F1 | Gp Germany, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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We saw a German grand prix full of twists and very interesting that rewarded who did not make the slightest mistake, such as Toro Rosso that celebrates an incredible third place with Kvyat to whom I extend my most sincere congratulations and Ferrari with a perfect Vettel. The German driver managed to straighten out a dark weekend for Maranello after the double debacle on Saturday during qualifying.

Sebastian took advantage of every occasion that presented itself without making a mistake and managing to not fall into the trap of the last bend that had famous victims, amongst which the Mercedes drivers and his team mate, as well Raikonnen (very skilled in the road holding) and Nico Hulkenberg.

Ferrari certainly showed that it is growing and very close to its first win. In Germany the team showed important competitiveness in both the heat and the rain. Unfortunately Leclerc made a youthful mistake and this can happen in these difficult conditions.

Verstappen deserved the win, the second in the season, and he must be recognized as the best driver in the GP, together with Vettel. The Dutch driver managed the race by constantly occupying the top places. Congratulations to Honda that won first and third places with two teams. With this result Toro Rosso forced out Renault for fifth place and places itself behind McLaren that is growing strongly.

This was a strong result for our flag bearer Antonio Giovinazzi who put four points on the board jumping over Grosjean on the ladder. Once again he respected team orders and I have a lot of faith for his end to the season. He must continue on this road, without making mistakes and the results will speak for him.

Congratulations also to Lance Stroll, fourth place that rewards him for all the criticism received up to now and that have been accompanying his in his career. Even with a risky strategy, he showed his has what it takes to stay in Formula 1.

Before making an appointment for the next grand prix in Hungary, it is right to highlight Kimi Raikonnen’s excellent work. Once again the Finn, at the wheel of a car in which he does not have to show he is a world champion, he gave the best of himself by achieving important results, just as he had already done with Lotus when he came back from the period in rally. His control during the exit in the curve was a text book move. In Hungary he and Antonio will be able to achieve another good result.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Britain, THE POINT by Gian Carlo MINARDI “Leclerc extraordinary on Gasly but these tyres are an unknown factor”

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Silverstone entered by rights as one of the hardest fought grands prix of the season, although unfortunately there are still too many unknown factors tied to the tyres.

The mixes change but not the lap times, just as we saw with the best time set by Hamilton in the 52nd lap with the Hards when he beat his team mate’s time who had just mounted the Softs. Mercedes confirmed that it is the uncontested queen of the season but I am astounded by this situation. All the teams (with the exception of Ricciardo, Racing Point and Kubica) had only brought Hard sets, a symptom that was not part of the strategy and instead proved that they were decisive in the final result. Hamilton even indulged himself by setting the race’s best lap time.

We file away a race full of duels starting with the struggle between team mates Hamilton and Bottas in the first laps, but the masterpiece, in both the preparation and the execution, was when Leclerc overtook Gasly. I am pleased in the revival from the driver from beyond the Alps and I hope he finds consistency in his results.

After Austria Verstappen and Leclerc gave us another incredible chapter in their personal duel. Luckily they let them continue racing. Ferrari’s driver from Monaco is winning supremacy within the team although they still make mistakes in the strategies in his regards, even if the final result would not have changed. Mercedes is decidedly superior.

Silverstone will also be remembered for Vettel’s latest absolutely incomprehensible mistake.

Despite the final result, it was a positive weekend for Antonio Giovinazzi. The dynamic of his exit from the track makes me think he was betrayed by a technical problem. After the point gained in Austria in qualifying he managed to stay in front of his team mate. I think he has found the right path.

Silverstone will file away its weekend with 351,000 spectators. This important number represents a great ad for all Motorsport. The public was a stupendous setting for a beautiful sunny afternoon. I hope that the income is in the black because last year, just like Monza, they finished in the red.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Austria, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Verstappen-Leclerc, the rivals of the future”

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We are waiting for the marshal’s decision and I would not want to be them. We are faced with the latest interpretation of a rule that must absolutely be changed and rewritten. I am sorry for Leclerc, author of a fantastic grand prix in which he did everything well and putting on show all his determination in defense from Verstappen’s first assault but for me we are faced with a race contact that is not subject to a penalty. These scrimmages are F1’s DNA and if we eliminate them we might as well switch off the TV,

Max Verstappen won on the track to give Honda its first win since it came back to F1 and in the hybrid era after dark and difficult years. As well as interrupting Mercedes’ domination. After a poor start in which he slipped back he came back with determination completing the job when he overtook Leclerc in the end. Leclerc and Verstappen will be the rivals of the future and have just written the first chapter of an exciting battle between two great champions.

We witnessed a very tactical grand prix with a lot of overtaking and also dictated by problems with the tyres. Ferrari brought home precious second and fourth places but the team must ponder since up to the 9th lap, as we understood from the team radio, Leclerc had problems managing fuel consumption.

A swallow does not make a summer and Mercedes is still the car to beat. For all the weekend they were never competitive on a track that they feared. They never managed their tyres well and their drivers were not exempt from some errors. An off weekend is allowed.

Sainz’s excellent performance in a McLaren that is on the rise is to be highlighted. From last to eighth place with Norris who finished in sixth place ahead of Gasly’s Red Bull. With his tenth place Antonio Giovinazzi broke his fast and won his first world championship point behind Kimi Raikonnen. These were three very important points for Alfa Romeo Racing in terms of the Constructors’ ladder.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP Canada, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “These penalties are killing motorsport”

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I do not agree that a race as tight as the Canadian Gran Prix with three drivers within a bare 6” after 70 laps should be ruined by judge’s decision. These decisions are killing Motorsport.

We saw a hard fought race between two great drivers. Vettel certainly made a mistake by coming long into the bend, which in a race as frantic as this one could make sense, just like the struggle between drivers who are part of the history of this sport.

I am not worried about the points lost be the German in view of the world championship but about these decisions that compromise the credibility of Formula 1.

I had not seen such big gaps in a long time. Behind the first three drivers, Bottas paid with a gap of 51” which rose to 57” at Verstappen’s expense who finishing fifth over the line and in front of Ricciardo, the first of the lapped drivers and the second Renault driven by Hulkenberg. A point for Kvyat with Toro Rosso completed the top ten with Gasly (8th) and Stroll (9th).

Before closing I find Kevin Magnussen’s declarations to his team improper when he said that he had never driven such an ugly car. Pity that he was the one who destroyed it against the wall and that his mechanics had performed a miracle in rebuilding it to give him the chance race the GP.

This is all for this evening but I will give you an appointment in the next few days to go deeper into the episodes of this seventh round of the world championship in Montreal.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Montecarlo, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Hamilton perfect. Ferrari, how many mistakes”

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Lewis Hamilton won one of the most exciting Montecarlo grands prix with four drivers within barely 4 seconds. The Mercedes driver confirmed he is a very great champion since, despite his problems with the tyres, he brought home an important win in front of Max Verstappen who never have him a moment of respite. On the other hand, faced with the difficulties with his car Vettel made a number of errors in qualifying and crashed with the FP3.

Verstappen committed a moment of carelessness without which he could have come back in fourth place. Maybe he took away Mercedes’ chance for a sixth consecutive double, even if I saw Bottas under subdued. I thought the 5” second penalty was right.

With the second place Vettel and Ferrari saved a weekend in which they committed unjustifiable mistakes, even if during the race they kept pace with the leaders. What happened on Saturday during qualifying was inexplicable. A team such as Ferrari cannot make such mistakes and, above all, I find it unacceptable that they appealed to the luck of others, especially if these words come from their CEO.

There is no justification ruining a grand prix for your driver that had shown he had an extra gear on the others by giving us two masterly overtakes in the race, as well as a mistake that will surely help him for the future. At that moment Leclerc was unloading all his frustration. In qualifying he had made a serious mistake in assessment which is synonymous with anxiety and nervousness.

Gian Carlo Minard

Gp Spain | THE POINT by GIAN CARLO MINARDI “It was the grand prix of truth”

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We are facing an incredible monopoly that will be hard to stop. This was the fifth double labelled Mercedes in as many grands prix but what should worry us most of all above all was race pace set by Hamilton and Bottas that highlighted, especially after the re-entry of the safety car.

It should have been the grand prix of truth. This winter we deluded ourselves but the truth is very different, with 8 tenths of a second in qualifying and the race they did everything they wanted to do. Despite the development of Ferrari’s engine the fourth and fifth places by Vettel and Leclerc were difficult results to digest since Verstappen also came into it with his Red Bull.

For a year now the Dutchman has made no mistakes and has become a serious pretender for scoring the points and important results which are essential for his team’s place in the constructors’ ladder.

In two weeks time we will go to Montecarlo, a round in which the chassis is fundamental and to which we must add a Honda engine that is growing. Despite everything, it will be hard even for them to stop Mercedes’ supremacy which leaves little for any justification.

Luckily the cars in the back entertained us with a fight for essential points for the “second division” championship with Magnussen, Sainz, Kvyat and Grosjean who completed the top ten behind Gasly.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Gp Cina |THE POINT by MINARDI “The forces in the field took shape”

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This was the second double and the second win in as many races. In Shanghai Lewis Hamilton put his signature on the 1,000th GP ahead of Bottas and Vettel’s Ferrari. Mercedes put on show a superior pace of at least 3-4 tenths of a second better than its direct rivals, even if it showed it can manage the race at its leisure.

The forces in the field took shape in this grand prix, with Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Haas and Renault, and with some outsiders that changed from time to time, such as Raikonnen with the Alfa Romeo and/or Toro Rosso that celebrated its 250th GP with Albon’s tenth place by exploiting the debacle of others (such as Renault’s problems with reliability)-

Ferrari said goodbye to Shanghai with Vettel’s third place and Leclerc in fifth, with the driver from Monaco hurt by a strategy that was surely not the best and gave Verstappen an advantage. We saw minimal differences in times between the two drivers with Leclerc who made up for a small error in qualifying with a positive start even if he was forced to give up a place to his team mate.

Talking about strange strategies, the one adopted for Giovinazzi was inexplicable. I hope, after having seen the problem that he once again suffered in qualifying, that the team wanted to carry out developments tests in the light of the next rounds. This was a pity because Antonio’s race rhythm was good once again and equal to Raikonnen’s.

This was a positive weekend for Albon in which he entered the points zone after starting from pit lane. The driver will continue to grow during the season and who put a good pace on show. He only lacks a little experience.

I am waiting for you all at Imola in two weeks, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th, to talk about F1 during the Historic Minardi Day and to experience a weekend under the banner of Motorsport and passion.

Gian Carlo Minardi

GP Australia | THE POINT by MINARDI “The difference Mercedes-Ferrari dictated by the engine”

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In order to analyze the Melbourne grand prix we need to take a step back to Q1 in qualifying where we had 16 drivers within 1” – that confirms the closing up towards the top ranks in the performance of the teams in which a small mistake is enough to be cut out – the difference from top to bottom of the group grew to a second and a half in Q2 up to 2” in Q3 with a gap of 7 tenths of a second between Hamilton’s Mercedes and Vettel’s Ferrari.

In my opinion the advantage is to be found mainly in the engine and the capacity to manage the power as Bottas showed in the record lap (1’25”580) in the second last lap in which he managed to increase his race pace by 1” with great ease taking away Vettel’s fastest lap (1ì26”2). Ferrari stopped at 1’26’9 with Leclerc.

We witnessed a very tight race that was won by Valtteri Bottas who was the lead actor with his best race. The Finn was unbeatable, especially in the middle part in which he set the fastest lap six times between the 31st and 42nd laps with a race pace clearly superior to the competition between 1’26”7 and 1’27”2.

Ferrari will need to analyze this negative result that was dictated not so much with the fourth and fifth places of Vettel and Leclerc but especially by the considerable gap inflicted during the race, Sebastian and Charles crossed the finishing line with a delay of 57” and 58” from Bottas. This is an enormity if we think of the results of the Barcelona tests. Vettel complained a lot about the tyres and I am honestly amazed by the choice of the teams to bring only one set of Hard tyres which showed that they were the best mix for the race as we saw with the Ferrari number 16 during its comeback.

This was an excellent result for Verstappen with the Red Bull Honda who took a very important podium finish (the first for the Japanese since its return to F1). The Dutchman set a rhythm, especially in the final part that Ferrari found hard to match. A round of applause also for Kvyat who celebrated his return to the world championship with tenth place in front of Gasly’s Red Bull and to Kimi Raikonnen with an excellent eighth place with Alfa Romeo Racing. Antonio Giovinazzi paid the price for an imperfect qualifying when he missed the cut for Q3, as well as a less than excellent race strategy by the team. With a parity of tyres however his rhythm was not far from that of Kimi.

We now anxiously wait for the Bahrain Grand Prix (March 31st)

Gian Carlo Minardi

THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi "An emotional weekend"

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Another season is filed away and above all a weekend in which I personally experienced a number of emotional moments, beginning with the party for Fernando Alonso on Saturday evening with two world champions of the calibre of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel who “escorted” Fernando Alonso. Independently of the number of titles, Nando was a great champion.

The extraordinary image contains all the beauty of this sport that continues to surprise and give me unique emotions. Despite the duels on the track between these young men and great champions there is great respect. Fernando Alonso experienced a weekend he will never forget, praised by all. It is a pity that nobody wanted to give him a car for 2019. It am sure today was not goodbye but a see you later.

The season went into the record books with Lewis Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ latest titles that show that once again they have no rivals. Bottas was subdued, finishing the season just behind Kimi Raikkonen on the driver’s ladder (third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel).

Next year Ferrari will be called upon to take another step in its development to oppose Mercedes’ domination as happened in the first half of the season in which it even took the lead in the World Championship. Sadly, it paid the price of a negative second half in which Kimi Raikkonen was not missing but Sebastian Vettel.

With the first day of collective tests on Tuesday the curtain will rise on the 2019 season which will give us a starting grid with many changes, one of which is Leclerc in red, hoping that he will be the right partner to give Vettel a boost.

A positive season also closes for the colours of the ACI Team Italia. The flagbearers Puccini, Fuoco and Ghiotto put themselves on display at Abu Dhabi in GP3 and Formula 2 respectively. These results must be a source of pride.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Mexico, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “This result must make Ferrari think”

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Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who won his fifth World Championship in Mexico. The extraordinary result came in Mercedes’ hardest weekend that saw a perfect Max Verstappen win in front of the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikonnen (a pity about Daniel Ricciardo). It was a decidedly important result for the “red cars” that let it keep the Constructors’ title open, even if personally I think that the comeback is very complicated, if not impossible.

The race, tight and not easy as can be seen by the gap between the drivers in which the tyres were once again the protagonists, must make the men from Maranello think, especially about the too many errors made during the season, which is coming to an end with a few too many regrets. Well done Vettel who, after the race, praised his rival on a Sunday in which he managed to interrupt his negative period.

Amongst the second rank teams Renault consolidated fourth place, an important result in light of the future, and with Sauber that leaped over Toro Rosso to take eighth place thanks to the seventh and ninth places claimed by Leclerc and Ericsson. The duel will continue in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp United States, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Unacceptable mistakes by Vettel. Verstappen the next World Champion”

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At Austin we witnessed another excellent grand prix, ruined by the latest mistake (the second of the weekend) by Sebastian Vettel. Nine mistakes in eighteen grands prix is an unacceptable average for a driver that wants to win his fifth world championship.

Ferrari’s German driver was certainly the great absentee in a great fight for final victory between three drivers belonging to three different teams that saw Kimi Raikonnen return to success.

The Finn was very good and built this success right from qualifying, without making the slightest error, as has been happening to him for a number of races in this part. Anyway, Ferrari won an important result, placing its cars between the two Mercedes and showing important competitiveness that should make Vettel think even more.

It was a stupendous race by Max Verstappen, a future world champion, who kept at bay the five times world champion who did not hold anything back to try and close the game in Texas with a double cross on Red Bull’s Dutch driver who defended second place superlatively.

In a week’s time we will be back on track in Mexico and there is little time to recharge the batteries, above all for a team (Ferrari) that must again find calm and trust in its lead driver, who is surely not achieving the results expected of him.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Japan, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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This was another favourable weekend for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton who is heading towards his fifth world championship. The weekend was unfavourable for Ferrari (that finished behind Red Bull) from which emerged the nervousness of the drivers, as well as from within the team. I certainly cannot share the Team principal’s declarations.

It was a race conditioned by two minor collisions with Verstappen in which both Raikonnen and Vettel suffered some damage but I would not use this as an excuse for justifying a lacklustre performance since in any case Vettel managed to set the grand prix’s the fastest time on the very last lap.

Once again there was no uniformity in penalties since I do not consider the episode between the German and the Dutch drivers as a simple minor race collision. The Ferrari driver was already inside by more than a car’s length and Verstappen could easily have widened out after what happened with Raikonnen (once again not incisive) for which he had already received a 5” penalty (maybe too few as well). More uniformity is needed, regardless of the driver’s name.

Mercedes put away Suzuka with another one-two finish. It again showed that it can manage every situation in the best way possible and to be able to dictate the race. There are four more races until the end and only the mathematics does not allow the team to celebrate yet another triumphant season.

Red Bull lost an opportunity, especially after the very good performance in qualifying that was annulled by a mistake in race strategy. The duel with Sauber for eighth place is still alive, while Haas and Racing Point Force India have made up points respectively on Renault (only one point with Sainz) and McLaren.

The GP’s best driver? Surely Lewis Hamilton who was perfect in every occasion.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP Russia, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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It was a very tight grand prix when Mercedes had to resort to all the possible strategies in order to beat a good Ferrari which can only regret giving 2-3 tenths of a second to its direct rivals. Once again Bottas sacrificed himself for his team mate (but I do not condemn the act) even though we saw the essence of the weekend in the fifteenth lap when Hamilton overtook Vettel.

Toto Wolff’s team found once more found the policy of the best times and Ferrari must regret its mistakes (in strategy and drivers) when the circumstances favourable.

Bottas was the weekend’s best driver and was perfect in both qualifying and the race when he managed to keep Hamilton’s rhythm. It was the perfect race for young Leclerc who finished in seventh place with the Sauber, just behind the two Red Bull drivers and so gave the team important points in the direct duel with Toro Rosso. The driver from Monaco set fantastic times, especial between the 34th and 42nd laps. Max Verstappen was very good in taking full advantage of his tyres by covering more than 40 laps. Pirelli should give us some explanations since these tyres are performing very differently from the expectations and the technical desires at the start of the season.

In a week’s time we will be back for a new duel between Vettel and Hamilton on the track of a circuit with a historic flavour like Suzuka.

Gian Carlo Minardi