Gian Carlo Minardi on the Australian GP that launched the new season of the F1 World Championship: as we expected Mercedes signed the first double win Rosberg-Hamilton ahead the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel who ended in third with a time little less than 10”. Fourth place for Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa, respectively at 24”and 58”.
We watched a funny grand prix that hasn’t still displayed us the real forces in the field.Rosenberg won ahead of Hamilton, signing the first Mercedes double-win, ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari.
Nico Rosberg – 9 despite a mistake on Saturday and an early weekend dominated by Hamilton, he didn’t succumb but managed to make a better start than that of the English driver. His race was exemplary even if the strategy and the safety car “helped” him.
Sebastian Vettel – 8 he could have been discouraged by his gap in qualifying, but during the race he optimized every resource of his Ferrari with a flash start. The Weather and temperatures dictated the strategy based on Soft and Super Soft tires.
Romain Grosjean – 7,5 bringing a rookie car to the sixth place is a feat. I congratulate the whole team.
Daniel Ricciardo -7 he never gives up. His Red Bull has an excellent frame even if it pays a penalty for its Power-Unit.
Carlos Sainz -7 I watched Toro Rosso carefully. A family fight is beginning. I hope they can handle this in the better way. The Spanish driver made a good race and in Q2 was faster than his team-mate. I don’t get why Verstappen would had to pass ahead.
Max Verstappen -6,5 surely he proved to keep up with the situation, but he looked too nervous and at the limit of fair play with his statements on the Radio.
Felipe Massa – 6,5 in both qualifying and race, he handled the weekend to his advantage bringing to Williams a lot of points and winning the comparison with his young team mate who has to prove to be a first guide.
The season of Formula 1 hasn’t started yet, but the first threats of desertion have already appeared. The heart of the matter is always the same: the Power-unit. After last year’s soap opera regarding the engine supply at Red Bull Racing solved through a renewal with Renault signed by Tag-Heuer (after the refusal received by Mercedes and Ferrari and the first breach in the agreement with the French manufacturer), Dietrich Mateschitz has returned to the fray “Without a competitive power-unit we will leave F1”.
In 2017, we expect radical changes regarding every manufacturer who will have to supply from a minimum of two to a maximum of three teams. So far, there are four suppliers in F1, but the situation for someone of them is far from being serene. “At Honda, even if they show calmness, the mood is everything but relaxed. Extraordinary scenarios could manifest. Alonso himself doesn’t seem really relaxed, even if Ron Dennis strives to stress that Fernando has an agreement also for the next two seasons”, Gian Carlo Minardi comments. “Moreover, Audi declared that it won’t enter the Circus until it has stable rules”.They are not the only ones to think that way.
The announcements of number 1 of the Austrian group could open new scenarios. “They could seem presumptuous, but they are the measure of the sponsorship in F1. Nowadays, we have colorful cars, but they have not many adhesives. Red Bull goes on thanks to the coming back of its image. Without some winnings, all this goes missing because the initial investment is too high”.
Paolo Barilla, in the exclusive interview released to Minardi.it, has claimed: “Right now F1 is not a good investment for a company. Formula 1 is an outdated model because it has not been able to renew itself by keeping up with the times“.
“According to my knowledge, Red Bull would have renewed his agreement with Renault for one year “. A year is short time, especially when there are great changes in regulations that require a great development. “We are experiencing a major domain signed by Mercedes, but in Germany there are other manufacturers. Mateschitz, perhaps, with his threats wants to attract the attention of someone like BMW that can’t stand idly by”, the manager from Faenza concludes… Maybe some negotiations have already begun...
After an almost bottomless silence three months long, Formula 1 is ready to make the news in Melbourne, first stage of 21 world events. We are in suspense to verify Barcelona’s results that have showed us a competitive Ferrari. We have to study the real potential of Mercedes. Behind them, I wish I could watch an amazing row.
The season starts uphill due to some situation like that at Sauber and Force India heavily penalized by a difficult economic situation. The Swiss group, even if late, managed to pay wages to its employees, while tycoon Vijay Mallya is facing Indian justice. There are still many unknowns on the front of rules because they have still not reached an agreement. These kind of delays prevents other car manufacturers to approach.
Mercedes and Ferrari
In few days, we’ll know if Niki Lauda’s announcements are just pre-tactical or not. The President of Mercedes speaks about a powerful Ferrari, only 2-3 tenths of seconds from the German “battleship”. The SF16-H proved to be very performing on race pace, but i think that Mercedes has hidden itself.
A possible surprise
Behind Mercedes and Ferrari, I expect a fight between Williams and Red Bull for the third place in the throne of the world championship. Behind them, there are several stables that will fight till the end in the first races with the aim to collect as much points as possible and build their final standings. Scuderia Toro Rosso could be a surprise. I liked it a lot during the eight testing days and I trust both the team and its two young drivers, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr. Already last year they had proved to have a good car slowed by some problems in their trans-alpine power unit. With the Ferrari unit (2015 edition) they have made a lot of km.
The new qualifying
They are the only change (along with the Violet Ultra Soft tires of Pirelli) after much talk and meetings. As a passionate of this sport, I do not see it as a positive change even if it can be a different way to approach pole position and a way to attract young people. Anyway, drivers’ abilities and the qualities of the cars will not be the only ingredients for excelling. Fortunately, also weather conditions, the possible mistakes in strategy and traffic will enter in play. Surely, we have to watch this novelty from Saturday at 6:00.
Starting from the Australian GP at Melbourne’s city circuit that will launch the new Formula 1 season next March 18-20, pit-to-driver communications will be strongly restricted.
The International Automobile Federation decided this, with the aim to make the races less predictable, increasing the awareness of drivers. Communications regarding safety will be still allowed, whereas any contacts about fuel consumption, tires, and engine will be forbidden. “We are in a peculiar moment. One has the feeling that they don’t know what they want and that the will to unanimously face problems lacks. Hence they propose some palliatives to be tested on track”, manager Gian Carlo Minardi says at Minardi.it.
In Melbourne, the new hotseat qualifying format should debut with eliminations during the three sessions every ninety seconds.“Ferrari pointed out that they modified the qualifying format with an inappropriate bureaucratic procedure. Therefore, FIA gets busy to obtain the consent of the Working Group and of the F1 Commission, and the approval of the World Council”.
The World Championship starts in ten days and it has some unknowns. “On one hand, we have a Mercedes to beat with a Ferrari behind, to some teams the situation is not so easy. Sauber has not yet closed its sponsorship agreements and is run out of oxigen. Force India proved it can be again the fourth or fifth world power, unluckily they too have some liquidity problems”, the manager from Faenza concludes.
Like in the first four days session, Ferrari closes the last common testing session at the circuit of Barcelona with the best time, and in the last day collects 142 laps with Sebastian Vettel, bringing the kilometers done by SF16-H to almost 4.000.
Evaluating the quality of the cars isn’t an easy task because we do not know how much gasoline they had on board or their daily program. Undoubtedly, Mercedes remains the car to beat, especially due to the many kilometers covered by Hamilton and Rosberg.Together they have almost made an entire Formula 1 season, achieving the amazing goal of 6.000 km. The second place is for Scuderia Toro Rosso that has done more than 4.800 km in eight days with Verstappen and Sainz. Eight hundred less for their Red Bull “cousins” (Renault client), Williams-Mercedes, and Ferrari. Little further back, Sauber, Force India, and Renault. The third from last place for McLaren-Honda (3.250 km) that pays its penalty in the session of February and barely exceeds 1.100 km. In the last days, Alonso and Button have recovered time lost putting together 448 laps (2.085 km).
“Two sessions that stress the improvement accomplished by the teams on the reliability front. The performances also seems more compact, especially at the center of the group. Mercedes remains the reference car for everybody with behind a Ferrari ready to insert taking advantage of the new qualifying system that will begin in Melbourne (eliminations every 90 seconds during the three sessions). The Power-Unit from Germany has covered along with its four teams over 15.500 km”, observes Gian Carlo Minardi who glimpses in Toro Rosso a possible surprise for 2016. “They have covered a lot of kilometers proving to have achieved a good reliability. A reliability that penalized their end result last year“.
The American new-entry Haas and Manor end the overall standing with 2.295 and 1.950 total km.“Compared to last season, Manor has done many changes, on both power-unit and technical front, that require a certain time. Haas must be supported and justified because it has been called to make its debut in a 21 GP long World Championship with just eight testing days behind. Complications arise only on track. Everything is completely new to them and they must become familiar with nuts and bolts”.
While teams are engaged in the last session of collective Barcelona test in preparation for the first seasonal GP in Australia, behind the scenes one continues to work to change F1.
In addition to the changes in qualifying proposed by the F1 Commission and the Strategy Group that should come into play this year, starting from the Spanish GP, as Bernie Ecclestone directly announced “the new elimination software won’t be ready until May”; they also talk about new rules for the Power-Unit supply. The proposal would concern a minimum supply of two team for each manufacturer, with a maximum of three customers. So far, the Circus includes four suppliers (Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda) and eleven stables (Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull Racing, Force India, Renault, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Manor and the American new entry Haas).
According to the results of the first four testing days, Mercedes is still the leading manufacturer, not just because of its reliability (with its 3800 km travelled) but also because of its power, 950 validated HP, against 930 HP at Ferrari, 900 HP at Renault and 850 HP at Honda. So far, the World Champions supply four teams (Mercedes, Williams, Force India and Manor), like Ferrari does. With Renault and Red Bull, the Trans-alpines have two stables and McLaren with Honda. Eyes are on the Japanese manufacturer who faces a hard task after a disastrous 2015 and a change in top management.
GIAN CARLO MINARDI “If their difficulties continue also this year, Honda could decide to withdraw. Nobody likes to lose too much. According to what I have heard, the Japanese would have also some difficulties with the lubrication of the crankcase. Moreover, the change at the top management when the season has just started is not a good signal. The new rules force each manufacturer to supply two or three teams. In the event of a dramatic about-face, we will lack some supplies. It would be better to look around to find a new reliable manufacturer ” the manager from Faenza interviewed by www.minardi.it observes. “From Spain some rumors come about a nervous and worried Fernando Alonso”.
The F1 Commission and the Strategy Group have sketched the new qualifying format that will determine the starting grid of World F1 Grand Prix. The session of an hour remains divided into three segments (Q1-Q2-Q3) respectively of 16′, 15′ and 14′. Instead, the elimination system and the pole-positions assignment will completely change.The “hotseat” could became part of the Circus.
The first elimination will happen after the first 7 seconds of the Q1 followed by the other eliminations after every 90 seconds. After this session, only 15 drivers will join the next round. In Q2 the slowest driver will be recalled to the pit after six minutes, and just the faster 8 drivers will access to Q3, the final session, with eliminations that will start after 5 seconds and repeating every 90 seconds. The two best drivers will dispute the pole position in the last 1.30 minutes.
The aim is to create some havoc in the grid, trying to make races less predictable. This decision needs the approval of the World Motor Sport Council on March 4.
GIAN CARLO MINARDI: “It is something new that surely deserves to be tried, but this idea does not convince me because I do not believe it can change the cards at play drastically. Given the few time, Strategists could make some mistakes in Q3, but I do not expect any overturned show. Moreover, it could be a difficult reading for the audience in the stands”.
BERNIE ECCLESTONE has already announced that the new system won’t be operative before the Spanish GP. “We are not ready with the software. Thus, the World Championship will start with the already known qualifying. It isn’t the very format I’d have liked to see, but at least it mixes the cards making the grid less predictable. I’d have preferred thinking to some penalizations”.
Wouldn’t it have been better to announce the new format with a ready software?
The sun has set also on the fourth testing day in Barcelona, setting aside the first one of the two common tests sessions in view of the debut race in Melburne. It is difficult to make any predictions. What stands out from data is Mercedes reliability, but also the step forward of Ferrari with its SF16-H.
Consulted by www.minardi.it Gian Carlo Minardi has commented the first event of the Circus focusing on W07 but also on Ferrari and Force India, despite the economic difficulties of this latter. At McLaren-Honda there have been the first dissatisfactions.
The first two test days in Barcelona have already given us a clue about the potential world champions. Hamilton and Rosberg have managed to notch 320 sessions up without showing any problems. Behind them, we have seen an interesting Ferrari with Sebastian Vettel leading the standings with his SF16-H.
We have asked Gian Carlo Minardi for a specialised opinion. “The first two days have proven all the Mercedes supremacy, especially in terms of reliability. Hamilton and Rosberg have concluded 152 and 172 sessions without any problems. According to the rumors from the circuit: who has tested the times with the stopwatch, talks about a great power gap between the German Power Unit and the trans-alpine one” the manager from Faenza observes. “That being the case, Red Bull has been able to make an excellent frame once again”.
The SF16-H seems “well born” and it represents a new development in comparison to the single-seater for 2015. “In the winter Ferrari took a good step forward, but it is early to determine the gap, since I have the impression that Mercedes is marching purely in race trim. Mercedes and Ferrari are a step ahead of the others” Minardi concludes.
If Ferrari, Williams, Mercedes, McLaren, and Haas have presented their “weapons” for 2016 season, Sauber, Red Bull and Renault have showed only their new chromium patings, whereas Toro Rosso, Force India and Manor haven’t still “answered the call”.
On our official twitter channel we have launched a poll where you can choose the livery for 2016 that you prefer. In a first battery there are Ferrari, Red Bull, Haas, and Williams.
Starting from Monday and until Thursday, the teams will race in Barcelona, for the first round of collective testing in preparation for the Australian Grand Prix which inaugurates the F1 world championship of 2016.
Williams and Ferrari have chosen to present their new 2016 cars through the web, as Red Bull that so far has presented the new livery that will dress the single-seaters consigned to Ricciardo and Kvyat. The return of Renault in the world championship as Manufacturer has been more traditional: they announced their organogram and unveiled a total black livery destined to undergo significant changes in colors.
This is a F1 more and more Social, that is trying to get closer to the new language of the young and very young people.“F1 must be able to race fast not only on the racetrack, but also with news and images. These days presentations are a first step closer to the needs of young people, who lean more and more to social networks to get immediately the news” Gian Carlo Minardi comments.“It is for this reason that the teams do their presentations in two or three steps, before arriving at the final version, starting from the livery” as in the case of Red Bull and Renault. “They can achieve millions of visits this way, ensuring a great visibility to sponsors. On the expenditure side, is also a big saving”.
The web allows reduce distances and boundaries.“Journalists must n’t even move from their offices, and many more people may have available the press kits, ensuring a greater 
disclosure of that material through sites and personal blogs”.Minardi notices another good aspect “Do not forget that there are only four months between the last race of the year and the new season. This new way of working allows teams to take full advantage of the time to develop and prepare the car” the entrepreneur from Faenza concludes. “I appreciate this new approach and this methodology of providing information“.
Paris’ Champ Elisées has been the evocative scenario chosen by Renault to inaugurate its new era in the F1 World Championship.
The new RS16 will be assigned to the young couple composed by Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer with Esteban Ocon, winner of the FIA European F3 and GP3 Series titles in 2014 and 2015, as a third driver and tester. In the last few days, the Danish ex-McLaren has been chosen to take Pastor Maldonado’s place, who wasn’t supported anymore by national oil company PDVSA. That way he is back in the Circus as an official driver after a year break.
In this occasion they also talked about team future programmes, and Carlos Ghosn confirmed the indiscretions on Fernando Alonso revealed by Gian Carlo Minardi on the website www.minardi.it last December. “Surely, I would like to sign with Fernando Alonso. Throughout our years in formula 1, we have worked and known a lot of drivers and Fernando is one of the best”.
In 2005 and 2006 the Spanish driver added the last two titles to the French company, a goal then missed in 2008 and 2009 when he came back in Enstone before moving to Maranello and woking. Fernando comes from a disastrous season with McLaren-Honda and 2016 will be the year of truth.
Surely, the new total black livery with a touch of yellow has surprised, but it will probably changed in view of Australian Grand Prix. Also the exposed car was only a show car created on a 2015 frame. We will see the RS16 during the first tests in Barcelona.