit exceeded all expectations, despite an uphill start with problems during free practice which certainly conditioned the weekend of Sainz and Ocon. As always, in the case of new developments, the evaluations will be made at the end of the event. If, on the one hand, the show can be questionable (this is subjective), the circuit demonstrated that it is valid, giving us a lot of overtaking, duels and braking.

We are heading to Abu Dhabi with a hard-fought fight between Mercedes and Ferrari for second place and between Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz tied on 400 points each for fourth place. It is also an open battle between McLaren and Aston Martin for fourth place. The team led by Mike Krack reduced the gap to sixteen points.

Gian Carlo Minardi

@credit F1.com

Interlagos and Brazil gave us one of the most exciting weekends of the whole season, starting from qualifying with a Q1 that saw 20 drivers enclosed within a second, an exciting sprint-race full of overtaking and a grand prix that did not disappoint with all the drivers very close in times. Luckily the rain, (which came only in the five minutes of qualifying, although very intense) did not overturn the plans, and above all the hierarchies and the rankings.

The usual Verstappen won, but once again Mercedes demonstrated that it is in the right direction, taking not only second place with Lando Norris, but also taking home the fastest lap of the race. Norris crossed the finish line with a gap of only 8 seconds. Certainly, an important and positive result which shows their progressive growth. Step by step, they are getting closer to Red Bull.

A decidedly important sign in light of the future. Without the difficulties at the start of the season they would have been in the middle of the fight for second place in the world championship. As of today, they are the real second force of the world championship.

It was a very nice duel for third and fourth place between Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez, finishing with the Spanish driver’s Aston Martin barely 53 three thousandths ahead. We saw all the experience and skill of Fernando who had found the precise point to recharge his batteries, in this way he managed to keep a safe distance from his direct rival. After a few grands prix in difficulty, here Aston Martin managed to get to the heart of the matter, as the Lance Stroll’s return to the points zone showed.

Ferrari must understand what happened to Charles Leclerc during the warmup lap, but Carlos Sainz’s sixth place can be seen in a positive light considering that they managed to reduce slightly the gap from Mercedes to twenty points. Mercedes was not able to go beyond eighth place with Lewis Hamilton, suffering from Russell’s retirement. There are still two grands prix left, with a little bit of luck and skill, Ferrari can aspire to achieve its personal result.

With ninth place Yuki Tsunoda brought the gap from Williams to seven points. Again, a positive result for Alpha Tauri that after Singapore has confirmed it is in constant growth.  Too bad for what happened to Ricciardo who was hit by the tyre lost by Magnussen which damaged his rear wing. Despite the lap difference, he managed not only to reduce the gap. but to come back to thirteenth place thanks to a high pace. He could have fought for Stroll’s position. Even for them there are positive signs while awaiting the last two rounds.

Now we wait with trepidation to know and see the event and track in Las Vegas.

Gian Carlo Minardi

 

In front of such a disarming supremacy in terms of both speed and above all reliability, and the competitiveness of Verstappen and Red Bull, I do not know what the direct rivals can do in the near future. Perhaps the only solution is to retire Adrian Newey.

We are faced with two planets: one the absolute property of Red Bull. And then there are all the others who fight to grab the support positions. Max Verstappen is driving with extreme calm, running all the laps within a space of 1-2 tenths of a second. This time the fastest lap slipped from his grasp, only because they did not expect the final push by Lewis Hamilton, an excellent second place.

A big applause goes to McLaren. They are probably the only team that at this moment can approach the performance of Red Bull. After being constantly competitive, inexplicably they got qualifying wrong with both cars, to then recover masterfully in the dace. Norris managed to climb back from fifth place, also finishing ahead of George Russell, in this way giving a present for Ferrari which, with the 3^rd and 4^th place of Leclerc and Sainz confirmed the twenty-two-point gap from Mercedes.

It was decidedly a positive weekend for Alpha Tauri and Daniel Ricciardo as well. Fourth in qualifying and sixth place in the race are excellent results, above all in terms of points. Too bad for Tsonoda’s mistake. With the failed attempt to overtake Oscan Piastri, he nullified the excellent work up to that point, and the possibility of bringing further points to the team. The car has certainly grown, especially after Singapore. Then it is up to the drivers to solidify all the occasions. At his second grand prix after returning from the incident, Ricciardo made himself the protagonist of an excellent weekend.

Sergio Perez confirmed he is not alert and calm. He certainly would have wanted to achieve a very different result in front of his public, but despite this “zero” I do not believe his future is far from Red Bull.

In a week they will return to the track, in Brazil, which will also be the scene for the last sprint-race of 2023.

Gian Carlo Minardi

We file away one of the most tactical races of the season. Once again Verstappen took the win (and his fiftieth personal win in his career) after having started from the sixth row. It was not an easy and agile a win like many others, having crossed the finish line little more than two seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Once again, the Dutchman and Red Bull took both the grand prix and the sprint race, leaving only the “crumbs” to the rivals.

It was a decidedly positive weekend for Mercedes and McLaren with Lewis Hamiton who took second place, consolidating second place amongst the constructors for Mercedes which draws ahead not only of Ferrari, but also McLaren that finished third today with Lando Norris. Hamilton reduced the gap from Perez for second place on the drivers’ ladder.

Ferrari did not go beyond fourth place with Carlos Sainz, but the real news was the diversification of strategies between the two drivers. A choice that I find absolutely correct. I am convinced that fourth place was the best result they could have aimed for. At the most, they could have brought home fifth place at Sergio Perez’s expense. Nothing more. Precisely for this reason it was right to try something different between Leclerc and Sainz.

Also to be pointed out was Tsunoda’s excellent tenth place, to which is added the additional point for the fastest lap set in the last lap. Excellent management of the race and the result optimized considering they find themselves in a battle with practically all the car manufacturers.

[Update] With the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for technical irregularities related to the flat bottom, the final standings are turned upside down with Ferrari nipping a few points on Mercedes thanks to Carlos Sainz’s third-place finish. Sergio Perez stretches over Hamilton among the drivers. Yuki Tsunoda climbs up to eighth place bringing the Alpha Tauri to just two lengths behind Haas, while for the first time Williams driver Sergent enters the top-10.

Too bad for Fernando Alonso. He started from pit lane and had to retire due to a problem with the car when he was in the top ten-

Gian Carlo Minardi

Formula 1 should be the maximum expression of Motorsport, but it is decidedly losing ground. We saw an intense weekend strongly characterized and conditioned by the penalties for exceeding the track limits, to which was also added the aggravating safety factor connected to the curbs.

I had the impression that the problem of exceeding the track limits is due to the layout of the track and the curves which are not optimal and lead the drivers to make mistakes. There really were a lot penalties and assigned to nearly all the drivers. Furthermore, the problem related to the curbs was added. All these aspects should be evaluated very carefully before issuing the approval.

We are in the presence of a track that must be subjected to careful analysis.

We always talk a lot about safety and then they force the drivers to also carry out four stops, carrying out four qualifying style stints as is shown by the Verstappen’s best time, barely a second slower compared to the pole position. All this goes against the safety of the drivers themselves who crossed the finishing line exhausted. Sargeant did not hold up. On the one hand, it is correct to set the maximum number of laps for each tyre to avoid unpleasant events, but on the other hand a dangerous situation was still created. This is not good.

Analysing the results on the track all the compliments are for Piastri, winner of the sprint race and an excellent second place in the GP, ahead of his teammate Norris. He absolutely does not look like a rookie. He did not make the slightest mistake despite never having raced on this track. McLaren confirms it is great form and it is preparing to overtake Aston Martin on the ladder.

It is certainly not a surprise, but Verstappen took out his third straight world championship, rightfully entering among the greats of history.

George Russell was also very good. From last to fourth ahead of Leclerc’s Ferrari. As Lewis Hamilton admitted, the seven times world champion exaggerated, compromising his race irreparably,

He was one of the very few on the soft tyres and had to recover quickly, but he also damaged his teammate who in any case was very skilful in recovering to reach the foot of the podium.

It was a difficult weekend for Ferrari which ran the race with only one car following Sainz’s problem which was discovered only an hour before the start. The regulations require refuelling the cars for the race only at a certain time. At that point it was too late to remedy the inconvenience on Sainz’s car which had been suffered during the sprint race. The gap from Mercedes increased slightly.

Aston Marting was also under the weather. Ok, it races with only one driver (Fernando Alonso), but it is not an easy car to drive.

Alonso’s mistake confirms this. Faced with this McLaren fourth place is at risk.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Max Verstappen went from words to deeds. After the difficult weekend in Singapore, he declared that they would have been ahead in Suzuka and that there was no problem. And so it was.

In Japan Red Bull returned to dominating with the usual tranquillity, relegating the first of the rivals, Lando Norris on a good McLaren, to more than 19 seconds behind. Seconds that rose (and went back to being so) to forty-five seconds in the case of Ferrari, fourth across the finish line with Leclerc.

After fourteen laps Verstappen’s lead on Norris was already ten seconds. At that point the Dutchman only had to administer the race, lapping more than 1” slower compared to his fastest lap (1:34.183 against 1:35.247 Lando Norris – 1:35.611 Lewis Hamilton – 1:36.187 Carlos Sainz). Without overdoing it, he won easily with a 19” second lead, also safeguarding the car.

It would be interesting knowing what happened in Singapore because such a problem cannot be resolved in so little time. Red Bull’s only real problem at the present time is Sergio Perez. The Mexican suffers fearfully the personality and competitiveness of Max Verstappen who confirms he is a “driver killer”. Today Perez again made a series of mistakes which are unacceptable from a Formula 1 driver, especially one as experienced as he is.

It was only a question of time, as it will be for Verstappen. Red Bull mathematically won the constructor’s title in Honda’s home. An important result also from the marketing point of view for both Honda and Red Bull itself.

Ferrari finished in fourth place and the result confirms its current potential, behind McLaren in outstanding form which can count on two young drivers, one of which is an excellent rookie: Oscar Piastri celebrated his first podium finish. He suffered a 17” gap from his teammate, but the strategy also intervened. From this emerges a positive image of a cohesive team that respects team orders. They are strongly on the rise and can still become a troublesome antagonist with six rounds remaining. They currently occupy fifth place, only 49 points from Aston Martin which did not go beyond eighth place with an anonymous Alonso. It was another race to forget for Stroll.

With 4th and 6th place Ferrari gained four points on the ladder at Mercedes’ expense taking the gap to only twenty points, but with this McLaren nothing can be taken for granted.

Also noteworthy was Liam Lawson’s good performance, finishing his third grand prix in eleventh place ahead of his teammate Tsunoda. Eleventh and twelfth place which gave no points to Alpha Tauri, but which highlights the Australian’s technical value. Despite Ricciardo’s and Tsunoda’s renewals Lawson earnt conformation as the reserve driver for Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. An important sign for the starting drivers.

The next round is in two weeks with the Qatar Grand Prix.

Gian Carlo Minardi