F1 | Russell signs with Williams. Minardi “A positive sign for all young drivers”

Next year’s starting grid will host another young driver after Antonio Giovinazzi and Lando Norris. This iwll be George Russell who will wear the colours of the Williams team thanks to a multiyear contract, even if we do not yet know the name of his team mate.

Russell currently leads the Formula 2 ladder with an important gap from his direct rivals. The championship will close at Abu Dhabi.

Russell’s arrival is an important signal to all the young drivers, as well as a good sign of change and I must congratulate Williams. We can expect an interesting 2019 with a number of new faces on the starting grid of the 21 grands prix. In all probability, the other side of the medal will be the loss (I hope temporary) of Esteban Ocon, a very promising young driver who will know how to come back into the group shortly,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

F1 | Minardi “Sand is needed along the track side”

The Japanese Grand Prix has gone into the record books with another Mercedes one-two and fifth and sixth places for Ferrari. In between were the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

There was no lack of after effects and twists, like the minor collisions between Verstappen-Raikonnen, Verstappen-Vettel and Magnussen-Leclerc with the Dane who, in trying to avoid being overtaken by the driver from Monte Carlo, moved at the last moment cutting the Sauber driver’s road. “Magnussen can have his license taken away since it is not the first time that he has been the antagonist in these episodes,” was the harsh comment from Gian Carlo Minardi who also accented another argument

Too many concessions are being made in favour of safety that are detrimental to fairness and this is not good. If we take the examples of the two points of the track where Verstappen collided with the Ferrari drivers, without focussing on who is right or wrong. Until a few years ago the side of the track – that section of asphalt between the two white lines – there was sand which was fatal to anyone who made a mistake,” was the analysis of the manager from Faenza.


In the first episode Verstappen approached the chicane long but passed through the curb coming back on track and then in the subsequent collision with the Finn, ruining the Raikonnen’s race, when he got a penalty of barely 5”. In the episode with Vettel, the German came out worse when he left the track, however he found asphalt on the escape route thus avoiding the worst.”

I have the impression that we are hiding behind the factor of safety to allow actions that are not clear and not easily comparable between them that bring the marshals to issue subjective judgments. I believe that when a car exceeds the white line with more than two wheels that the driver must be punished heavily”.

Otherwise we change the rules and leave the drivers free to fight it out, classifying all collisions as race incidents with no sanctions,” concluded Minardi.

F1 | Gp Japan, MINARDI “Ferrari can make no more mistakes”

There are still 5 rounds until the end of the season on the Formula 1 World Championship that this weekend lands in Japan at the historic Suzuka circuit. After Lewis Hamilton’s win and Mercedes’ 1-2 double the gap between Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari has climbed to 50 and 55 points respectively in the drivers’ and the constructors’ ladders.

Ferrari must admit its fault for the points lost at Monza as at the other circuits in the times that was most favourable for it. The gap would have been much smaller, just like the pressure. Mercedes has shown great strength both technically and strategically. Even if some did not like the team games, the history books will only show the titles won.

Toto Wolff’s are making the most of all the material available to them by exploiting every favourable opportunity. Unfortunately Ferrari has not managed to do it just as well, despite finishing within a few seconds after a very tight and tough grand prix.

Suzuka is surely not an easy circuit where in recent years the weather was an important variable. This weekend too the forecasts are not the best since there is a tornado and we do not yet know which direction it will take. I may be the case to change the date of the race since the bad weather has always been a constant factor. I remember the 1994 edition when Alboreto and Martini touched without even noticing because it was raining so much. It went decidedly better for Fittipaldi in 1992 when he crossed the finish line with the Lamborghini powered M192 in sixth place, giving us the only point of the season.

Pirelli will bring the Medium, Soft and SuperSoft mixes and Mercedes and Ferrari have focussed on different strategies with 10 sets of SS for Vettel and Raikonnen and 7 for Hamilton. It will crtainly be the case to intervene with the tyres in view of next year since this year they are not achieving the results hoped for with negligible differences in performance from one mix to another.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Giovinazzi in Sauber next to Raikkonen. MINARDI “Line-up perfect”

upAfter seven long years Italy will once again have a standard bearer in the F1 World Championship. The long wait was ended by Antonio Giovinazzi who from next season will defend full time the colours of Team Alfa-Romeo-Sauber beside Kimi Raikonnen.

The twenty five year old driver from Apulia will take the take left free by Leclerc (promoted to Ferrari next to Vettel), returning to the team that gave him his debut in 2017 when he raced the Australian and Chinese grands prix in place of the injured Wehrlein.

We spoke on the telephone to Gian Carlo Minardi who is busy is Rome. “I am very happy for Antonio and for all of Italy’s Motorsport which, after seven years, has once again found its fulltime standard bearer in F1. This is a very important step for the project being carried out by ACI, with its roots beginning in karting and then continue in the training categories,” commented the satisfied manager from Faenza, “the pair of Raikonnen-Giovinazzi is exactly right because the team will be able to count on the experience of a master such as the Finn who will give a hand to the young driver to learn and grow. I hope that the student will quickly overtake the master,” concluded Minardi.

At Hinwil Giovinazzi will find not only Raikonnen once again but also Simone Resta whose career began in 1998 in Faenza with the Minardi Team, in his role as Technical Director who will look after the C38 Project.

F1 | Gp Russia, Minardi “Only one result is possible for Ferrari”

We have reached the last six races in the calendar and this weekend in Sochi Ferrari has only one possible result: the one-two. Maurizio Arrivabene’s men must try to makes things difficult for Hamilton and Mercedes that naturally start as favourites.

In this moment Mercedes has the peace of mind missing in Maranello and the awareness that it can manage the good lead in both ladders. Last year Vettel and Raikonnen were able to fill the front row of the grid but the race went to Bottas. They will need to avoid this.

We must make one consideration. It seems to me that we are experiencing once more what happened last year with the first part of the season favouring Ferrari and Mercedes growing up and making a comeback. This is exactly what is happening now. We must understand if we are faced with an opportunist Mercedes, or Ferrari that makes too many mistakes and annuls its advantage. Certainly the drivers and team are not exempt from blame.

On the tyre mix front Pirelli will bring the Softs as the hardest mix and down to HyperSoft. I hope we will see a greater difference in performance between the mixes because it is one of the elements that have been missing this year. Pirelli would like to reduce the range for 2019 but the objective should be to increase the difference in performance between the mixes.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Minardi “Ocon deserves to stay in F1”

We are at the door of the Singapore Grand Prix, the fifteenth round (of twenty one) of the world championship and a drivers transfer market surrounded by deep uncertainty. It has been some years since we last saw so many changes of teams (see the retirement of Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo’s passage from Red Bull to Renault or Force India’s change of ownership which saw the cancellation of its points at the Belgian GP) and, above all, there are still pieces that have to find their places.

At this time Ferrari is tipping the scales with the unknown factor tied to Kimi Raikonnen’s future. Despite many rumours, there has been no denial or official announcement from Maranello, even if what happened with the official account from Garage Italia that belongs to Lapo Elkann is striking when it announced the arrival of Charles Leclerc beside Vettel and which then modified the post’s text.

As long as this point has not been clarified it is difficult to see other movements since Ferrari conditions two teams (Haas enjoys greater autonomy compared to Sauber on the drivers’ front). Sadly Esteban Ocon could pay the price of this game of changes, especially since the arrival of Lawrence Stroll as head of the group that saved Force India (renamed Racing Point Force India) with the great probability of bringing his son Lance into the team (freeing a place at Williams).

The one paying the price for this would be the Frenchman. I hope that a skilled manager such as Toto Wolff would not allow such a mess to happen since, in my modest opinion, we are talking about one of the most interesting emerging drivers who deserves to stay in the Circus. It would be absurd if he were not one of the twenty drivers on the starting grid in 2019.

At the present time Ocon occupies tenth place in the drivers’’ ladder with 45 points, one less than Sergio Perez.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Minardi “YES to the third car, NO to clone cars”

The rumours of recent weeks were confirmed in a 2018 drivers transfer market that continues to amaze us. This morning Ferrari officially announced Raikonnen’s departure at the end of the season and subsequently the arrival of Charles Leclerc. The real surprise was the confirmation that the Finn would go back to Sauber, the team that launched him into the F1 world championship in 2001, taking the place of the driver from Monaco.

Raikonnen signed a two year contract with the Swiss team and he will therefore have the chance to finish his career in the world championship where he began it, as well as finding once more Simone Resta who transferred to the team from Hinwil a few months ago to take the role of Technical Director. There is still the unknown factor of who will be his team mate. Another piece has found its place in the puzzle.

Over the last few days Toto Wolff used harsh words when he threatened to close the Mercedes Young Drivers Programme if Esteban Ocon could not find a team to drive, however, he opened a possibility that Gian Carlo Minardi had already launched a few years ago, that is the third car for rookie drivers. “I have long favoured this option, just as for years I have been asking that Friday morning be opened to rookies,” commented the manager from Faenza, “We must give a chance to those who invest in young drivers right from with the training formulas, starting already in karting. On the other hand, as of today it is increasingly difficult and the funnel is becoming ever smaller. If we do not put in place some new initiatives we will be faced with an extremely serious crisis,” he continues, launching a warning.

“We must consider that not all the teams have the financial strength to build and manage three vehicles on the track at the same time. Therefore we would need to review the whole points system by creating a class dedicated to rookies – as happens in the GT categories – in order to give the smaller teams the possibility to battle it out for the points zone which otherwise would be off limits with three Ferraris and just as many Mercedes, Red Bulls and Renaults,” proposed Minardi.

“By doing this the possibility of having four top teams and as many clones would be avoided, this is a road that does not fascinate me and which could distort the championship’s DNA. We are faced with an important change in an F1 that is in the hands of four great constructors such as Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda. We hope that they have the intelligence, the skill and, above all, the desire to manage to situation in the best way possible,” concluded Minardi.

F1 | Gp Italy, The heart is ready to beat once more

Ferrari’s test of strength at Spa-Francorchamps can be a good omen on a fast track such as that at Monza that this weekend will host the 89th edition of the Italian Grand Prix. We predict another exciting duel between the two pretenders to the throne, Ferrari and Mercedes but especially between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

As we already saw last weekend in Belgium the weather will play an important role and probably shuffle the cards: with a dry track the Ferrari-Vettel duo has shown it is more competitive than its direct rivals, while under the rain Hamilton and Mercedes have shown they are superior. Storms are forecast for Friday as they are for Saturday as well, even if qualifying should be dry. On the other hand the race should be overcast.

We come to a track characterized by very long straights with only eleven bends where the engines run at full speed for 75% of the lap. It will be a great effort for the power-unit. After what happened at the start last week (the penalty inflicted on Hulkenberg seems correct even if the marshals continue not to use the same yardstick with all the drivers) care must be taken at the first chicane at about 700m from the starting line. They will come to it at speeds much higher than those at Spa.

Ferrari will start the real post Marchionne era and behind the curtains there will be many meetings that could open up a number of moves. Kimi Raikonnen’s future is still to be decided after an unlucky weekend at Spa that was conditioned by the contact at the start of the race that forced his retirement.

We predict that the weekend will not be easy for Red Bull due to the handicap of the Renault engine (Ricciardo will start in last place but will be equipped with the latest version of the PU). The duel between Renault and Haas for fourth place in the constructor’s ladder is to be followed, as well as the chase by Racing Point Force India that in Belgium was the team that achieved the third highest number of points (18) after Ferrari and Mercedes. The entry of the new consortium led by Lawrence Stroll will have given confidence back to the team (as well as new life).

Gian Carlo Minardi

Memories of the Hungarian Gp ’94, Michele Alboreto just misses out on the Top-six

Michele Alboreto had the best result for the Minardi Team on the track in Budapest which this weekend will host the 12th round of the World Championship.

At the wheel of the M194 Minardi with the Ford HBC7/8 engine with team mate Pierluigi Martini, he was the protagonist of an important comeback. Taking off from twentieth place the driver from Milan cut the finish line in seventh place behind Ligier-Renault’s Olivier Panis and just missing out on the points zone. In those years only the first six drivers at the finish line were assigned points (from 10 to 1). The grand prix was won by Michael Schumacher driving the Benetton in front of Damon Hill in the Williams and Jos Verstappen (Benetton). The German went on to become World Champion with just a one point lead over the Englishman. In the constructors’’ championship the team from Faenza closed the season with five points and tenth place overall.

The following year the team founded by Gian Carlo Minardi finished once more in the top ten with Luca Badoer eighth (behind Jordan’s Rubens Barrichello) and Pedro Lamy ninth at the wheel of the M195, again with the Ford engine. Of the 24 starters only ten managed to reach the finish line with the Williams of Damon Hill and David Coulthard achieving a double in front of Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger with leader Michael Schumacher forced to retire with a breakdown of his Renault engine.

The biggest regret is tied to the 1993 edition with Pierluigi Minardi in the M193 (the first Minardi racing car equipped with active suspension and the first sequential gearbox with powered by a Ford engine that enjoyed low fuel consumption) who, as he was overtaking another car, ended up spinning neutralizing an important result.

F1 | Minardi “F1 has lost the certainty of penalties”

Lewis Hamilton’s action in the final phases of the German Grand Prix when he came back onto the track after cutting through the grass after having taken the entrance to pit lane caused a lot of discussion after the race. Some hours after the chequered flag the Mercedes’ driver’s win was confirmed after having received only received a reprimand from the marshals. For Race director Charlie Whiting there was no correlation with the 5” penalty given to Kimi Raikonnen during the 2016 Baku Grand Prix.

We asked Gian Carlo Minardi, who gave us his point of view. “At this time in F1 there is no certainty in the penalties which are the basis for the regularity of world championship. In order to justify FIA’s position Charlie Whiting climbed up walls, hid behind very soft mitigating factors such as the presence of the Safety-car and not having created a risk situation due to the lack of other cars present,” commented the manager from Faenza.

This championship will be won by who makes the least mistakes compared to his rival and seven points can make the difference at the end (with a 5” second penalty the Englishman would have finished in second place behind Bottas). In my opinion the regulation was distorted. Unfortunately these episodes also have consequences on the other introductory categories since very often F1 makes the law and is taken as an example by young drivers as well. It becomes very difficult teaching them,” continued.

I do not want to take anything away from Hamilton who was the author of an extraordinary race, while Vettel make a very serious mistake that could cost him very dearly but there is a need for clear regulations that must be respected”.

F1 | Gp Germany, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi “Keep an eye on Red Bull”

After a year the German Grand Prix will come back to the Hockenheim circuit where Pirelli’s stronger tyres will make their debuts. The Milanese tyre maker will bring its Medium, Soft and UltraSoft mixes. Hamilton and Vettel have “marked” each other man to man with the same number of sets of each mix, whereas Bottas and Raikonnen have mixed their choices.

We have reached the halfway point of a very long championship with Ferrari that will take to the start with its morale high and at the top of both ladders and Mercedes that cannot make any more mistakes. However, we must not underestimate the two Red Bulls that could come out by exploiting its excellent chassis, especially in the mixed/slow part of the track. As happened two weeks ago at Silverstone, we will have a highly fought qualifying on the edge of thousandths of a second and a race that will be decided by strategies and weather that could give the cars in red an advantage since the prediction for Sunday is for a sunny day.

I am pleased to see Antonio Giovinazzi in action once more with the Alfa Romeo Sauber. I hope that this is a good sign for his future. It will not be easy coming to conclusions since the teams’ plans for Friday usually involve a mix of work with their drivers in order to collect the greatest number of indicators for qualifying and the race.

There has been much talk in recent days about Liberty Media’s new proposal of changing the system of points. Fernando had said that he is opposed to the move as it opens the points to twenty drivers which would reduce his worth and he used as an example the uproar that was raised by Jules Bianchi’s ninth place with Marussia that was the result of a masterpiece of race at Monte Carlo. For many years I found myself fighting with my cars to enter into the top six, therefore the chance to widen the ladder could also be positive. It would help to increase the spectacle in the back lots with more tussles.

I have the impression that they want to draw attention away from much more important problems since this would require giving the Technical Regulations instead of the Sporting Regulations that do not change F1’s image. We need resolve the issue of the future engines, even if the four constructors seem oriented to continuing with the Power Units.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp England, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi

The July tour-de-force continues. We move from Austria to the historic circuit of Silverstone in England and then continue our journey towards Germany and Hungary which will mark the beginning of the August summer holidays.

This is a very technical and demanding circuit, for the tyres as well with lateral forces of 5G. For this reason Pirelli has opted for the Hard, Medium and Soft mixes (with the tread lowered 0.4mm) to try and compensate for the excessive wear. After the race a lot was heard and said about the tyres and I do not understand the need to intervene for change by hiding behind the problem of safety. If the tyres wear too much then you stop and change them.

Silverstone promises to be an important round, above all for those who suffered from problems of reliability at the Red Bull Ring since there was really too little time to intervene.

The weather is still an unknown factor, even if for the time being the forecasts speak of a hot weekend and of the safety car as well. Last year Lewis Hamilton dictated the race in front of his public and this weekend Mercedes is still favoured to win. Ferrari comes to the race reinvigorated after having taken back the leadership of both ladders, even though it was not free of errors with the penalty that hit Vettel for having slowed down Carlos Sainz in qualifying (Q2). The championship confirms that it is characterized and conditioned by errors (drivers and teams) and who will know to make the fewest errors will, in all probability, take home the crown for 2018.

After Sunday’s retirement the British champion will take to the track psyched up and with a strong desire for a comeback. It will be a great struggle to be follow, beginning with the free practice.

Personally, I have wonderful memories tied to this circuit, especially the ’89 edition which ended with fifth and sixth placings for Martini and Sala. It was a decisive weekend for the survival of the team. The phantom of pre-qualifying was just around the corner, as was the loss of the television rights. We were obliged to take home two points. We said goodbye to the eighth round with three points. For us it was like winning the world championship. The M189 proved to be a good and constantly growing car that gave us a lot of satisfaction.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Austria, PRESENTATION by Minardi “Vettel used the last bonus in France”

Having put away the French grand prix, we are entering a hot month of July with four grands prix within five weeks. It will begin this weekend in Austria and then go to England (July 7-8), Germany (July 21-22) and Hungary (July 28-29). It will be true tour de force for the teams and drivers, at the end of which we will have an important picture of this world championship.

In addition to Mercedes’ supremacy, at Le Castellet we saw a race full of errors, beginning with Sebastian Vettel who, with his fifth place, left behind important points in the light of the world title. Ferrari’s German driver was too impetuous when he tried to overtake Bottas at the first curve which ended with a touch and a 5” penalty. He must remember that he is a four times world champion.

In a world championship that is so much on the limit it will be the errors that make the difference, Seb has already played all his bonuses and finds himself behind his direct rival with a gap of 14 points.

We must also take into account the growth of Red Bull which is supported by a fantastic chassis that partly makes up for the deficiencies of the Renault power unit. With the passage to the Honda engine the handicap of the motor will be felt even more but it will still be the arbiter of this world championship by taking away important points and places on the podium from Vettel and Hamilton.

It will also be a hot month for the second rank teams led by Renault, in front of McLaren. Force India, Haas and Toro Rosso which comes from two difficult weekends which ended with no points unlike Haas which is growing, but is off and on, despite Grosjean who is still “dry” and Force India which is on the comeback trail but troubled by non technical issues.

The Red Bull Ring is a demanding track that is full of pitfalls with the gravel at the edges of the track that is characterized by an undulating surface, fast curves, long straights and demanding braking in which the weather is an important factor. On the tyre front, Pirelli will bring the Softs, SuperSofts and UltraSofts with the Ferrari drivers choosing 9 sets of the softest mix against the eight of Mercedes and Red Bull. We predict a race with different strategies.

Gian Carlo Minardi