F1 | Gp Melbourne: THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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It was an emotional end of the week for Italian colours on the Melbourne track. After Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari having won a place on the front row and Antonio Giovinazzi’s debut at the wheel of the Sauber (in place of the injured Pascal Weherlein) the German driver won the season’s first grand prix putting the SF70H on the highest step of the podium.

We must not fall into the trap of easy triumphalism but on this part time track the car and driver gave their all. Kimi Raikonnen’s fourth place and fastest lap helped to put Ferrari at top place on the championship ladder. I think that this objective is within the reach of the team from Maranello but it is vital that the Finn finishes in front of his fellow Finn Bottas. He did not look to me like the Raikonnen of the end of last season.

It was an important success for Maranello that will give the right charge to continue working, even though Hamilton showed he still had an advantage in qualifying. The Mercedes suffered particularly the deterioration of the tyres. One could start looking for the reason at the long reach of the car.

It was definitively a positive debut for Giovinazzi. In qualifying he just missed out on the coup of reaching Q2 despite the last minute call and in the race he made himself a protagonist with a solid performance without taking any risks that ended with twelfth place. We must not forget that Sauber also paid a big price from the point of view of the engine as it was powered by last year’s power-unit

In the Red Bull pit, considering Ricciardo’s problems from the first lap only Max Verstappen was in the race bringing in the maximum result. At the present time we cannot express a full judgment on their potential but we are only at the first race after important changes in the regulations.

In two weeks the Circus will be in China and it will be interesting to see if the gap between the first three of the class Ferrari-Mercedes-Red Bull and the rest of the group will be maintained. Both Williams and Force India finished well behind.

 Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Brazilian GP – THE POINT “Chapeau, Verstappen!”

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Such a difficult grand prix raced in demanding conditions, it lasted three hours and showed us an incredible Verstappen. He amused the whole world with a lot of detachments, recoveries, and countersteer, in spite of a risky strategy coming from his pit that could have been costly for him.He made us experience again an old-time GP. The little boy, if well managed, has an important, potentially unlimited, future ahead of him.

Verstappen exploited the potential of his Red Bull at 100%, which adapted itself very well to those particular conditions, showing the grip and the aerodynamic impact of the car. A Verstappen who outclassed Ricciardo, car and strategy being equal. Once again, I must say that I don’t agree with the commissioners about the penalty to the Australian driver (who entered the pit lane in spite of the fact that it was closed in that moment). Five seconds are too few. The pit-stop would have given him a remarkable advantage if the conditions had changed, with the payment of a minimum penalty.

Everything according to script at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton wins and Nico Rosberg arrives second. An Hamilton that attacked for all the weekend. He had just to win. The race was more difficult for Nico Rosberg- under a psychological aspect – because he had everything to loose.

Ferrari greets Brazil with the fifth place of Sebastian Vettel. He was good at recover the car without any damages, differently from Kimi Raikkonen.Seb saved a not exemplar weekend not exemplar, after being defeated by his team mate in qualifying. After the mistake, he became protagonist of a great recovery.

This race gave us significant duels. Force India consecrated its fourth place in the world championship ahead of Williams, and Sauber could save its balance sheet- at the expense of Manor – even if it remains a grand prix in the calendar.

Let’s wait for Abu Dhabi for the great final, but keep following us because next days we will deepen some topics regarding the Brazilian weekend.

F1 | Mexican GP– THE POINT "Risible penalty to Vettel. Hamilton pardoned"

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In this Mexican GP, the spectators are the winners in comparison to an often uncolored F1. In those countries where the Circus is back after several years of absence, formula 1 finds a passionate audience that believes in this sport, proving that this is still a significant show.

After 68 laps without great emotions, between the 69th and 71th passage, the race becomes hot with the fight Verstappen-Vettel-Ricciardo. The Dutch driver, with the aim to defend himself from the Ferrari driver’s attack, cuts the bend, and the Engineer orders him to give back the position to the German. The Red Bull driver continues his race with “Sab” who proves to be aggressive also in the team-radio, and is attacked by Ricciardo. The drivers have a slight contact – without any consequences for both of them – and keep their respective positions. The result is the follow:  a 5” penalization for Verstappen and Vettel on the podium.

The penalization to Verstappen is fair. Commissioners too often pardoned and favored him. Thus, Ferrari is back on the podium with an unhoped result after qualifying. The team-radio of the Ferrari driver proves all the tension within the stable that continues to suffer its rivals. Anyway, Vettel has been very good, displaying all his grit on the track, and achieving the podium for himself and for his team. The wet blanket arrives few hours later: a penalty of 10” to Vettel and podium to Ricciardo. In my opinion, it is an absurd decision. It was a simple racing contact. We are back to an old topic: if we penalize this kind of facts, we will bring F1 into the depths.

On the other hand, commissioners consider completely normal the chicane-cut by Lewis Hamilton at the start. Once again, commissioners had special consideration for a three-time world champion that wins the Mexican grand prix without any complications. With the second place, Rosberg makes another step forward to the world championship, a title that he only can lose. The Mercedes German driver knows that he cannot do any mistakes with just two remaining races.

I must congratulate Force India and Nico Hulkenberg. The fourth place in the constructors’ world championship is becoming a reality. An excellent result from a sporting point of view and financially.

In the next hours, we will analyze the penalization.

F1 | US GP – THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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An unpredictable Grand Prix that overturned any previsions with the retirements at Red Bull and Ferrari. As it was predictably, Lewis Hamilton is playing all his cards to overturn a situation in which he has to run after his team mate, and he achieved his 50th win ahead of Nico Rosberg who, thanks to his 54th podium, reaches Niki Lauda.

A Ferrari that, independently from some fast laps, that it gained thanks its tire choice, proves to be the third power in the world championship, behind Mercedes and Red Bull. If it had exploited the technical complication that affected Verstappen, it could have nibbled some points from Red Bull and cancelled Kimi Raikkonen’s mistake at the pit-stop. The action of the Finnish driver is at the limit of regulation, he returned into the pit lane in reverse.

Good the race of Fernando Alonso who finished in fifth ahead of his direct Toro Rosso rivals. He drove determinedly, making several fast laps consecutively. In spite of some difficulties in the straight, he brought home a precious result for McLaren-Honda.

An overturned Grand Prix regarding strategies. The tires didn’t work as expected and the teams changed their plan during the race.

At Ferrari, they also used the Medium tire compounds.

We still have three races and can arrive at the last event with the title still to be assigned within Mercedes. We saw the virtual safety car in action, but in my opinion, this security system is debatable. Several drivers took advantage of it. Rosberg is one of them. I prefer the traditional safety car. With this, I wish you a good night and give you an appointment in Mexico.

F1 | Japanese GP – THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Waking up at 7.00 in the morning was rewarded with a lively rich in overtakings Grand Prix, irrespective of DRS. It proves that whenever the Circus arrives into a real circuit characterized not only by difficulty but also by a risk factor, we experience an amazing race.

Once again, Lewis Hamilton missed the start, facilitating this way the breakaway of the poleman Nico Rosberg that handled the race without any risk, putting an important seal on that that could be his first world title. He brought his advantage on his team-mate to 33 points. A good booty that allows him to handle the result, arriving second for four times in as many races till the end.

The English driver, supported by an excellent Mercedes, was protagonist of a great recovery ended in the third place. A good performance that of Verstappen and of the duo at Ferrari, Vettel and Raikkonen, their performance in qualifying ( third and fourth place) have been due respectively to the mistake in Malaysia and to the gear shift replacement respectively. Otherwise, they would have had the chance to enter the fight for the second place.

We heard some driver complaining for the time lost in the lappings, but when you race on track at the limit of width in which it is easy to make mistakes, you have to consider this possibility. You can also recognize champions in this kind of situation. Who is overtaken by a lap is making his race and could be in scuffle.

Now, let’s go everybody to Austin before arriving to Mexico, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi for the great End.

F1 | Malaysian GP – THE POINT “Shame on the penalty to Rosberg. Vettel to be penalized*"

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It appeared  an anomalous race, but Formula 1 has proved to be an unpredictable sport due to very high temperatures that affected the strategies and due to Hamilton’s debacle that has given us an amazing fight at Red Bull between Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen which ended with the win of the Australian driver ahead of the very young team-mate who had asked space.

At Sepang, Red Bull consacred itself in the second position of the world championship to the detriment of a Ferrari that fought with a single car, that one of Kimi Raikkonen. The first coupe de theatre happened few meters away from the start with the ruinous entrance of Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver, in addition to ruin his race, has heavily conditioned the Sunday of Nico Rosberg who has had to recover from the bottom.

Now I am curious to see what decision the commissioners* will take against the Ferrari driver because, after the Spa-Francorchamps episode, he has damaged a collegue’s race again at the start.

It is shameful the penalty of 10” inflicted to Rosberg for his overtaking at the detriment of Kimi Raikkonen. It was a simple race-contact. If we start to penalize this kind of actions, we really want the death of Formula 1. Right now, there is a strong need of these duels. They are essential for survival. It is not the first time that commissioners have had an heavy hand against the german driver at mercedes, conditioning the world championship.

Too many times they use double standards. Fortunately, he managed to cumulate a gap against Raikkonen that was superior to 10” nullifying this way the penalty, and the reliability complication that affected Lewis made some justice.

A third place that transforms into important points for the world championship.

Good race for Kimi Raikkonen that finished in fourth. The Finnish driver made his best and this is the real Ferrari position.

It is to be framed Fenando alonso’s race who from the last row closed in the seventh place, proving that McLaren-Honda is growing strongly. A good business card for his home race scheduled in Suzuka next weekend.

Before the greetings, I want to congratulate Antonio Giovinazzi, new leader in GP2 Series with only another scheduled event. He won race-1 and achieved the fourth place in race-2 that was won by Luca Ghiotto ahead of Raffaele Marciello.

Unlucky weekend in GP3 Series for Antonio Fuoco, affected by a tire puncture.

So, it was a another positive weekend for ACI Team Italia.

*Commissioners, after the race, have penalized Sebastian Vettel who lose three positions on the starting grid of the Japanese Grand Prix.

 
 

F1 | Singapore GP – THE POINT

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In the weekend of his 200th Grand prix, Nico Rosberg wins the grand Prix in Singapore, in the sprint ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton. With this success, now the German driver at Mercedes is on top of the overall standings.

A Mercedes that has also proven to win and dominate a weekend bothered by some brake complications. To Rosberg it has been a more suffered win than usually.

In comparison with last season, Red Bull has made great strides, improving of 1″8 in qualifying. Ricciardo attempted the feat till the end. With two extra laps we would have attended to another interesting fight. Conversely, Ferrari from its success in 2015 has passed in the fourth and fifth place. Both the drivers collected the maximum. After some reliability complications in qualifying, Vettel became protagonist of a great recovery, with Raikkonen maker of one of his best races with the Prancing Horse. The Finnish driver could not do anything against Hamilton, even if has been very good in half race when he managed to overtake him, before his pause. A Ferrari that had to use the softer tire compounds (SuperSoft and UltraSoft) to try to halve its gap with the competitors.

Singapore gave us a race with some duels. The driver at Toro Rosso, kvyat has tryed to take revenge on Verstappen, keeping behind himself the Dutch driver at Red Bull. He has surrendered only in the end, but on equal tires he proved not to be a “burned” driver. With the eight place of Perez, Force India returns in the fourth place of the world championship, ahead of Williams. It is still a very open championship and in fifteen days we will go to Sepag, another hot circuit.

Amazing and perfect, once again, the choreography and the lighting of the track that is all made in Italy thanks to the DZ company; a grand prix that is in  every fan’s heart.

F1 – Italian GP: THE POINT

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In Monza, we experienced another weekend well run by Mercedes in each single session. In spite of the Medium tires, they proved to have an edge on others. At Ferrari, they had to use the Supersoft and Soft tires to try to keep up with them. The men at the Silver Arrows can take the liberty to adopt every strategy, managing to dominate, with Lewis Hamilton in free practice and qualifying, and Nico Rosberg in the race. It was complicit the mistake done by the English driver at the start, Nico did not manage to reopen the world championship with the win at the Italian Gran Prix. It will be a great struggle, even psychological, between the two drivers. Compared to his teammate, Hamilton suffers more when he loses the competition. The commissioners will have a central role because without any penalties, now the two drivers would have been at the same place in the standings. Some incoherent choices, like those we have already had in this season, could compromise the season.

Without any doubts, the true winner of this grand prix is the Monza audience that participated in a masterly manner. Few other circuits can give such a scenography as we experienced under the podium to greet and celebrate the third place of Sebastian Vettel.

A Ferrari back on the podium that gave its maximum optimizing its potential. In circuits like this one, it can rebuild the second place in the world championship at the detriment of a Red Bull that pays for its power-unit. An excellent start that of the Ferrari drivers, even thanks to a Lewis’ mistake. We must to remain realistic, because the gap with Mercedes is great if we consider the difference in the tire compounds.

Now we will go to Singapore, and Maranello will have to pay attention to Homer’s men. It was spectacular the overtake accomplished by Ricciardo who proves to be a race animal, clean, always professional and sharp. In a fast circuit where the power unit makes the difference, we saw Williams again, even if Force India does not want to give it up.

F1 | Belgian GP – THE POINT

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Nico Rosberg wins the Belgian Grand Prix in the demanding track of Spa-Francorchamps, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton, speeding from the last row along with Fernando Alonso.

A recovering weekend for Ferrari whose start during the free practice had been under its level. They managed to invert the direction in view of qualifying gaining the whole second row. Unfortunately, all their work has been frustrated at the first turn. Both the drivers had made a good start, differently from Vesrtappen. The impetuosity of the Red Bull Dutch driver caused a contact between the Ferrari drivers with an action at the limit of regulation with the complicity of Sebastian Vettel who closed the bend too early, frustrating the result.

Inexplicably, Max Verstapen is never punished by commissioners, as it happens, instead, to his competitors. Rosberg has suffered a penalty for much less. I do not refer just to the first turn, but to the many direction changes during the challenge with Kimi Raikkonen and to his action with some other drivers. Beyond his outstanding qualities, it seems to me that he complains too much.

Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull have achieved the second place easily. This way, they extend their distance from Ferrari on the standings. An unexpected result, especially if we look at the competitiveness in T2 where aerodynamics has a central role. The real surprise at Spa was Force India that with the fourth and the fifth places of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez surpasses Ferrari in the standings (two points) and grabs the fourth place.

Fortune favors the braves. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamolton, speeding from the last row, have exploited every single occasion, from the virtual safety-car to the red flag, and at the end of the first lap they were already in fourteenth and fifteenth positions. Their pace in the final especially that of the Spaniard who cannot count on a car like Mercedes proves how he is still “hungry”. He exploited all his experience in F1 to bring McLaren ahead of Toro Rosso in the standings.

In seven days, we are all in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. It is also the last seasonal event in the Old Continent. If in Belgium they touched 340/355 km/h, I cannot image what will happen at the end of the straight track.

F1 | German GP – THE POINT

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Once again, Ferrari ended a Grand Prix 30” away from the first place, behind a Red Bull that placed both its drivers on the podium only behind Hamilton, the dominant figure. A Red Bull that managed to make a great recovery in the first part of the season, whereas the men at Maranello do not succeed. Unfortunately, the problems at Ferrari have been the same since the championship start.

In Germany, Ferrari proved to be the third power in the World Championship. We hope that Binotto’s reorganization gives good results. After the amazing pole position that he gained on Saturday, Nico Rosberg’s race was toned-down, and he was also picked on by Commissioners. I do not agree with this penalization. On the contrary, I would have agreed with a penalty for Verstappen, maker of a too aggressive start, who overtook Ricciardo by crossing the white strip with his car. The Mercedes staff did not help the German driver, stopping him 3”. In these three break weeks, Nico has to find again the mind of the first four events.

A sad time even for Williams, whose fourth place is jeopardized by Force India recovery. The same situation for Toro Rosso that will have to safeguard itself from McLaren. We can expect an interesting second season launched by two important events: Spa-Francorchamps and Monza.

In Germany, the hymn of Mameli played thanks to Antonio Fuoco who won Race 1 in GP3. It was a positive weekend even for GP2 with Ghiotto’s second place and the fourth one of Marciello. The blue patrol of the ACI Team Italy continues to give us important results and not betrays the expectations.

F1 | Hungarian GP – THE POINT

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We watched a Hungarian GP animated by strategy. A race built at the start with Hamilton immediately overtaking the pole man Nico Rosberg who did not manage to trouble his team-mate, in spite of a certain aggressiveness.

The negative aspect came from the Sports Commissioners who “ruined” the weekend with some unclear decisions. In Q1, the 107% rule was not satisfied, and then they validated the pole position of Rosberg who made a fabulous lap with the yellow flags.  I am a fan of his, but in my opinion, the rule went missed.  Some drivers were penalized too heavily for surpassing the white flag, meanwhile Verstappen was not even rebuked. With a too strong-arm tactics, once again he kept Kimi Raikkonen behind. If they had abided by the regulation to the letter, they would have penalized the Dutch driver.

Once again, we saw the excessive power of Mercedes that ended the race with a 27”advantage on Riccardo and Vettel. They handled the race with a great calm. Vettel and Raikkonen ended the GP behind Ricciardo and Verstappen respectively, even if the Finnish driver was maker of a great recovery, after his mistake in qualifying that had taken him up the 14th place. He handled his SuperSoft tires very well, achieving his best seasonal race. After Silversone, Ferrari is back on his standard, even if it is not enough for opposing the Silver Arrows, neither a Red Bull that is in a strong growth, just a point away from Maranello in the Constructors’ standings.

In Germany, we hope to see a more aggressive Ferrari able to stretch out on Red Bull.

F1 | Silverstone GP – THE POINT

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The British weekend in Silverstone offered us a fascinating and animated grand prix influenced by the weather conditions. We saw numerous duels and mistakes made by different drivers. Once again, Charlie Whiting decided to start the race behind the safety-car. Honestly, in my opinion it seems an exasperated decision. I could understand if we were in a preliminary championship where there are boys who have to cut their teeth, but this Formula 1 overdoes safety.

Unfortunately, the standings is still under decision because of the team radio transmission received by Nico Rosberg. After informing his engineers about the problem at the gearshift, the team gave him some suggestions to resolve the problem. In my opinion, his situation is different from Hamilton’s one because the latter has asked the procedure to solve the problem in an explicit way. So I do not agree with a potential penalization against the driver. We must be careful to avoid damaging Formula 1 with unreasonable rules. If we have radio, using them should be ok, especially in such a highly evolved Formula 1.

As we anticipated in recent days, we had a Red Bull at its best that managed to trouble the Mercedes with an extraordinary Verstappen, protagonist in one of the most beautiful 2016 overtakings against Rosberg. Max is proving all his qualities and could be an extra unknown for the Ferrari that shown its problems in Great Britain.Apart from the power-unit, its frame and aerodynamic problems are clear. Next events (Hungary and Germany) could be favorable to Maranello, but honestly, I see an up-and-up Red Bull. The fifth and ninth place are not enough, they made some mistakes.

It is to be applauded the feedback of the British audience because the circuit was sold-out. Great Britain is becoming the real motorsport homeland. After some difficult years and many improvement in the circuit structure, fans were back to see the F1 show and were rewarded with Lewis Hamilton’s win, who deserves a 10 in his scorecard for the weekend.

* After the race, commissioners gave a 10” penalty to Nico Rosberg who is now in third position. P2 for Max Verstappen.

F1 | Austrian GP – THE POINT

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A fascinating grand prix with coups de théâtre up to the last lap. Rosberg managed to lead, from the sixth place, and tasted the win. At the last lap, he arrived a little bit late because of the fact that he had little oxygen in term of tires. Anyway, I found Hamilton’s maneuver quite aggressive. As we are writing, there is an ongoing investigation and I hope that no penalty will arrive. These are race accidents and normality in a race like this one.

If they want a penalty, they should distribute it equally between both Mercedes standard-bearers, giving the victory to a great Verstappen who, once again, gave us some amazing overtaking, setting himself in third, settling in third place and finishing the race in second place thanks to the contact that saw both Mercedes drivers as protagonists.

Still out of shape Ferrari that has definitely hazarded too much in trying to nullifying its stratospheric gap with Mercedes by keeping Vettel on track too long. This way, the German driver saw his rear tire exploding at the 27th lap. Nothing in particular came from a not very aggressive Raikkonen. In the Final, he failed to annoy Verstappen in trouble with his tires that had already covered 55 laps.

At Mercedes, Toto Wolff will struggle to calm everyone down. The relationship between Nico and Lewis is at a historical low. We can expect a boiling July with 4 grand prix in just 5 weekends.

On one side, it is good to come back on track immediately, even if there is no time to calm everyone down. A very different state of mind at McLaren, Haas and Manor that gain important points. Very good Jenson Button that managed to optimize his tires and his car, bringing them to the finish line in sixth.ahead of Grosjean and Sainz.  Manor gains his first world point thanks to Pascal Wehrlein outdoing  Sauber.

* At the end of the race, Nico Rosberg had a 10″ penalization that earn  that enarn him the fourth place at the finish line.