Monaco GP – THE POINT

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The Monaco GP was featured by several accidents, the presence of the safety car and a very competitive Mercedes. Despite “one swallow doesn’t make a summer”, the GP was run at a very particular circuit, using two types of compound that will be hardly re-used. The German team showed to be very competitive and if the team demonstrates to have tyres degradation’s issues solved, it will strive for the title, as well.

I use the conditional clause as things change so quickly, so what happens in a GP never happens in the following one. Anyway, the German team has demonstrated to run so quickly since the beginning. We have to give credit to Nico Rosberg, not only for the win but also because he has demonstrated he can handle tyres and car at best, both during practice and race. This result restores Michael Schumacher’s performances. The German ex-driver competed with a driver who is not considered as a second class driver, but a top class one. Today the German young driver is standing comparison with an emerging driver who is a world’s champion and is considered as the best by everyone. This time he didn’t take a good start.

If, on the one hand, Mercedes successful performances will make this racing season even more uncertain, on the other hand, the presence of one more rival will make it difficult to regain points. This aspect remarks Ferrari and Alonso’s unlucky weekend, featured by Felipe Massa’s double accident. The Italian team will have to roll its sleeves and try to focus on the mistakes made after the Spanish successful race. In Canada, weather and tyres could probably affect the final result.

Positive race for Force India and Toro Rosso; Vijay Mallya’s team confirm the 5th place and demonstrates to be a powerful outsider. We saw an excited Perez who wants to demonstrate at all costs he can make it and he’s not a second class driver. He was very impetuous but also so unlucky at the same time. He was treated quite badly by other drivers. Raikkonen pushed so hard in the last part of the race and hindered the Mexican driver twice. It is important that Commissioners judge drivers in the same way, in every race.

It was a contentious Sunday, the argument was fuelled by the Mercedes-Pirelli test. Mercedes took a 1000 km testing on Pirelli tyres using a car which was not 2 years old accordingly to FIA’s regulations.  Regulations are clear but their interpretation is based on teams needs.

Spanish GP – THE POINT

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Ferrari and F1 made us live an extraordinary GP on Sunday afternoon. I experienced in person the first two days of the Spanish GP and I can say that the Scuderia showed to run very fast in the the long run since free practices. It showed to be comfortable on both rubbers.

No doubt the F138 has to improve on the single qualifying lap, which is its Achilles’ heel, but in this F.1 season we see many passes due to Kers, DRS and high tyres degradation. Most of the success achieved by the Italian team is due to Alonso, who made an excellent pass on the first corner. That manoeuvre will make the history of F.1; thanks to that kind of manoeuvres we have the opportunity to live an exciting season.

Today’s result is a clear proof that a team can easily shift from a disappointing race to an excellent one. The Spaniard scored a great success in his homeland, thanks to which he is only 17 points from the leader of the points table. In the next two races to be run in Canada and Monaco, the Spanish driver can make the difference again. Congratulations to Felipe Massa, who managed to recover. He was able to handle tyres’ issues in the best way, taking home a fantastic third place which moves the Ferrari team up to second in the constructors’ championship. The two drivers made also excellent pit-stops. That was an excellent birthday gift for Stefano Domenicali, I seize the chance to re-extend to him my best birthday wishes.

The Italian team’s excellent weekend was enriched by the second successful result achieved by Antonio Fuoco, a FDA driver, in the Formula Renault 2.0 Championship. On the track of Imola Fuoco replicated the success achieved in Vallelunga in the opening race. Even the FDA youngest drivers give their contribution to make the history of the Italian team even more interesting.

I was afraid of Raikkonen since free practices. If Lotus’ financial resources don’t drop down, the Finnish driver will be Fernando’s first rival. Kimi made an excellent start of season, as well as Force India; Paul Di Resta’s seventh place placed the Indian team ahead of McLaren, which finished in the points with both drivers. Once again Button made the difference on hard rubber.

Toro Rosso drove an excellent race, as well. The team form Faenza scored a point with Ricciardo, even in a hard-fought race such as the Spanish GP, where the track was full of debris and the risk to make a trivial mistake was high. The Italian team consolidates its seventh position.

Mercedes drove an excellent single qualifying lap, but the German car had many problems during the race. They weren’t the rivals to be afraid of, for sure, even if I’m so happy with Niko Rosberg’s qualifying performance, as the German driver drove an excellent lap and managed to keep Hamilton behind him. The German driver could hardly be overtaken and finished sixth, so that Mercedes could preserve the fourth position in the constructors’ championship. Their car wear out tyres too much, I think that they have a great margin of improvement over the next races.

Next race will be run in Montecarlo, where drivers will use soft and super-soft tyres. Even in this case, drivers will have to suffer so much. Despite drivers will have the chance to make several passes through the narrow streets of the circuit, qualifying still remains so important.

GP Bahrein – THE POINT

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In the most exciting GP since the beginning of the 2013 F1 Championship, one of the main protagonists, Fernando Alonso, didn’t manage to achieve a good position because of a technical issue. The GP was featured by battles, overtaking on the borderline of regulations.

Perez’s behaviour towards Button was really uncontrollable. Button didn’t want to lose his leadership inside McLaren team and Rosberg was unfortunately penalised by tyres degradation. His qualifying lap was almost perfect, running ahead of two world champions such as Vettel and Alonso. The team was aware that the situation would have been upside down during the race, because of rear-tyres over degradation. The battle at the beginning of the race didn’t help him. On the contrary, Lewis Hamilton delivered an excellent race performance; the Englishman managed to jump up to the fifth place, as he made the most of Pirelli tyres. Running 2/3 more laps before pitting in the last phase of the race allowed him to finish the race on less consumed rubber, managing to get the better over Webber and Perez.

It was a lively weekend since Saturday; all top drivers crossed the line within few tenths. Unfortunately it was a bitter race for the Italian team, as Alonso was slowed down by a DRS failure and Massa was penalised by two tyres punctures which have to be deeply analyzed. The Spaniard delivered an excellent performance: despite pitting in advance and lacking the DRS, he ran an extraordinary race being only 37’’ behind Vettel.  He scored 3 points, which is a very good result considering the unlucky start, even if I think the Italian team would have deserved more than it achieved. Besides an excellent performance and the win scored, I find it hard to consider Vettel as the author of a “lonely” and smooth race, after Alonso and Rosberg’s overtaking. Anyway I think he still has room for improvement, despite his team suggests him not to push on track and the lap times set during the race. On the contrary Webber didn’t rise to the occasion. It’s difficult to judge his performance, as he had tyres issues. Unfortunately he was involved in several on-track battles which caused quicker tyre degradation.

Raikkonen and a recovered Grosjean complete the podium. Lotus scored precious points and preserves top positions, showing to be the third team in the constructors and drivers’ standings. After suffering a very performing Kimi, who always makes the most of an excellent car, Grosjean got back to the right direction, thanks also to chassis change. The E21 racing car delivered excellent performances on these tyres and scored much more points than in the past season.

We have to clap our hands to Force India and Di Resta who finished at the foot of the podium. He’s always in Q3 and he’s entering the struggle to get the sixth place. If Sutil hadn’t had a clash in the first phase of the race, he would have taken home important points. It’s good that he’s able to struggle against top drivers.

Now, we’ll have three weeks before the world championship will be raced in Europe. At this point of the season teams and drivers have a complete picture of tyres behaviour, since they test them under different weather conditions. Next race will be held on a well known track such as the Barcelona circuit, where pre-season tests took place. Red Bull remains the reference car, even though Ferrari is closer to it also in qualifying. There are also many outsiders striving for the title: Mercedes, which is usually so fast on a single qualifying lap and Lotus, always at the top of the standing. According to performance equalization, every single mistake will be paid off twice. So much attention should be paid. There are still 15 GP to be raced, so everything could happen. In Spain we’ll see several upgrades.

Chinese GP – Gian Carlo Minardi’s point of view

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Before starting to comment the Chinese GP, I would point out something that made me laugh. Andrea Stella’s comment on Fernando Alonso’s performance and the Spaniard’s answer (the former told to the latter that he didn’t need to push hard, so the Spaniard answered: “I’m not pushing at all”) on the last few laps of the Chinese GP reminded me of 1999, the year Nando tested the F1 Minardi in the wet at Jerez. On that occasion, just after three laps, he set the fastest lap time, running 1 sec. faster than any other tester.  At that point we told him not to push, as it was only a test, and, even at the time, Alonso answered he wasn’t doing anything particular and could improve his performance……

The Chinese GP was full of suspense, overtaking, collisions and pit-stop mistakes (sometimes heavy). Strategies and tyres were the real protagonists of the third GP. 5 world champions finished in the first five places; each driver belongs to a different team. A perfect Fernando Alonso finished on the top step of the podium. The Spaniard undertook an offensive strategy form the beginning to the end, scoring the first win of the season. The car, along with the pit lane staff and the pit-stop staff, undertook a flawless strategy and delivered good performances.

On the contrary, it wasn’t a perfect weekend for Red Bull because of Vettel’s strategy and a gasoline mistake regarding Webber’s car. This is the second time within two years that such a mistake is made by the team, but I think the most suspicious thing is that this was the third time Webber’s race was affected by trivial mistakes made just after some problems between the team and the Australian driver had occurred in the previous race……

The Malaysian episode could have been the cause of those mistakes, which are so heavy if made by a team which won the last three constructors’ championships.

Lotus and Mercedes delivered excellent performances. The two teams and their two drivers Raikkonen and Hamilton will be the protagonists of the next race to be held in two weeks time. Jenson Button undertook an excellent defensive strategy, as well, and finished fifth behind Vettel, driving an even more performing McLaren. Grosjean and Massa’s races were less exciting, but, thanks to the position achieved, Lotus and Ferrari ranked second and third in the Championship.

Daniel Ricciardo and Toro Rosso were stunning. After the Q3, the Italian team finished seventh and scored new points which led it to the seventh place ahead of Sauber, who finished tenth thanks to his driver Hulkenberg.

With the fourth race of the F1 Championship to be held in one week time, we’ll have a complete picture of the 2013 Pirelli compounds. On that occasion teams and drivers can use the P Zero Yellow (soft tyres) and the P Zero Orange (hard tyres).

Malaysian GP: THE POINT

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The Malaysian GP was full of mistakes, which can become the leitmotiv of the season. When teams have to pit three-four times per car and the battle is within few tenths, it is clear that problems are just around the corner. What is more, if we consider the excitement for the strategy, the difficult weather conditions and the attempt to pit faster and faster (2 seconds), we have a more complete picture of the situation.

Among the teams who bored the brunt in Malaysia, we have to mention Force India; the Indian squad had air pistol and hub issues. Jenson Button had a right-front wheel issue as well as Hamilton, who thought about visiting his previous mechanics. We don’t have to forget about Fernando Alonso and the Ferrari team.  Just after few laps we lost a great driver who hadn’t been making any mistake for many GP.  He made an evaluation mistake, but the technicians’ decision to leave him out without replacing the damaged wing, is somehow very strange. A risky strategy could have been good, but it was important to finish in the score zone.

In a 19-race- championship, positions are very important, as we saw in the past season.  The Italian team lost the championship missing only 3 points. Strategy or the will to get results, are sometimes taken to the maximum level, even in situations which are so different if compared to what it was expected. In this case too many risks were taken. The Spaniard was only on the second lap, so they had to try to limit the damage and risked leaving him out, trying to finish in the score zone, as this championship is getting more and more competitive.

It will be hard to recover from zero point, giving the fact the fight is not only between two drivers but between 5, to whom outsiders such as Williams, Force India and Sauber have to be added. Last year Fernando lost the championship and finished second in Spain and Abu Dhabi behind Maldonado and Raikkonen, two drivers who weren’t considered to be running for the world title at the beginning of the season.

Red Bull was once again the car to be defeated, even if they’ll have to solve a big internal issue. It won’t be easy for Horner and Newey to manage the two drivers. The strategy can cause trouble for the drivers. Even Mercedes drivers were given some recommendations. This is something that doesn’t ring true inside a championship full of overtaking, sharp braking and inner fight. Sometimes the battle is taken to the limit.

Once again tyres handled the race; this is due to a variable weather which changed on-track situations. Teams are still learning how to make the best use of tyres, so in Malaysia things changed if compared to Australia, where Lotus got the best over McLaren. Despite the fact everyone considered the Walking Team almost “dead”, Button was fighting for a podium finish.

Thanks to his long experience and a good performance on hard tyres, he’s making a difference over his younger teammate Perez, who is at his first experience in a top team and has to deal with a car which is still not so performing.

Felipe Massa had a good start of season. The Brazilian driver delivered good qualifying performances over the past two weekends; his race performances were not bad, as well. His Ferrari had issues on medium tyres. In the wet the car didn’t keep pace with rivals and it had many problems when the track was still cool. Finishing fifth was the best result he could get, giving the fact Red Bull and Mercedes were much more competitive.

Now we’ll have a three-week-break before the Chinese GP. In China teams will showcase several upgrades and they will use the Pirelli soft for the first time. At that time we’ll have a complete overview of the Pirelli compounds.


 
 
 
 
 
Sepang – Gara
1. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – 56 giri
2. Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault – +4″2
3. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – +12″1
4. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes – +12″6
5. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – +25″6
6. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – + 35″5
7. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus-Renault – +48″4
8. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber-Ferrari – +53″0
9. Sergio Perez – McLaren-Mercedes – +1’12″3
10. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – +1’27″1
11. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Renault – +1’28″6
12. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – +1 giro
13. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Cosworth – +1 giro
14. Charles Pic – Caterham-Renault – +1 giro
15. Giedo van der Garde – Caterham-Renault – +1 giro
16. Max Chilton – Marussia-Cosworth – +2 giri
17. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – +3 giri
18. Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – +5 giri

La classifica del Mondiale Piloti:
1. Vettel 40; 2. Raikkonen 31; 3. Webber 26; 4. Hamilton 25; 5. Massa 22; 6. Alonso 18; 7. Rosberg 12; 8. Grosjean 9; 10. Sutil 6
La classifica del Mondiale Costruttori:
1. Red-Bull Renault 66; 2. Lotus-Renault e Ferrari 40; 4. Mercedes 37; 5. Force India-Mercedes 10; 6. Sauber-Ferrari e McLaren-Mercedes 4; 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.

Australian GP – THE POINT….by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The racing season has finally started. The green light switched on and the curtain rose on the 2013 F1 world championship. The opening race met our expectations; the heavy rain affected qualifying (divided into 2 days) and the GP was dominated by the 5 top teams, with a disappointing McLaren and an amazing Force India.
Three world champions got onto the podium and four finished in the top five. That means that this world championship will be so difficult and competitive. Amazing race for Lotus and Kimi Raikkonen, who showcased they can manage tyres very well and finished the first race by pitting only two times in comparison with 3 pit-stops strategy of the rivals. The Finnish driver powerfully fitted into the struggle for the world title; his Lotus has the right stuff to bother the pretenders for the world title. They confirmed all the good things they showed during tests.
Good start for Fernando Alonso. Overtaking Hamilton in the first laps was the cherry on top. He showcased to have cold shoulder, self-control and to be clear headed. His racing speed during the race was like the one he kept up during the qualifying session. The Ferrari showcased to be very close to the top during the race, but the car fails a little bit in the single qualifying lap, in which Red Bull usually takes over. The Scuderia from Maranello handled a good race and pit-stop strategy. Massa’s fourth place allows the Italian team to start the season on top.
Force India is secondary teams’ leader, as Di Resta was able to lead the Q3 and both its drivers scored points. Good return into F1 for Sutil who, together with his teammate, drove a great race and scored points. Thumb down for McLaren. I would have expected Button to be much more performing than he was. He’s always driven a great race in Melbourne and has always managed tyres very well. The race car showcased some failures, which forced drivers to run a defensive race. Maybe the English Team’ choices for the 2013 racing season were driven by economic needs rather than by technical needs. At the end of the year the team will have to replace Vodafone, so this could be the reason why they chose Perez as a driver, giving the fact the Mexican enjoys the support of the richest man in the world. As a consequence Hamilton considered worthwhile to take a look around choosing Mercedes, a car company whose performances got better than in the past season. The car is good in the single qualifying lap, but it has to improve reliability and racing speed.
Grosjean closed up the top team and the score zone. The Frenchman drove a race like a team’s second driver. He didn’t want to take any risk at the beginning and scored one point.
Talking about qualifying again, I think that Charlie Whiting & C were too much precautionary. I think they should have been more respectful towards those people who paid the ticket to see qualifying. They had to wait many hours under a heavy rain.
In seven days drivers will be back on track at the Sepang circuit, in Malaysia, where they will have the use of different compounds (P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White Medium). Only after the first few races, we’ll have a clearer overview of the situation. After the Malaysian GP the season will have a three-week-stop before the Chinese race to be held in Shanghai, where the teams will display all their car developments.

 
 
 
 
 
Melbourne – Gara
1. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus-Renault – 58 giri
2. Fernando Alonso – Ferrari – +12″4
3. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault – +22″3
4. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – +33″5
5. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes – +45″5
6. Mark Webber – Red Bull-Renault – +46″8
7. Adrian Sutil – Force India-Mercedes – +1’05″0
8. Paul di Resta – Force India-Mercedes – +1’08″4
9. Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes – +1’21″6
10. Romain Grosjean – Lotus-Renault – +1’22″7
11. Sergio Perez – McLaren-Mercedes – +1’23″3
12. Jean-Eric Vergne – Toro Rosso-Ferrari – +1’23″8
13. Esteban Gutierrez – Sauber-Ferrari – +1 giro
14. Valtteri Bottas – Williams-Renault – +1 giro
15. Jules Bianchi – Marussia-Cosworth – +1 giro
16. Charles Pic – Caterham-Renault – +2 giri
17. Max Chilton – Marussia-Cosworth – +2 giri
18. Giedo van der Garde – Caterham-Renault – +2 giri
 
 

F.1 – Brazilian GP: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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FAENZA – One of the most enthralling World Championship of the last three years came to an end. The Brazilian track hosted an exciting race, which was so difficult to run from a technical point of view.
When weather changes so quickly, sport and technical staff are always put to the test. No doubt we have to praise Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull for winning the third World Championship. Three world titles are never won by chance. It was a pity, because, besides the value that no one wants to deny, luck played a key role again. Even yesterday, those drivers who were involved in the accident at the beginning, had to quit the race, while Vettel was able to restart and cross the line despite a little damage occurred.
As we pointed out several times, McLaren and Lotus played the role of Championship arbiters, even if their roles were so different. Considering the final result, the zero points scored by a “guiltless” Alonso at Spa and Suzuka, had a heavy impact on the Spaniard’s racing season. In a 20 races Championship, 3 points advantage can be as many as nothing. Ferrari had many technical issues, anyway the team was able to handle each race in a very good way, managing to bring both racers on the podium, fighting against the dominance of Red Bull and McLaren. Until the Safety Car got on track, the gap between Button and Alonso was so big, this proves that Ferrari still has so much work to do, especially with the 2013 racing season nearly around the corner. The gap with the World Champions is so big and McLaren will be fighting for the World title until the final race next year. Massa’ good performance should also be noticed. Thanks to his last three good races, the trust put in the Brazilian driver by the “Scuderia”, was finally rewarded. He’s the racer Ferrari needs to have to win the Constructors’ Championship again. He finally succeeded in leaving the fear behind and, in my opinion, he found himself again. Having regard to his good shape, it’s a pity that the racing season came to an end, however, when a driver find the right path again, it is difficult for him to make the same mistakes.
Hulkenberg handled an excellent race, too. He left the team in the best way. I think Sauber made a good choice as Nico is a young emerging driver, but he was a little too aggressive and impetuous during the race. He was very performing at the beginning, just like Button, when he decided to keep on running on slick tyres, instead of switching to medium like other drivers. I do not agree with the penalty imposed to him. More and more passes are requested and more and more means are invented to facilitate them, but, as soon as someone try to make passes in hard condition, he’s penalised because he causes a car clash.
Last GP for Michael Schumacher who greeted the world of F.1 after handling a very good race and showing his great talent by scoring the last points of his career. We have to praise Kimi Raikkonen who finished third ahead of Hamilton, completing all races. At the beginning of the racing season this result was almost unpredictable for Lotus.
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Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – GP USA: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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FAENZA- The first Austin GP was amazing both for the track layout and for overtakings. According to forecast, we saw a very performing McLaren on hard and medium tyres and a Hamilton so determined to have an impact on the team before leaving it.
Sebastian Vettel was extremely competitive over the weekend but he will have been afraid to have the same technical issue which forced his teammate to quit the race. Once again the Ferrari and Fernando Alonso optimized both the strategy and the result, getting a valuable third place finish which allow the Spaniard to play it well for the next race in Brazil. It won’t be an easy task for sure, especially if we consider the points gap with the 2 leaders. What is more, we should also consider that in the last few seasons Interlagos didn’t bring good luck to the Italian team.
Given the very short time between the last race and the next one, I don’t expect big technical amendments to be made on the cars. Tyre compounds and weather will have a deep impact on the final result. The Ferrari should improve its downforce while, unlike Red Bull and McLaren, its strength is reliability. Beyond a little mistake made on Saturday when trying to make an all-out effort on used tyres, the Ferrari didn’t make any mistake over the last few races, demonstrating to be the best team. The Red Bull issues come from an extreme downforce. Anyway, the Austrian team won the constructors’ championship on Sunday. With only one race to be run and a wide points gap between Alonso and the Red Bull driver, the zero point scored by the Spaniard because of car clashes caused by other racers weigh against the “Scuderia”, especially if we compare them to Vettel abandons due to his car technical issues.
Praises have to be conveyed to Felipe Massa who, after accepting the team orders, jumped up to 4th, finishing just behind the Spanish teammate and setting the second fastest lap of the race. That is the Massa the Ferrari needs to have; on the domestic track the Brazilian will probably creep up the 13 points gap between Vettel and Alonso.
Good weekend for Lotus; both Lotus drivers finished the race in top 10. Raikkonen is fighting against Hamilton and the Williams, to preserve the third place. Unfortunately the Sauber lost another chance to attack the Mercedes to get the fifth place in the world championship. One more disappointing weekend for the German team which scored no points.
With a view to the final race in Interlagos, Raikkonen and the McLaren will probably be variables in favor of Ferrari. The Scuderia is now less performing than the rivals.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – GP Abu Dhabi: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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We saw an exciting GP, with the 4 World Champions occupying the first four places. Fernando Alonso ran a good race; once again the Spaniard was able to make the best use of his car’ s potential; Raikkonen finally made it onto the highest step of the podium with his Lotus.
As we pointed out last weeks, Kimi and Hamilton can play the role of killjoys in the Championship, even if, once again, the McLaren Englishman was deceived by the reliability of his car. On the contrary, reliability still supports the “Scuderia” and helped the Italian team to recover from a difficult weekend. Fernando couldn’t do more than he did. He had a very good start and the strategy was characterized by a lower down-force. The Spaniard was very good in managing the car since the beginning, with the car filled up with petrol. He didn’t make any mistake and the laps he ran looked like “qualifying laps”. He made three points up, which is so important with the racing season coming to an end. He finished second, behind a very performing Raikkonen who scored the 18th good result to preserve the third place in the standing. A good performance also for Sebastian Vettel who, after a big mistake made by his team ( or made by the engine supplier), was able to recover, supported by a very performing Red Bull, but also by luck. Thanks to the safety car two re-starts, the German driver was able to recover from his pit-lane start and managed to finish third. If he had pitted one lap later, everything would have changed. What is more, some cars which were just ahead of him and could have hindered him, got off the race. Therefore, we don’t have to forget the alliance with the “Scuderia Toro Rosso” who made overtaking easier for him.
The closing stages will be exciting, with two drivers technically in the world championship battle. For sure, Fernando will have to make no mistakes and will rely on other drivers’ mistakes. The two Red Bull were weak under pressure. The English-Austrian team has a better car, but, as far as reliability and team management are concerned, it is second to the Ferrari cars. The Ferrari had many problems in bringing tyres to the right temperature. In re-start and qualifying, the Ferrari gives something to rivals, but later it was able to set some fastest laps In the last lap the Italian car was overreached by Vettel on soft tyres.
We missed the two second leaders, Webber and Massa. The Australian had a messy start and wasn’t able to recover. The Brazilian made a mistake after a clash with the Red Bull driver. He didn’t have enough sangfroid to manage the situation. Webber should have left that position to the Brazilian to avoid penalty. He could have given Vettel a rough ride , as well.
One more disappointing race for Mercedes, out of the score zone, while Williams, Sauber and Force India ran a very good race. Despite a KERS problem, Maldonado ran a very good race. Senna was involved in an accident during the first laps, so he dropped to the bottom of the standing. Unfortunately Perez made some mistakes because of which the team didn’t score important points.
The next two races will be hard to foresee. Drivers will play it hard until the end and those out of the championship battle will act as the balance of power.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – GP India: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Waiting for some technical checks to be carried out on the car driven by Sebastian Vettel, the Indian GP gave an important signal. Once again the Red Bull demonstrated not to be 100% reliable, but luckily, checks will be carried out on Webber’s car, not on Vettel’s.
We saw an amazing Fernando Alonso who needs the support of a car which is still seeking 5 tenths in qualifying but is able to limit the damage during the race. Anyway, we still don’t know the real potential of the Red Bull, since Vettel was never put under pressure. The end of the season will be exciting, with 75 points still up for grabs. The last lap demonstrated how difficult it is to understand the current racing season, with Vettel, Alonso and Button setting the fastest lap. By now, the fight is between two drivers even if, as Alonso said few days ago, the Spaniard of Ferrari is mainly fighting against Newey. We cannot ascribe any fault to the Spaniard. He’s focused and resolute. The Ferrari has to find new solutions, which is not easy to do with a racing season now at an end. It will be quite hard to make 13 points up, but not so impossible.
The order of arrival represented the existing potential of teams, with the Red Bull ahead of Ferrari, McLaren and Lotus, even if the distinction between them is not as sharp as in the last few years. The Ferrari has reliability on its side. That allows the car to maintain a second place and the McLaren is getting more and more performing on hard tyres, thanks to which it scored some wins during the current racing season. Hamilton sought to attack, who encountered a KERS problem, while Alonso tried to put pressure on Sebastian Vettel. Raikkonen had to be satisfied with a 7th place, behind a performing Massa. By now, it looks like the top 6 belongs to the first three drivers. Thanks to his steadfastness, the Finnish driver preserves the third position in the general standing, but it won’t be easy to hold off the assaults of the Australian driver.
Thanks to Grosjean’s ninth place, both Lotus cars come in the top 10 and, along with Williams, Force India and Sauber, they’re all “second class” teams who are trying to get a place in the sun. Both Sauber drivers have experienced a harder weekend, anyway its fifth place seems to be untouchable. Perez’ race was ruined by a tyre puncture caused by a brush with a rival’s front wing, which I consider too large. I think it’s a matter of discussion, as wings don’t avoid wheels brushes. So, I think they’re too large and they can easily ruin the race of the drivers concerned.
In seven days drivers will race at Yas Marina. The Ferrari will have to find the right technical solution to allow Fernando and Felipe to shorten the speed gap with Red Bull in qualifying and demonstrate the similar speed to Vettel in race. In the last few GP the German driver was never put under pressure and was able to exceed the record of laps run as a leader, held by Senna.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – GP Korea: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The Korean GP was marked by the Red Bull’ flag. At this point some powerful harpoons are needed to follow them. Two powers are emerging, with Red Bull and Ferrari leading the group. Massa has confirmed he got out from the deep crisis, but the Ferrari team will have to make something up.
From free practices to race, the Red Bull imposed its supremacy. They didn’t have any problem and handled tyres very well, imposing a pace that was so hard to beat by anyone. Alonso and Massa took a great advantage of their potential, however rivals proved to be an edge over.
Ferrari got the second place inside the World Championship, but that is not the main goal for the team, as they want Fernando to win the Driver World Championship. At the moment, I find it hard for the Italian team to find a right solution to balance the technical gap with Red Bull Team in terms of speed performances. The two zeros, which were due to external faults, now weigh heavily on the Italian Team. What is more in India ( where a GP will be run in 2 weeks ) there will be some customs problems, so it will be so hard to get an important car structural updating. Hard GP to Hamilton who was in trouble since the beginning of the race because of tyres consumption. The McLaren is losing its strength and it’s not a threat to the Austrian Team. They could hold the balance of power , but at the moment, they’re out of fight. Unfortunately Button was put out of action after few metres, whereas Hamilton will have to get at least the third place occupied by a high-performing Raikkonen, who continues to grab points. It is hard for the team to have a good performance on soft and super-soft tyres. If they use hard tyres, they’ll probably regain their competitiveness.
A very important fifth place for Lotus and Raikkonen. We don’t have to forget that they’re not the most competitive ones among top teams in terms of budget. The Finnish driver took advantage of his car’ new structural updating and confirmed himself as the third power of the Championship.
After getting onto the podium seven days ago, Sauber had a hard weekend in Korea. The Swiss Team tried to set an extreme strategy but bad luck was at its side. Koba was immediately involved in an accident and lost several positions , whereas Perez tried to fight until the last lap to score a point over Hamilton. The two Toro Rosso had a good performance as they were able to get into the score zone , after taking a hard start. I’m glad to see three drivers on the podium who started their career in Faenza, some of them were part of the Minardi Team (Alonso and Webber ) and Vettel was a driver of the Toro Rosso Team. The Force India, along with the Swiss team are 2012 racing season real discovery. In the last few GP they were in the top 10 and, although the teams have problems, they can take advantage of their technical potential.
Mercedes will have to roll up its sleeves. Rosberg got immediately out and Schumacher’ 13th place is a proof that the German Team still have so much to do. No doubt market operations are a sign of growth. Unfortunately the spirit is so bad and even Hamilton’ declarations ( he says it will be so hard to win a GP) leave us hopeless. It seems to me that the Englishman doesn’t have much confidence on the programme.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – Japanese GP: THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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This year Championship is deeply conditioned by outsiders and “second rows”, as proven by Massa and Kobayashi’ podium finish. It is clear that the supremacy shown by Red Bull during the race, make us think about 5 hot GP and make it clear that the fight is between Alonso and Vettel.
It’s a pity that Ferrari scored zero points, even if in this way, all the negativities experienced by drivers during the racing season will be well balanced. Starting from the next race in Korea, a mini-championship made up of 5 races will start.
In Maranello there will be so much work to do, because Vettel’ overwhelming power is alarming. Historically speaking, the Japanese track has never be hostile to the Italian team, as proven by the Brazilian driver’ second place. The Spaniard could have gained many more points. It will be so important to regain the way to victory. Naturally, Alonso is not free from being responsible for what happened, but Kimi would have never been able to pass him in that point. I think responsibility should be shared to 50%. They’ll have to roll up their sleeves. If you start from a front row, it will be harder for you to get involved in accidents.
Four points ahead are few, but they’re enough to maintain the leadership. During the last two-three races they’ve seen their advantage going down and down, so now it’s time to keep on working hard. Massa’ performance was very good and he scored important points. He has proven to be on the rise, creating hardship to Ferrari team who, in my opinion, is thinking about a long-range solution which could go beyond the 2013.
On the contrary, McLaren is backwards. When so important changes occur during a racing season’ hot phase, destabilizations can be created. Probably, Hamilton’s choice has created problems inside the team. The clarification made by the English team after qualifying may sound as a wake-up call. Hamilton and Webber are now out of contention for the World title, even if the Englishman will have to try to regain points to get at least the third place inside the Championship.
The Australian driver’ race was ruined by the umpteenth “Grosjean-style” accident. I just can’t understand where he was trying to go. If he hadn’t found Webber on his way, he would have definitely gone off the track…….Despite all the amendments, he just keeps on making the same mistakes. He’s a fast driver, but the mistakes he makes are too heavy both for himself and for the team. The Lotus may fight for the third place. The Lotus is proving to be the thermometer of the Championship, even with regard to negative events.
Sauber’ great season continues. Unfortunately, a trivial mistake made by Perez at the hairpin, avoid the team to score further points. This car’ performances are so good and Kobayashi wasn’t able to withstand Button’ attacks, getting a podium finish for the first time, in front of his own audience. After Toyota, Honda and Bridgestone’ retreats, Japan needed to recapture that nationalistic spirit on which it can cheer..
Great race also for Force India, Williams and Toro Rosso. Maldonado didn’t make any mistake and Ricciardo withstood Schumacher’ attacks. In the next GP, Sauber and Lotus can become part of the points sharing and, obviously we don’t have to forget about McLaren.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F.1 – Singapore Gp : THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The fight of Alonso and Ferrari against McLaren, Red Bull and Lotus is the leitmotiv of this year racing season. One by one, the rivals of Ferrari aim at going off with points. Reliability plays the main role again and today bad luck has been at Hamilton’s side, while in Monza was at Vettel’s side.
It’s so positive to escape unharmed from a race such as the Singapore Gp, which was featured by many accidents . It’s positive especially if you get a third position after spending an uneasy weekend start. Maranello has to seek after some tenth to support Alonso, as the Italian team can’t always rely on miracles. We still have four contenders to the world title and Ferrari is on 29 points over Vettel, so, positioning could be enough, even if they have to improve performances and research.
Talking about feelings, the Singapore Gp didn’t keep up with the racing season we’ve been experiencing, even if we saw some fights concerning tyres changing and accidents, especially the one involving Schumacher. The weekend was in Hamilton ‘ hands, the only driver who was able to tackle the overwhelming power of the Red Bull’s German driver. After tackling Vettel’s supremacy, driving an amazing lap in qualifying, the Englishman was leading the race. If he hadn’t had a hydraulic problem, he surely would have won the race. To keep up with the English driver, Vettel was risking a lot. Massa handled a good race. Unfortunately, if a driver starts from a bottom row, he is likely to run into a car clash. After getting back on track in the last position and changing strategy, he was able to get up to the 8th position, making also good passes. The Brazilian driver is probably getting back to his old self again.
I would have expected something more from Lotus running on soft and super-soft tyres, but maybe the car’ performances are better when on medium. The team saw its two drivers positioning in the top 10. Grosjean was Raikkonen’s second guide. The Finnish driver holds the world standing’s third position although he hasn’t score a win yet. We have many outsiders such as Di Resta and Maldonado who, relying on competitive cars, may act as a balance for points distribution. The Sauber has got us used to its ups and downs. The Swiss team showed to be more competitive on hard and medium tyres. Using that kind of tyres you can even afford to deploy more risky strategies which sometimes can pay off with good performances.
A honest race for Rosberg who leads Mercedes towards the 5th place. This fact should give us pause. If the team had “two Rosberg”, it could strive for the first four places. The reaction of Technicians toward Schumacher’ mistake was meaningful, so I think It’s time to change, even If Hamilton shift to Mercedes will be so difficult. Over the last three years, the McLaren team has been the one who got the greatest number of successes. If the three-pointed star team wants to improve, it will have to support Rosberg with a promising young driver ( i.e. Di Resta) or take a look around.
Gian Carlo Minardi