Archive for month: July, 2024

We are now in the fourth year of a regulation that is coming to its end, and it is giving us fascinating and very combative grands prix, the result of an upwards compaction of the performances, with more pretenders to the podium and the win.

In particular, Spa-Francorchamps, a demanding circuit for cars and drivers, gave us a classic with three drivers (Russell, Hamilton and Piastri) within little more than a second (1.173s) and the first six within less than 10 seconds.

George Russell was excellent in believing in himself and the duration of the tyres, taking the win ahead of his teammate who completed the Mercedes one-two. Behind them a very good Oscar Piastri who is putting all his worth on show. On the other hand, when you win the F3 and F2 championships, in your first year, you have already shown your talent. Furthermore, he sat out a year waiting for the seat to be freed. He is no less than Lando Nonda (sixth place for him), once again, the protagonist in the negative at the start. The summer break probably comes at the right time. He will have time to think about the mistakes he made.

The only fault for the Australian was the mistake in the pitstop. Having arrived slightly long – luckily without hurting his mechanic – he lost about two seconds. Considering that he finished six tenths of a second from Hamilton and 1.1” from Russell, we could have witnessed a different finish. We are seeing a very different phase of the championship in which the slightest slip-up can really cost a lot. The challenge is in thousandths of a second, also concerning the updates.

It was also a positive race for Charles Leclerc, finishing barely 8.5” from the leader. An unexpected result I would say, especially in these hot conditions. Seventh place for Carlos Sainz, 19” from the leader. He played all his cards to bring home the best result.

It was a disastrous result for Sergio Perez. Starting in the front row, he finished only eighth. Paying a gap of more than 43”, but above all behind Max Verstappen, who started in eleventh place and finished fifth, with a gap of more than 30”. I do not know what decision they will make, but the standings are getting shorter. Red Bull’s lead over McLaren has been reduced to 32 points.

It was a more than positive result for the reigning world champion. In such a competitive grand prix he managed to climb up to fifth place.

Now we are all going on holiday. The appointment is for Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August with the 8^th edition of the Historic Minardi Day  at the Imola Circuit in conjunction with the Dutch Grand Prix. At Imola there will be maxi screens available also in the Paddock area to follow all the phases of the 15^th round of the F1 World Championship in the best way possible, experiencing a weekend of international Motorsport amongst incredible historic F1, GP2, F300, F3 and F.Italia racing cars, GT cars, prototypes, Hyper cars, and also much more.t. Therefore the victory was awarded to Lewis Hamilton, with Oscar Piastri 2nd and Charles Leclerc 3rd completing the podium.

[UPDATE] All this before the disqualification given to George Russell. At the end of the GP, his car was found to be underweight. Therefore the victory was awarded to Lewis Hamilton, with Oscar Piastri 2nd and Charles Leclerc 3rd completing the podium.

Gian Carlo Minardi

The Hungarian weekend and grand prix were certainly interesting, and it was entertaining right from the start. At the start Piastri-Norris-Verstappen got to the first bend side-by-side, with the Australian taking the lead of the race by overtaking his teammate and poleman Norris. Verstappen having gone long, ceded the position he gained to the British driver-to avoid a possible punishment – and McLaren returned to the top two positions.

With a “questionable” undercut, but at the time, he was protecting the team from any attacks by Red Bull and Mercedes. Norris overtook his teammate and leader.  From that moment on there were severable discussions between the teams and drivers, but in my opinion the correct decision was made. Norris returned the lead to his teammate who went onto his first career win in F1. McLaren is mainly fighting for the constructors’ rather than the drivers’ title. We are talking about a team growing strongly that at this time has the best chassis in this configuration, as shown by the results in free practice, qualifying and the race, together with the best engine – Mercedes – of the lot.

We are seeing a marked change in the forces on the field compared to the start of the season with Red Bull encountering a few too many difficulties.  If, on the one hand, one driver is missing, Perez, on the other hand, there is a highly nervous Verstappen who made a very dangerous manoeuvre that deserved an exemplary punishment. Compared to Hamilton (who took his 200th podium) he committed an infraction that is not worthy of a three-times world champion (and not even the first this year).

It is especially shameful to hear that team-radio against his own team that, in the last three seasons, delivered an unbeatable car into his hands. Instead, today he must put his own spin into it. He has an important lead – he has a 76-point lead over Norris – which he must preserve on the track. He cannot and must not allow himself to swear in that way.

A positive fourth position, 19 seconds behind, for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz sixth behind Verstappen. It is a result to be read in a positive light, even if their performance is quite inexplicable. From lap 29 to lap 36 the driver from Monte Carlo was one of the fastest on the track. At that time, he had the hard compounds. Let us hope that Maranello will be able to identify the problems encountered.

The Sunday started with the wonderful win by Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Formula 2, the second of the season that launched the Prima driver into sixth place on the ladder, on his debut in the championship.

I await with trepidation the Spa-Francorchamps weekend in a week’s time.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Silverstone, also thanks to its absolutely unpredictable weather, gave us an exciting grand prix and, together with the great work of the teams, we are about to experience an electrifying second half of the championship.

It was the second win in seven days for Mercedes, but this time won on the field, from George Russell’s pole position to Lewis Hamilton’s win. Both drivers were competitive for the whole weekend monopolizing the front row of the grid. Too bad only for Russell’s retirement, but it was a positive result, and the merit goes to Allison. Like in McLaren whose team principal Andrea Stella must be congratulated, also for his very realistic comments after the race.

Unfortunately, McLaren once again made mistakes that were decisive for the final result, mistakes which were dictated from the inexperience of becoming a winning team once more. Too bad for both Oscar Piastri who was “sacrificed” on the occasion of the pitstop, and for Lando Norris. It was good race on their part, but they could have done more.

Once again Ferrari missed out and had to be satisfied with Carlos Sainz’s fifth place. Just like Mercedes found the crux of the matter, I wish the same for them. May they go back to fighting for the win with Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes to entertain us even more.

Two leading actors like Russell and Leclerc were missing, and Albon and Tsunoda took advantage by completing the points zone behind the two Aston Martins (that returned to the points zone) and an excellent Niko Hulkenberg in the Haas. The fight for the points zone also intensified in the back.

In Red Bull the usual Max Verstappen kept his honour high, while Sergio Perez tripped up on monumental mistakes. Today’s race, which was also the result of a mistake in qualifying, can in no way be judged.

In short, we are witnessing the rehabilitation of Formula 1 and I like this very much. To be applauded, as always, is the competence of the extraordinary English public.

The unpredictability of Silverstone with its highs and lows made us rejoice even more for Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s win on Saturday, his first in Formula 2. A win that came in even more particular and complicated conditions compared to what we saw on Sunday.

He showed us all his worth, reminding me of drivers of times gone by. Hats off to him.

Gian Carlo Minardi