F1 | Belgian GP – Preview

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Tre weeks after the last grand prix and a July rich in events, Formula 1 is ready to turn on the engines again and get to  a circuit that has written important pages of the motoring as Spa-Francorchamps.

A circuit in which the drivers have still a central role, differently from many other realities, more or less innovative.  A racetrack that is always fascinating and very demanding for tires. After last season, Pirelli has made some corrective actions, and it will present itself on the track with the Medium, Soft, and SuperSoft tires. At Ferrari, they bet decisively on the softer tire compounds, and they will bring just a set of Medium tires for each driver.

A track in which the engine, along with the weather, has an important role, and McLaren should have an updated power-unit at its disposal that could help Alonso and Button in reaching the point zone again, keeping their growth in view of the last grand prix.

At this point of the season, some teams wonder if they should to keep developing their 2016 cars or focus on the next season that will be at the center of important technical changes that could lead, guessing the right design of the car, to a change of the forces on the field. This is the first question for Mattia Binotto. Ferrari is struggling for the second place in the World Championship along with Red Bull, but if they want to have some more ambitious plans, it is possible that they sacrifice the current season, especially in the imminence of so important changes. They can keep developing those components useful also in 2017.

At Manor, they will have the newness of Esteban Ocon, winner of Formula 3 and Gp3 titles in the last two years. They have two interesting young drivers and they are focusing their efforts to defend the tenth place in the standings against Sauber, thanks also to the backing of Mercedes.

F1 | Deep red

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Due also to the fifth and sixth place achieved respectively by  Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen in the German GP, in confirmation of the qualifying result, even the standings condemns Ferrari as the third power in the world championship, in favor of Red Bull.

Adrian Newey’s creature, in the first part of the season, was capable to recover the gap, becoming protagonist of an important growth, till the conquering the “scepter” as a second power.  “I would add it was possible thanks also the healthy rivalry between Ricciardo and Verstappen. The arrival of the Dutch driver in the team has awakened Daniel, bringing important points for the world championship”, Gian Carlo Minardi explains to www.minardi.it.

“Red Bull started the season with a gap by 30″ that decreased to 7” after only twelve events. A goal that the Ferrari Stable has failed so far. Examining the gaps during the race, in spite of some developements accomplished, the gap remains about 30 seconds from Mercedes, letting down the expectations they had at the start of the season. In spite of any set phrases, also Vettel’s patience is about to run out”.

In the days before the weekend in Hockenheim, it arrived the announcement ratifying the end of the cooperation between Maranello and James Allison and the arrival of Mattia Binotto. “He grew up in Ferari professionally speaking, in the wake of important technicians, skilled coordinators and organizers as Ross Brawn and Pino D’Agostino. He has to reorganize the sports management and bring the lacking serenity. I think that he has all the capacities to find out the right people within the company, to reverse the course. As a fan, I say to him a strong “break a leg”. Ending the season in third would be a heavy defeat, especially after the announcements early in the year”, the manager from Faenza concludes. “Ferrari has all (economic, technical, and human) resources to be back to the summit. They need an internal restyling.  Doing this job requires a Team Principal  present 14/15 hours per day, who encourages  the Technical director supporting him in his choices, protecting him, updating himself in real time about all the steps in the different departments”.

F1 | German GP – SCORECARDS

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Lewis Hamilton – 9 because of his calmness and serenity with which he managed the race. Just a small imperfection: losing the challenge for the pole position with Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg – 8 for what he did in qualifying, with an amazing pole position. Congratulations even for the class with which he faced the post-race.

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen – 8 for the double podium. The family fight gave the right motivation for bringing important points to the team. Ricciardo regained the leadership of his team.

Nico Hulkenberg -7 along with Perez he is taking Force India into important and unhoped positions. They are preparing to undermine Williams.

Jenson Button – 7 he troubled Alonso bringing some points to a growing McLaren.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen – 6 for encouragement, hoping that the summer break can bring some calm and clarify the ideas within Ferrari. The car can’t improve and the gap with competitors remains the same. It is the third power in the world championship. 

F1 | Green light to the team-radio. Arm wrestling for the track-limit. Minardi" Too complicated rules"

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While the weekend was in full swing, and in Hockenheim was preparing to live the qualifying before the summer break, the Team Principals gathered around a table to try resolving the set of problems emerged during the Hungarian weekend.

They made different proposals to make a step back respect the current regulations. As it had happened early in season with the new qualifying format that was annulled very quickly in favor of the current one.

The F1 Strategy Group decided to liberalize communications between drivers and pit again, except for the warm-up lap. They want to avoid any assistance to the drivers at the starting phase, instead drivers and engineers will have the possibility to talk freely during the race. They had also found a balance, especially between Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull Team Principals, on the track-limit as it is difficult to evaluate if the crossing of the white line gives or not an advantage to the driver.

Charlie Whiting started an arm wrestling and put on the scale “the responsibility” and “the rules”. So, we have consulted Gian Carlo Minardi. “The proposals of the F1 Strategy Group have to be approved and have to officially modify the current regulations for becoming operative. Otherwise, it is difficult to apply them, and Whiting relied on this very point. So, as we can read so far, even in Hockenheim drivers will be penalized if they cross the white line”, the manager from Faenza explains. “”, Gian Carlo Minardi continues.

Starting from 2017, the starts with the safety-car will be modified. If the start, due to track arduous conditions, will be done under the safety car, at the return of the safety car, all the cars will have to align on the grid for a “traditional” start, as it happens at the end of the classic warm-up lap. “I am absolutely favorable. Watching the start of a grand prix behind the safety car is not the best of the show. In Great Britain, as instance, we had a security excess. We are always talking about Formula 1, the ultimate expression of motorsport, where there are the best drivers racing”.

In Germany, it start the new path of Ferrari after James Allison’s greetings and the welcome to Mario Binotto as a Technical Director. “I think that Binotto is an excellent choice for Ferrari. He lived the golden age of Maranello beside Ross Brawn, Jea Todt&C. He will contribute for the renewal of this stable”, Gian Carlo Minardi concludes.

F1 | German GP– Preview

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After the cancellation in 2015, Formula 1 is back in Germany at the Hockenheim circuit. With the umpteenth success of Mercedes and the conquest of the pinnacle achieved by Hamilton at Rosberg’s detriment, Toto Wolff’s team has what it takes to end the first part of the season at its best with a new seal and find (why not) its leader.

All the attention will focus on Ferrari and Red Bull. Horner’s men are in a great growth and will try to prove to be the second power in the world championship, at the detriment of the Prancing Horse, that is also destabilized by Allison’s leaving. Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene’s announcements, released in the Hungarian weekend, have not been confirmed and have destabilized an environment already agitated. The changes could be in progress. We have to wait for president Marchionne’s decision.

As we had written,  in the following days a friendly agreement was found between Ferrari and Allison who could go towards Enstone. Arrivabene’s position is also to be clarified. Unfortunately, this stalemate could affect 2017’s season heavily.

F1 | Hungarian GP – Scorecards

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Lewis Hamilton – 9 he responded brilliantly to the “detriment” he received from commissioners and handled the race very well, outdoing Nico Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg – 8 his pole position was special, even if he was helped by commissioners. Unfortunately, men always interpret the rules in a different way.

Sebastian Vettel – 8 he tried to attack Daniel Ricciardo as much as possible.

Daniel Ricciardo – 8 he is certainly reinvigorated. He conquered the first podium, defending himself very well from the German driver’s attacks.

Kimi Raikkonen – 8 even if he lost again the comparison with Verstappen, he was the maker of a great recovery, remedying a mistake that had relegated him in the fourteenth position. He recovered up to the sixth position in a race in which nothing was gave away.

Fernando Alonso – 7,5 throughout the weekend, he took his McLaren into the top ten. The time lap sequence was important.

Max Verstappen – 7 he would have deserved more without the “unfairness” towards Kimi. Once again, he proved all his grit and determination.

Carlos Sainz – 7 he continues not doing any mistakes, unlike the scarce Kvyat.

Chaos in Ferrari, James Allison towards Renault

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While Ferrari has to respond tangibly to the last lackluster performances, the rumors about an agitated and doubtful milieu continue. In recent days, there was a meeting for trying to bring back Ross Brawn in Maranello, but the English technician declined the offer.“The feedback of the Technician from Manchester, who in a Ferrari-style says that he has not been contacted, leaves an open window”, says Gian Carlo Minardi consulted by www.minardi.it about the current situation in the Sports Management of Maranello. 35 years of experience in Motorsport make the entrepreneur from Faenza a reliable voice.“In this moment, Ferrari lacks a team spirit”. In the upcoming weeks, some important changes are expected within the Sports Management, regarding not only the technicians but also the Team Principal”.“The contract with James Alison is in a cordial conclusive phase trough a company agreement with which the Technician will avoid the gardening. In addition, they are also negotiating Maurizio Arrivabene’s exit. In this moment, we cannot see who the leader is”, continues the previous Team Principal, founder of the same name stable from Faenza.

Marchionne in command

“I don’t see how Marchionne can charge himself with the entire racing department, even if he has a lot experience as a manager. The management of a F1 team is a demanding job that requires 15-16 working hours a day. Living in contact with the racing department in first person, and not via rumors, is fundamental. Only this way, we can be aware of the true situation. I am sure that Ferrari has all the means (technical and economic) and the human resources to reborn. Anyway, they need to put the appropriate people in the right places”. Yet, in this moment, the valid alternatives lack.

Ferrari, the third power in the World Championship

Early in season, the staff of Maranello announced firmly to have reached Mercedes. Reality, instead, speaks about a Ferrari even behind Red Bull. “They need to give back some reliability to the Ferrari project. Once, Maranello was the arrival point for mechanics, engineers, and drivers. Nowadays, instead, the wind is changed. Vettel himself has had some contact with the top brass of Mercedes. I am the first one who wants to hear the Mameli’s hymn played at high volume, but in this moment, I see this as improbable. Today, the difficulties that had emerged since the first races, hidden by placings and declarations, are coming out. Actually, in that moment, the results were the outcomes of the lacks of their competitors who have been able to grow in the last months, like Red Bull that has inserted itself between Maranello and Mercedes.

An already damaged 2017?

The stalemate could jeopardize season 2017, even before it starts. The project about a new car has already started. “2017 will be characterized by important technical changes. Therefore, it will be important to make a good project, but with this uncertainty, it is difficult to understand to who it will be assigned and who will manage it.

F1 | Hungarian GP – Preview

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The Hungaroring is more like a karting track than a real racetrack due to his numerous turns that put cars, drivers, and tires to a hard test.

Pirelli will take the Medium, Soft, and Supersoft tire compounds with different strategies at Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull regarding “the yellow” and “the red”.

In 2015, Sebastian Vettel won ahead both Red Bulls, also thanks to some technical problems that affected Hamilton’s and Rosberg’s Mercedes. This year, the scenario could be different because of a Red Bull in strong growth, as Max Verstappen stressed in Brisighella at the prize giving of the Bandini trophy.Ferrari is in a delicate moment with some diatribes, which will surely lead to important changes in the Sports Management in the upcoming weeks. The top brass in Maranello met Ross Brawn, but so far the smoke seems very “grey”. They need a strong personality that can return a certain reliability to the project. Even Sebastian Vettel begins to get agitated… I can already see a difficult 2017…

We are getting to the seasonal turning point. Now we go downhill toward the finish line and the points begin weighting twice. At Mercedes, they are starting again “from scratch” with two drivers divided by just a point. Ferrari will have to safeguard itself from a menacing Verstappen and from a Ricciardo looking for his redemption. The hot could be an ally for Maranello, but (so far) they forecast a variable weather.

Ferrari calls Ross Brawn. "Grey smoke"

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After starting as a second power in the World Championship with the ambitious goal of equaling and surpassing Mercedes, at the middle of the championship Ferrari has to safeguard itself from Red Bull Racing that is growing fast. Max Verstappen, who was in Brisighella to receive the Bandini Trophy, spoke about a Red Bull ahead the Red. In few days, we will have the Hungarian GP, an important testbed for team principal Maurizio Arrivabene.

The situation in Maranello, unfortunately, does not seem serene and some rumors talk about a Sergio Marchionne ready for important changes (the latest of many) in the Sports Management. Some rumors, that are getting more and more persistent, tell of a meeting in Forte dei Marmi for convincing Ross Brawn to make a sensational return. “Ferrari lacks a reference point and since he is a strong and charismatic character, Brawn could play this role, although so far the smoke has been gray. They need to give again some reliability to a milieu animated by some diatribes.In the coming weeks there will certainly be fundamental changes, although I see a 2017 already compromised. Vettel himself starts pawing and could look to other shores”, Gian Carlo Minardi explains.

Last year, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari won the Hungarian GP ahead of both Red Bull cars. “An important result, but it was the outcome of some problems at Mercedes. Now, I see Red Bull in a great growth that has managed to exploit occasions at its best, as Verstappen himself stressed at the Bandini Trophy. I hope that this hot can give a hand to Ferrari in calming the spirits down.

OK safety, but don't overdo it

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The start of the British GP behind the safety car is provoking a lot of discussion. Since it had rained few minutes before the green traffic light, Charlie Whiting started the race behind the safety car, withdrawing the safety car not before the fifth lap.

Neither the fans nor the insiders, from the drivers up to the Team Principals, have appreciated his decision. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen opposed this decision, complaining for a too delayed withdrawal. Maurizio Arrivabene agrees with them “In that moment it wasn’t raining so there wasn’t any danger. Formula 1 is the ultimate expression of Motorsport”. In his comment on the Grand Prix, Gian Carlo Minardi has already evaluated this choice negatively. “I could understand if we were in a preliminary championship where there are boys who have to cut their teeth, but here we were in a Formula 1 grand prix. It has seemed me an exasperated decision. We are overdoing safety” the manager from Faenza said and now widens his thought “Doing this way we risk to nullify the show and let go the fans. The same is true for the asphalted escape routes. Silvertsone remains a fascinating circuit, but it has lost something like many other circuits. All the drivers made some mistakes without paying any duties. We miss the gravel. The drivers are more confident and can allow themselves too many mistakes”, Minardi concludes.

F1 | Raikkonen's renewal, Minardi “A conservative choice”

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Sergio Marchionne and Maurizio Arrivabene renewed the agreement for next season with Kimi Raikkonen that will continue his work beside Sebastian Vettel. A decision that want to aim to a work continuity and puts a certain calmness into the team, differently from what is happening at Mercedes and red Bull with internal fight between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on one side, between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen on the other.

The arrival in Milton Keynes of a very young and fast Dutch driver is creating some problems to the Australian driver that started the season as a first driver. In just six events, Verstappen has already affected a win (in Spain) and two second places (in Austria and Great Britain) and now he is just 10 points away from his teammate in the overall standings. At Mercedes, there is an open fight and some nervousness between two drivers engaged in the struggle for the world title.

“The team wanted to privilege calmness in a hard moment with technical difficulties. I do not know how much it will an advantage in term of results. Honestly, I would have preferred a different choice, especially after seeing Verstappen’s effect at Red Bull. His arrival put on Ricciardo a lot of pepper that was useful to revitalize the situation with an amazing result. At Mercedes, in spite of a tense atmosphere, the challenge between the drivers forces to do always the best as we could also see last Sunday. Nico and Lewis ignored each other”, Gian Carlo Minardi says.

F1 | Silverstone GP – SCORECARDS

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Lewis Hamilton – 10 He could not do better this weekend. Absolutely a perfect race, but we have also to stress the result in qualifying. After achieving the pole position with a new record, his time was took away. Back on track, he managed to take the pole position again. He is in a great shape and did something exceptional for his fans.

Max Verstappen – 9 he troubled Daniel Ricciardo, managing to keep himself in the first positions not just in race but also in qualifying. An extraordinary race where he optimized his Red Bull that is improving race by race thanks to an almost perfect aerodynamics. This driver excites us not just for his leaps forward and overtakings but is also good at defending his position.

Nico Rosberg – 8,5 he was good at reacting to the new F1 phenomenon, in spite of his gearbox problems. It is a hard moment for him. If there is a problem, it always occurs to his Mercedes.

Daniel Ricciardo – 7,5 he struggled with tooth and nails, especially when the team asked him to push, after Nico Rosberg’ penalization. Anyway, he definitely lost the comparison with his teammate.

Sergio Perez – 7,5 once again he ended the race ahead of Hulkenberg and obtained precious points for force India. He strengthens his fifth place in the world championship.

Carlos Sainz – 7,5 for both qualifying and race. What a pity his mistakes at bend 1 that prevented him from struggling with Force India drivers.

Kimi Raikkonen – 7 too many mistakes, without them he would have had the chance to fight with Ricciardo. He brought home the fifth place after having hard time in overtaking Perez. The renewal did not give him a particular energy. Surely, the fault belongs also to a Ferrari that is not at its best.

Daniil Kvyat – 7 an important point for his state of mind in a hard time of his career.

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button – 7 apart his mistake at bend 1 that prevented him from reaching the point zone, the Spanish driver signed some amazing lap times. The McLaren is growing on the frame side, and both Fernando and Jenson would deserve something more.

Sebastian Vettel – 6,5 in qualifying, he did not manage to stay ahead of his teammate and during the race made some mistakes. Surely, Ferrari did not support him and showed all its weaknesses.

 

F1 | British GP, Preview

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The biggest unknown in the British grand prix will be the tension at Mercedes after the contact between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the last lap in Austria. We left the Red Bull Ring with many unknowns. On one hand, it can be a good thing to race again immediately, on the other hand there is a few time to calm everyone down. The team has to make important decisions to prevent these kind of episodes from happening again.

As usual, the weather will affect the race, with unexpected changes that bother the devised choices. We will get to a fast circuit where the aerodynamics has a certain importance. Mercedes will be the favored, and Ferrari will have to defend itself from a strongly growing Red Bull also backed by the French Power Unit. The tires brought by Pirelli and temperatures won’t favor the Red cars that will arrive in Silverstone with a new aerodynamics set.Last year, Williams emerged strongly both in qualifying and in race, even if this year, they seem to have more difficulties.

We have entered  a decisive month with four races in just five weekends. After Silverstone and before the summer break, we will race in Hungary and Germany. We will have a little time to react and to absorb the results in the best way. We could resolve a good chunk of the world championship in this month. We have to keep the head cool.