Archive for category: F1

Even the ninth round has finished. Let’s take some votes on the German GP’s main protagonists.

PIRELLI 7 – After last week’s great issue, the supplier was able to find a solution to a ridiculous technical situation. They hadn’t any problem this time. However I’m still skeptic about the changeableness of tyre behavior; I can understand the difference between different types of compound, but I cannot understand the reason why tyres behavior changes so much whenever the temperature of the asphalt changes a little bit. I don’t think it’s the right way to make a GP more spectacular.

Sebastian Vettel 9 – There isn’t much more to say. He can always make the most of an excellent car and he was able to recover from Silverstone’s whitewash. Webber was very clever, as well. The Australian was able to respond to the problem he had during pit-stop in a very good way. He recovered several positions and scored points, showing he can make it onto the podium.

Raikkonen 8.5 – Excellent GP both for him and for the Lotus.

Romain Grosjean 8 – He was a good aggressor and team man. He gave way to his team mate.

Fernando Alonso 7.5 – This mark is only for Alonso, not for the Ferrari team which is in trouble at the moment.

Jenson Button 7 – He showed he is able to give the best of himself, making the most of his McLaren which is not yet at the top. The team can be a dangerous outsider also in Hungary, where temperatures will be so high.

Sergio Perez – Nico Rosberg – Nico Hulkenberg – Daniel Ricciardo 6 – The racers who deserve this mark the most are the Toro Rosso’s driver Ricciardo, who drove a very good qualifying race and the Sauber’s German driver who scored one point.

It’s Gian Carlo Minardi’s reprimand toward the people who want to replace the three-day rookie test session scheduled for July 17^th to 19^th at Silverstone, with a tyre test session.

After the blow-outs which affected the result of the British GP, the F.1 main actors thought about replacing the three-day- rookie test session with a session dedicated to tyre development.

We don’t have to forget that the test days dedicated to the young drivers were born with the aim of testing and valuing the most promising young drivers, putting them to the test behind the wheel of a F.1 car on a top-tier category’s track. That is a very important stage for all the drivers who strive for the F.1 and fight every weekend to win a race or a Championship in the preparatory series “ The situation we’re living today in F.1 is a consequence of the few tests made and tyre approval only after few tyre test sessions under weather conditions which were so different from those we’re experiencing in this period of the year”, says Gian Carlo Minardi “That being said, I don’t agree with the request of replacing the rookie test with tyre tests. In this moment we cannot afford to lose the chance to see young drivers in action behind the wheel of a F.1 car only because some regulation’ mistakes have been made to bring the cost down”, warns the manager from Faenza who has built his career supporting young drivers’ professional development “How much does  the “tyre-gate” cost in terms of image and economic loss? Maybe more than some tests planned to support single-seater and tyre development”

As an answer to some teams’ request, Charlie Whiting has said that the proposal will be taken into consideration. The FIA and the Pirelli have arranged a meeting for Wednesday to find a solution before next race, to be held at the Nurburgring (in 7 days).

Sunday’s blow-outs are a very important signal for safety. A tyre’s blow-out at 300 km/h can cause bad consequences for a driver and Adrian Newey points the finger at those teams which didn’t want to change compounds “In this moment teams are blaming each other about their influence on Pirelli’s decision to continue to use the same compound. I think Pirelli, one of the biggest tyre manufacturers all over the world, had informed on time the FIA about what was happening and all the problems to be faced. At that point the FIA should have automatically approved new tyres to ensure safety. In this way, all the arguments about the matter would have been called to a halt and the unanimous approval to proceed would have not been necessary”, ends Minardi.

A few hours before the Silverstone GP begins, people are working hard to get the cars well prepared to make Friday’s free practice session to officially mark the beginning of the F.1 Championship’s 8^th round. Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes are favourite to win, but also Lotus and Force India shouldn’t be underestimated, as they are such good outsiders, ready to seize every single chance.

Over the past few hours Mark Webber has announced that he will quit F.1 and Red Bull at the end of the season to join Porsche’s new Le Mans sportscar project LMP1 “It’s an honour for me to join Porsche at its return to the top-tier category in Le Mans and in the sports car World Endurance Championship and be part of the team. Porsche has written the history of motorsport as a car manufacturer and stands for outstanding technology and performance at the highest level.”

The Australian made his debut in F.1 in 2002 alongside the Minardi Team, driving the Minardi PS02. In his homeland he finished 5^th, getting all the Minardi Team’ fans very excited.

“I knew about Mark’s decision to quit F.1, we had already announced that in our website. I think he quits F.1 in the right moment. Taking part in the LMP1 races alongside Porsche doesn’t mean he will be downgraded, on the contrary, it’s a good prize to his career. He has always demonstrated to be an excellent driver and I think he will continue to demonstrate it even in this new adventure. They will have to pay attention to Audi and Toyota. The 2014 season will be full of sport challenges”, says Gian Carlo Minardi.

After scoring 2 points alongside the Faenza-based team, Webber moved first to Jaguar then to Williams and Red Bull, where he arrived in 2008. The English team will celebrate its 600 GP starts at Silverstone and Pastor Maldonado feels confident of scoring his first points: “I’m proud to be part of this historic moment for my team. Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits. It has a lot of character. Low temperatures will play a key role on front tyre degradation, so it will be very important to set a good strategy. We have also to consider that the new part of the track is with fewer grips. Our goal is to finish in the points zone and make this event even more memorable for the team”, says Pastor Maldonado.

Ferrari’s Team Principal is confident and ready to recover. In the past season Alonso sealed a win in Silverstone “Our goal is to bridge the gap with the top position in the next races. I think we’ll be very competitive in Silverstone: we’ve been competitive here also in the recent past, but we know that many causes could play an important role. Tyres? Tyre management will depend on weather conditions and temperatures. The team is well concentrated: we know we have to get a good result, but we’ve already accustomed to this kind of pressure.”

In the run for the pole position, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg can bother Sebastian Vettel “It’s always special to race at Silverstone. It’s my home race. We’ve had a long break between the Canadian GP and the British one, so I’m looking forward to get back behind the wheel. I like the British track very much and I think that, since there are high speed corners, it will be very important to find the right pace”, says Hamilton “We’ve made some steps forward and are working to the right direction. We look forward to a great weekend.”

“Silverstone is our home race, so we love this weekend. The track is completely different from the one at Monaco and Montreal, here there are many quick corners. I don’t know how our car can react, what is sure is that tyre will undergo weather influence. The atmosphere you live is always special at Silverstone and it will be so good to share the motorhome with the other drivers. We’ll arrange a big barbecue”, says Nico Rosberg.

The last few F.1 Championships were enlivened by different world champions. The current season is being enlivened by 5 champions, who are battling each other, trying to get the most of each race. With the exception of Rosberg, all the 2013 season wins were taken by these world champions. Vettel took 3 wins, Alonso 2 and Raikkonen 1. That shows how much competitive and hard-fought a F.1 season can be.

Four of the five champions are in the first four positions of the standing, with the three-time-champion Sebastian Vettel leading on 132 points, followed by the two-time-champion Fernando Alonso on 96 points ahead of Kimi Raikkonen on 88 and Lewis Hamilton on 77. Jenson Button takes the 10^th position on 25 points.

In this moment, Sebastian Vettel is skilled enough to drive the best car of the Championship. He has always optimized all the points he scored. He did a great job since the beginning, when he became the official driver of a Red Bull which was undergoing a changing process, trying to get the most of the regulation changes. In this respect, it was not so good even for Fernando Alonso. After taking some wins alongside Renault, the Spaniard moved to the McLaren where he had to deal with a very performing Lewis Hamilton, before becoming a Ferrari driver when the Scuderia had already won everything and was about to close an era. Now, along with the team he’s working to start a new era, which is not easy at all, considering the world championship’s high level.  I think that Fernando is the best driver of the Championship, even though he has got less than he would have deserved, so far, because of some wrong choices and, more in general, some situations which were not managed in a right way. In this first part of the season he brought out the 110% of his potential. He was very able to recover from low positions, as it happened in Canada. Unfortunately the points zone missed in Malaysia and Bahrein will have an impact on his season.

Lewis Hamilton made a stunning debut into F.1. The Englishman was able to get the better of the world champion Alonso by delivering excellent performances. He won the title the following year, when he was McLaren’s main driver. The English driver has got less than he would have deserved, as well. He’s a very fast driver, even during qualifying sessions. He suffered the decline of his ex-team. His team mate Rosberg has been undervalued, but he has high speed and resolution as a part of his DNA. The German driver has paid his dues time after time. The Englishman has certainly the toughest team mate ever.

As far as Kimi Raikkonen is concerned, we can say that he’s a completely reborn driver. Now he is maybe more determined than he was in 2008, the year he won the world championship at the wheel of the Ferrari. It was so good for him to leave F.1 for 2 years, he’s also in a very good shape. His Lotus was designed in a very good way and he has been so skillful in finishing in the points almost always. He will certainly be the 2014 F.1 season’s market-man.

Finally, there’s Jenson Button. He was able to bring a sweeping change to his career by winning the title at the wheel of the Brawn GP. Victory gave him that self-confidence he lacked, but I think he’s the most vulnerable driver among the 5 world champions. If he wants to win, he has to get the most of some situations, like being performing in the wet, even if he has an excellent tyre management. He’s an honest worker and a very good professional driver, however, even if he has a competitive car, he has more difficulties than the other champions.

After the Canadian GP has taken place at Montreal. Gian Carlo Minardi takes some votes on the drivers

Sebastian Vettel 9 – There is nothing more to say. If he hadn’t made those two little mistakes he would have deserved a 10.

Fernando Alonso 8.5 – He didn’t dishearten after driving a disappointing qualifying race. He drove an aggressive race, setting good lap times.

Lewis Hamilton 8 – He was very performing in qualifying and during the race. Despite he had some tyre issues; he was able to give Fernando a hard time before and after being overtaken by the Spaniard. Three world Champions got a podium finish. They fought against each other to entertain us.

Jean – Eric Vergne 8 – He was so good at leading his Toro Rosso to the Top 6, which I consider a very good position, since in the past it marked the zone points limit. He was very competitive both in qualifying and during the race on every kind of tyre.  He didn’t make any errors.

Paul Di Resta 7 – He deserves a good vote because he was determined. He has to share his success with his team which is 7^th, ahead of McLaren.

Felipe Massa 7 – Despite he made a serious fail to be such an experienced driver, he drove an aggressive race, recovering several positions. After the terrible accidents occurred in Monte Carlo, we have to understand him. He scored important points.

Valtteri Bottas 7 – He drove an excellent qualifying race. He’s giving a non-performing Maldonado a hard time.

Nico Rosberg 6.5 – After a fabulous win in Monte Carlo, we were expected him to be more performing. He suffered Pirelli tyre degradation more than his team mate.

Webber, Maldonado and Raikkonen are unsatisfactory. The Finn gets excited when he drives a performing car but he’s non-performing when he has to face hard times.

Nico Rosberg – 10. He never put a wheel wrong. His race pace was unbeatable; he set a stunning qualifying time. He’s standing comparison with his teammate who is considered as the Championship’s best driver. He deserved victory.

Lewis Hamilton – 8. He drove an excellent race, but he took an imperfect start.

Mercedes – 10.  Besides tyres testing, the German team demonstrated to be capable to strive for the win. The team has the best driving duo in terms of performance, race speed and points.

Vettel –Webber – Red Bull – 8. They accomplished their job; they handled Friday issues at best. If they manage to finish 2nd and third even when they’re not at the top of their potential, rivals have something to be worried about.

Adrian Sutil – Paul Di Resta – Force India -8. The Indian team is one of the most dangerous outsiders; once again both drivers finished in the top 10, nibbling away important points to Alonso. They do a very good job and deserve the position they hold now.

Jenson Button – 7. The Englishman is fighting tooth and nail; he’s experiencing a difficult moment. He got an unexpected position at the beginning of the weekend.

Sergio Perez – 6. If, on the one hand, he deserves some penalties because of his impetuousness, on the other hand he made good passes and shoot-outs. He doesn’t want to be a second class driver, but he still has to gain so much experience.

McLaren – 7. Despite the English team is facing a difficult moment, they managed to take home important points. If Perez hadn’t been so impetuous, both drivers would have finished in the top 10.

Fernando Alonso – 5. When Button, Sutil and Perez overtook him, he was too compliant. After driving many brilliant races, it happens to drive a less good race; the Monaco weekend was not so exciting for the whole team. Anyway the team scored 6 points which are so important with regards to the standing.

Ferrari – 5. The team is regretfully because it didn’t manage to get some extra points. It happens to have a difficult weekend, but it will be so important to analyse the whole weekend.

Jean – Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso – 8. Vergne qualified in the top 10; during the race he kept a top 10 position. The Italian team handled a good strategy. Their car has been finishing in the top 10 since a few races; the team still keeps the seventh position to the standing.

Lotus – Kimi Raikkonen – 7. Thanks to a very performing car, the team continues to drive good races. The Finnish drove a too defensive race, obstructing Perez too much.

Romain Grosjean – 4. The team cannot make so many mistakes in a single racing week end. The team has to think over it. I hope Valsecchi will have the chance to draw attention on himself.