F1 | Gian Carlo Minardi "It would take more drivers like Hamilton"

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After the first events in Australia and Bahrain, Nico Rosberg guides the Driver standings with 50 points resulting from two clear wins. This chain of victories has continued for 5 consecutive weekends (three in 2015), bringing to sixteen his personal successes.

On pole position front, anyway, the star performer is definitely Lewis Hamilton who made a perfect lap also in Sakhir, beating off his competitors. He was less good in both starts in which his team mate got the better of him. In Bahrain, he even ended up in the middle of the group due to a contact suffered from Bottas, maker of a colorless race. Critics took the occasion for condemning his too dissolute lifestyle made of parties and worldliness.“A driver who achieves a pole position like that signed by Hamilton in Bahrain he can be everything but not out of focus. Also in race, despite his car was damaged by the contact with Bottas, he has been very good in recovering and achieved the podium, behind Raikkonen. His two mistakes at the start can be ok. When you have a perfect and superior car like Mercedes in this moment, you pay each little mistakes with the team mate’s victory”, Gian Carlo Minardi observes. The chronometer shows Mercedes faster than Ferrari, second power in the World Championship: 0,8 “ in race and 1′ in qualifying.

“We should have more Hamilton in this Formula 1. In his spare time he enjoys life and cultivates his hobbies, but when it is time of getting serious, everything disappear, and there are his performances to prove it. In a certain sense, it’s like 20 years ago”.

In this moment, Maranello has to face reliability that blocked Sebastian Vettel during the formation lap in Sakhir. This headache could affect the development of the SF16-H. “The famous “little knob” works very well on Mercedes, whereas it creates reliability problems for Ferrari due to the temperature emitted by the Power-Unit, even if it helped to decrease the gap” , the manager from Faenza concludes and invites us to watch the Chinese event that will take place in just over a week.

F1 | Qualifying, about-turn in the format

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A step back of the stables regarding the new qualifying format: starting from the Cinese Grand Prix, scheduled April 17, we’ll have no more eliminations every 90 seconds, that we experienced in Australia and Bahrain. Instead, we’ll still have three turns. We are back to the format of 2015.

Teams have joined to ask unanimously Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt to abandon the new format that had collected a lot of criticism by fans, teams and drivers since its debut. The new technical rules remain a mistery.

“It’s time for F1 to sit around a table and start working with an entrepreneur’s attitude and make medium and long-term programs instead of chatting fruitlessly. April is also started and we haven’t still any signal about the new technical regulation for 2017. Unfortunately, there is a strange trend of pushing back any decisions with just the aim to not change anything”, observes Gian Carlo Minardi who last days has focused the attention on free practices opened to the rookies.

Gian Carlo Minardi "F1 must value young drivers"

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The weekend in Bahrain delivered the first spark to McLaren-Honda, thanks to the rookie Vandoorne called back from Japan at the last minute to substitute the injured Fernando Alonso. It was a difficult task for the Belgian driver 24 years old catapulted into a car that he had never tested because of his engagement in Super Formula. His debut was important, and he didn’t do a poor figure among World Champions.

It was a good weekend also for another young driver debuting in the World Championship: Pascal Wehrlein that in qualifying brought the little Manor in sixteenth, and ended his race ahead of two Sauber and Force India.

A result that should make us meditate. “It’s true, fortune has a great role in life, beyond the talent, but the fact that we don’t create specific occasions to test these young, excluding sporadic episodes linked to the accident of a regular driver, is ungenerous toward them. With tests blocked, the free practice on Friday would be an excellent occasion for young drivers. This way, we can also add value to the work of Federations”, says Gian Carlo Minardi consulted by www.minardi.it.“Only one in a thousand succeeds, but we ought give him the chance to test himself. Don’t forget that Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, just to name two, became what they are thanks to thousands of free practices on Friday morning dedicated to rookies where they proved to keep up with the job”, remembers the manager from Faenza who in his long career in the World Championship has promoted a lot of young drivers.

“Vandoorne was very fast and didn’t any mistakes. He caused some problems for Jenson Button, a World Champion, bringing the first point to McLaren. Without Alonso’s injury, he wouldn’t had this chance. It would have been a great pity. Who knows how many “Vandoorne” are there, just waiting their chance. Wehrlein’s weekend is also noteworthy, with a great past in DTM, but heavily debated. In spite of some complications of his Manor, he defended himself with a good qualifying and an excellent race”.

“Formula 1 must give a chance to the young. Today, instead, everything is blocked. This way isn’t the right one”, Gian Carlo Minardi concludes.

F1 | Haas kept targeted by Red Bull and Williams. Minardi “A dangerous game"

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Haas is surely the wonder team of this seasonal start. In the first two Grand Prixs, the Us group managed to gather 18 points thanks to Romain Grosjena and his fifth and sixth place in Bahrain and in Australian at the opening race. A booty that put the stable in the fifth place, behind Red Bull and just at two lengths from Williams. Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen have the same points. A prize list that could have been greater without the double zero of Guttierez who slowed down due to some troubles in Sakhir and by a contact suffered from Fernando Alonso in Melbourne.

As Gian Carlo Minardi had anticipated in his post-race clip “We are entering a dangerous arena for F1. They are rewriting the “Constructors” meaning“, Christian Horner and Pat Symonds feel themselves threatened and condemn this new kind of F1.“In Sakhir they raced fast and their strategy worked very well. The VF-16 is fast and solid. Last year model of Ferrari looks still very competitive” the Red Bull team principal lampoons them. “If we do the same of Haas, F1 will be less and less prerogative of constructors and frame makers. Undoubtely, they have done very well and legally acted. Anyway, is this the right way? I am not sure”, the technical director of williams says.

An opinion shared with the manager from Faenza who analyzes what happened last Sunday, after the grand prix where Grosjean ended ahead of Verstappen and his Toro Rosso, Kviat and his Red Bull and the two Williams. “If our future is having three or four constructors/frame makers, the World Championship should be opened only to them. I don’t find fair to split the royalties cake also with the assemblers. In this moment, Haas team is not a constructor because has too many changeable pieces”.Nothing new, anyway, since we had this scenario already in 2005. “At first, the stable of Toro Rosso was a Red Bull clone. Then Williams, quoted at the stock exchange, made actual the definition of constructor and that of intellectual property. A step back was made, and, with some difficulties, they became again independent“.

“Ferrari, anyway, has been very good at playing with the gaps in regulations and has made very valuable choices, that on paper, could open new scenarios with Sauber and Force India destined to disappear because they are no longer marketable. With the assemblers’ entrance, the value of a team as a constructor deteriorates. Instead, Mercedes could strenghten its cooperation with Manor, whereas Red Bull will have to find a constructor.” Minardi continues confirming what anticipated us last months, “They have always declared they are in F1 to win. So, I am quite sure that they are now looking around”.

 

F1 | GP Bahrain – SCORECARDS

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Nico Rosberg – 9. Second seasonal winning and perfect score. Once again, he did better than his team-mate at the start and handled the race very well. Surely, he was helped by an impeccable Mercedes that outperforms the first of its chasers with a gap of 0,8”.

Kimi Raikkonen – 8 like in the last season he made a great race, without any mistakes, bringing Ferrari to the second place. In qualifying, anyway, he can’t get Vettel concerned.

Stoffel Vandoorne – 8 an amazing debut for the substitute for Fernando Alonso called back in Japan at the last minute. He didn’t any mistake. Perhaps, we should give more chances to these young drivers. I continue to be a supporter to free practice open to rookies on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton – 7,5 he has frustrated a pole position for the second consecutive time because of a faulty start. At the first bend, he was in the middle of the group where Bottas did the rest. Anyway, in spite of a defective strategy, he gained the third position.

Max Verstappen -7,5 once again he delighted us with excellent overtakings, particularly to the detriment of Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat bringing his Toro Rosso in sixth.

Daniel Ricciardo – 7,5 he can’t do more with this engine, but he reached the third place in the Drivers World Championship, dragging his Red Bull behind Mercedes and Ferrari.

Pascal Wehrlein – 7, he is building his Formula 1 future very well. He was great in qualifying (P16 with the little Manor) and didn’t save any energy during the race, ending ahead of Sauber and Force India.

Romain Grosjean -7 an excellent seasonal start for the French driver that brings his Haas in fifth, behind the two Mercedes, a Ferrari, and a Red Bull. Surely, next days, the performance of the American team will make us discuss. They are changing the definition of “Constructors” because their car is a Ferrari clone.

Carlos Sainz -6,5 the start was good, but once again he was very unlucky also because of Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez – 4 definitely a bad day for the Williams and Force India standard-bearers. They did their best to ruin their race and that of their team-mates.

The Race Direction – 4 we are talking so much about security, but then when cars lose some pieces on the track they aren’t even called to pits.

 

F1 | Gp Bahrain – Preview

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We can expect a strategic Grand Prix with tires in a leading role. Pirelli will take the Medium, Soft, and Super Soft tires. Teams will have a variegated assortment. Someone has already shown us his possible strategy. In fact, Mercedes will take just a set of Medium tires per driver, and six sets of Soft and Super Soft ones, proving their intention not to use the Medium tires. Instead, at Ferrari, Raikkonen and Vettel will have four sets of Soft (that they will use in qualifying and in the first part of the race) and six sets of Super Soft. Last year, Soft tires had a leading role in this GP, with a two stops strategy. They used Medium tires because so required by the rules.

We are approaching a “real” circuit after the city circuit in Melbourne. Heat will have a key role, even if the race will be at the end of the day, with less torrid temperatures. The brakes will be stressed due to the long straights. It will be interesting to see, beyond the chase of Mercedes, the role of Haas and Toro Rosso that last year achieved the top ten.Today, they can count on a greater reliability and on a Ferrari engine.

Twelve months ago, Sebastian Vettel gave us the first raw, few tenths of seconds from the poleman Hamilton, whereas Raikkonen had his best race, ending in second.

There are a lot of cues to expect an amazing race weekend, starting from Friday with the two rounds of free practice scheduled at 13.00 and 17.00 (Italian time), and Saturday at 14.00 in view of qualifying (17.00). After a lot of  criticisms, in Bahrain we’ll have again qualifying with eliminations every 90 seconds.

Friday 1 April

Free practice 1       13:00-14:30

Free practice 2      17:00-18,30

Saturday  2 April

Free practice        14:00-15:00

Qualifying             17:00

Sunday 3 April

Race 17:00  ̶  57 laps

Save the date: Formula 1 back in Imola

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Easter is coming, and taking the occasion to send their best Wishes, Gian Carlo Minardi and the whole Minardi Team have arranged a unique surprise.

During the “Historic Minardi Day” June 25, 2016 Formula 1 will be back at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit of Imola. Alongside the single-seaters having characterized the Team from Faenza for 21 years in the Formula 1 World Championship, cars from F1, Formula 2, and Formula 3 that wrote the most important pages of the circuit in 35 years, will hurtle again along the famous chicanes at “Acque Minerali”, Rivazza” “Tosa” “Tamburello” “Villeneuve”. A unique event to see again on the track the colors of the Minardi Team and some “unique pieces” of the Circus.

“I am really glad to announce the birth of this first Historic Minardi Day, and to bring back Formula 1 in Imola. We will have the occasion to see again on track some single-seaters coming from F1, F2 and F3 that struggled along the track named after Enzo and Dino Ferrari. These ten years out from the Circus have passed quickly, but the fondness of collectors and enthusiasts and their interest in the Minardi Team are really strong and warm. The Historic Minardi Day will be the occasion to meet up again on the track”, an enthusiastic Gian Carlo Minardi explains.

 

F1 | Gian Carlo Minardi “Gap on track increased”

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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”.

F1, Australian GP – SCORECARDS

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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.

F1 | Single-seaters still at the pits, but the first threats appear. New arrivals on the grid?

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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...

Video, F1 | Gian Carlo Minardi presents the new season

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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.

 

F1 | Since Melbourne, "More silent races"

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 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.

F1 | Gian Carlo Minardi "Performance and reliability make a step forward"

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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”.