Archive for category: F1

The sun has set on the last day of tests at Barcelona. The first session ended with the best time by Kimi Raikonnen in his Ferrari SF70H. The day was marked with a deliberately wet track to evaluate the behaviour of Pirelli’s wet and intermediate tyres. The slicks were then tested in the afternoon

It was a difficult day to judge as the track dried quickly, effectively thwarting the development and grip of the track, as well as having lowered the temperature of the asphalt and affecting that results of the rivers who took to the track on ultra soft, super soft and soft mixes.

Too early to judge the forces at play

At the present time it is too early to judge the forces at play even though there are only four days available before the departure for Melbourne. The cars will be back on track beginning Tuesday. Thanks to Pirelli’s colours we know the types of mixes, but we are missing one vital detail; the amount of fuel aboard each car.

Reliability

For now the only detail we can use is reliability. The numerous laps run by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikonnen as a good calling card for the SF70H and also for Hamilton and Bottas’ W080. In the final minutes of yesterday’s session Seb had a problem with his Ferrari, whereas in the morning it was Hamilton’s turn to remain the in the box for an electrical problem for his Mercedes. Renault and particularly Honda fought with a few too many problems. The French, according to the Red Bull drivers, have yet to push their power-units to their limits.

Pirelli ready to change the mixes

Despite the thumbs up from the drivers Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport’s Director, announced that the mixes of the wets will be changed, especially the intermediates, as they had suffered significant deterioration. The decision came at the end of the final session on the artificially wet track at Barcelona. It is thought that two types of wets will be available according to the situation: one for the warmer tracks and one for those such as Silverstone and Spa which are always colder.

 As we await Thursday’s presentation by Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton’s statements hold the lime light. The three times world champion has declared that he is not willing to share his telemetry with new team mate Valtteri Bottas who replaced Nico Rosberg.

I do not agree with this and I find the decision and his attitude absurd. As already happened last year, one of Formula One’s highest paid drivers has put down his employer’s work and decisions which would place him at the peak of the sport. We are talking about a team which put together 51 wins in 59 grands prix. For Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff the priority is the constructor’s title, just as I find it unlikely that the engineers of the two cars do not compare the data gathered on the track. We are faced with a complicated season that will be conditioned by important changes to the regulations. For this very reason the team’s programme must take be more important than any single driver’s.

After Nico Rosberg’s retirement Mercedes was forced to back Hamilton who has been flanked by the Finn with a one year contract (with an option for a secondseason). In other circumstances the case would have been very different.

I never had the chance to work with a star, but within the Minardi team we all worked together to make the best use of and to improve the material available to us. Everything was directed towards the result.

Gian Carlo Minardi

A few days ago I told you about my conclusions on the situation within the McLaren Team after the departure of its C.E.O. Jost Capito and team manager David Redding (who will go to the Williams Team), together with the possible collaboration with BMW on the Formula 1 front with the supply of the next Power-Unit.

Following my considerations I was contacted from inside the Woking Factory who let me know through the words of Race Director Éric Boullier of how the Team’s reorganization is proceeding which left me favourably impressed.

These are Boullier’s words:
Dave Redding had been offered an opportunity with another team and we did not want to get in the way. Let’s not forget that Dave had been with McLaren for 17 years. His place will be taken by Paul James (who had already been the Team’s Chief mechanic).

The position that Paul James left free will be entrusted to Karu (Lammenranta) – the former number one mechanic of Alonso’s car who will be the new Chief mechanic.

Andrea Stella will carry on in his role as the supervisor of the track side engineers and his duties will be expanded to involve the sporting relations between the Team and FIA.

Éric Boullier when on by emphasizing “When we understood that Dave would leave we were able to enlist entirely from within the Team. Over a long period of time we had been encouraging people to study science, engineering, technology and mathematics at local schools and to support apprenticeships and university theses with the aim of introducing better prepared young talents into McLaren.

A programme with which I agree because it coincides with the Minardi mentality, in other words to mature people within the Team and, at the same time, collaborate with Universities to bring better prepared young people into the organization and at the same time encourage loyalty towards the Company. By so doing it is possible to create a hard core to the Team thus creating the conditions for another winning cycle.

With the exit of Ron Dennis, the new General Director Zak Brown, – an expert marketer –will have the task of reorganizing McLaren and in an interview released on the American site Roundandtrack had spoken about the possibility of success in 2017 “I do not believe we will win a Grand Prix this year”. Every reorganization takes time.

I thank the whole staff at the Factory to whom i wish the best of luck for the upcoming presentation of the car (February 24th) and the 2017 racing season.