Archive for category: The Point by Gian Carlo Minardi

It should have been the weekend of the Ferrari double and instead both Sainz and Leclerc finished off the podium. It was certainly a day for Ferrari to analyse since they made a number of mistakes in both the strategy and during the pit stops, especially with the Spaniard.
In these circumstances the car fell short of Red Bull and Mercedes. With the same tyres Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton performed decidedly better, so much so that the British champion set the race’s fastest lap.

At the moment the Ferrari package is not ready to win the world championship. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, protagonists of excellent overtaking and defence were blameless. However, with the fourth and six places they left many points to their direct rivals, just as Ferrari did a favour to a strongly growing Mercedes. They have three weeks ahead of them to ponder and plan the last part of the season in the best possible way with the aim of saving at least second place in the constructors and drivers championships.

This is not a surprise because they made us used to even more impressive comebacks but Max Verstappen deserves the title of “driver of the day”. He was the protagonist of a race in all out attack to then manage to advantage he had acquired. He made only one mistake that could have cost him very dearly, but he was good and lucky to take back control of the car. He is supported by a team that is aware of its strength and they work calmly without making any mistakes. At this point of the world championship they only have to manage the large advantage they have accumulated.

For the second consecutive grand prix Mercedes went onto the podium with both its drivers making a great leap forward on the ladder. The modifications carried out are paying off and they have taken away points from Ferrari whose advantage has been reduced to only 30 points.

I wish you all happy holidays and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 at Imola for the sixth edition of the Historic Minardi Day.

Gian Carlo Minardi

It was a wonderful Austrian grand prix on all fronts, in both the positions at the top as well as in the back. The turning points were not lacking starting with the flames that stopped Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari that was firmly in second position up to that moment, to the problem of the accelerator pedal on the sister car driven by Charles Leclerc who however managed to take home the win ahead of his direct rival Max Verstappen.

Ferrari took home its second straight win putting a patch on the criticism of the last few days; they were perfect across the board. Unfortunately the reliability partially ruined the celebrations. This was not a positive sign for the men in Maranello. They were major breakages that negatively affect the planned development.

For his part, Leclerc was fantastic. He made no mistakes overtaking Verstappen three times and this time he could do nothing against Ferrari’s superiority. On the other hand the Dutchman was very good in Saturday’s sprint race. The “domestic” tussle between Leclerc and Sainz did not affect the final result. In that part of the race Red Bull was superior.

Mercedes went onto the podium with Lewis Hamilton who crossed the finish line ahead of George Russell, however paying a wide gap. We are back to the pre-Silverstone gap but they were able to exploit the misadventures of others. It was an excellent fifth place for Ocon but Mick Schumacher was superb, in clear growth and he probably managed to “unlock” himself. I hope that this is a good omen for a second part of the season on the rise.

Fernando Alonso’s tenth place is also to be applauded. For part of the race he even held sixth place after starting in twentieth place. Once again he played a role in bringing points to Alpine.

Finally, there was no lack of penalties for having exceeded the track limits. The Red Bull Ring is equipped with sensors that promptly highlight non-compliance. It is a technology that should be used in all the circuits so as to “free” the marshals.

So now we wait two weeks for the Grand Prix in France and then the one in Hungary.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Once again these young men kept us with bated breath until the last of the scheduled seventy laps. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz challenged each other lapping constantly under the barrier of 1’16” with the Ferrari driver setting the fastest lap of the race with 1’15”749 crossing the finishing line less than a second behind the winner.

Verstappen drove a great race without making the slightest mistake. Carlos Sainz made his best performance in two years. At this time Ferrari cannot exploit its power-unit to the fullest. Despite the DRS the Spanish driver was unable to attack the Dutchman. From the chassis, aerodynamics and engine points of view Red Bull is perfect right now. What stopped Perez is to be understood.

With fifth place Charles Leclerc limited the damage bringing home a solid race. Certainly the 49 point gap from Verstappen is starting to weigh heavily, especially against a rival in such good shape even if he gained a lot on the Mexican. From here to the end reliability will dominate because three engines are too few and there is still a long way to go.

Lewis Hamilton returned to the podium, the author of an intelligent race supported by valid strategy by Mercedes’ men on the wall. After the Baku GP he was disheartened and this result could help him.

In qualifying Fernando Alonso showed he can still make the difference but in the long run the car’s difficulties came out, closing the race in sixth place (with Ocon) and seventh place. A result that reflects their real position. They probably could have let “Nando” return to the pits a few laps earlier instead of keeping him on the track. Also worthy of note was Zhou Guanyu’s eighth place, finishing behind his team mate Valtteri Bottas and ahead of Lance Stroll.

Gian Carlo Minardi

After Spain, even here in Monaco Ferrari gave its direct rivals important points in both the drivers and constructors championships. When you are solidly in the first and second place you cannot and must not make mistakes in strategy, especially on a track like this one where overtaking is impossible. Once you lose the position the discussion is over. In Monaco you pay double for the slightest mistake.

The duel between Red Bull and Ferrari is very tight, as is shown by the order across the finish line with four cars within a space of barely two seconds. Once again the seven points lost by Leclerc in Imola weigh heavily. Now the gap has grown to nine points but we are in a gap in which it is still possible to recover. At Baku however, the recovery must begin. The same goes for the constructors where Ferrari lost even more ground but with fifteen grands prix still to be raced everything is possible. The second part of the world championship will be crucial especially in terms of reliability.

At the end of the race Ferrari presented a protest against the exit from the pits by Max Verstappen maintaining that the Dutch driver touched the yellow line. Until now there had been a uniformity of view and respect of the regulations but in this case I noticed a certain superficiality. After having accepted the protest the college of marshals confirmed the order of arrival and the win and third place of Perez and Verstappen. Today created a dangerous precedent.

Like every year, the arrival of the circus onto the streets of the Principality opened the debate on the track. As far as I am concerned, as of today the grand prix has nothing to say on the technical and sporting sides. Only the extra sporting charm remains. I believe that it is now an outdated race. We again saw how difficult (if not impossible) it is to overtake. The driver still manages, in part, to stand out, in particular in the flying lap as we saw in qualifying with Leclerc or Alonso in the race. Despite a car in difficulty he held seven rivals (one of whom was Hamilton) at bay recompacting the group behind him, also causing harm for his team mate Ocon considering the five second penalty. With these technologically advanced cars it is not as selective as it once was.

On show were also George Russell, once again in the top-5 with the Mercedes, and Lando Norris, author of the race’s fastest lap. The accident with Michael Schumacher was also very strange. The car jerked abnormally crashing into the wall destroying his Haas which split in two. I do not feel like accusing him of a mistake because it could have come from a technical problem or a failure.

Now let us wait and see what will happen in Baku which is an anomalous track.

Gian Carlo Minardi

First of all I want to thank the 130,307 fans who filled and coloured Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit. It was a positive result and they deserve an extraordinary cheer. Despite the water and the mud they stayed until the end with an exceptional invasion of the track. In all the three days we had a sporting, correct and competent audience. Under the podium they applauded the winners.

It was incredible to see the thousands of fans who, on the Saturday, stayed until the end to also watch the Formula 2 race. It was a result that is difficult to see in other circuits.

On the racing front Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominated the whole weekend taking pole position, sprint race, grand prix and the fastest lap. They were the masters of Ferrari’s home. It was a result that must certainly make Ferrari think. The team says goodbye to Imola with only sixth place to its credit, the result of a mistake in the final stages. In view of the world championship Leclerc would have done well to settle for third place but in that moment he was catching up to Perez and he tried to attack the Mexican to try and take second place.

It was the first mistake of a very long season that promises to be tight and played on the edge of thousandths of a second and on every single point. It becomes fundamental not to give any advantage to the rivals.

With this win Verstappen goes to second place on the ladder, 27 points behind the driver from Monte Carlo who crossed the finish line in sixth place ahead of the excellent Tsunoda. It was a decidedly negative weekend for Carlos Sainz who is not going through a good personal moment. In qualifying he made a stupid mistake that he partially remedied with a good come back in the sprint race. In the race he was slightly touched by Ricciardo but there is contributory blame. This was a race accident but with a high price.

McLaren confirmed it is the third force of the world championship with Lando Norris who completed the Imoa podium. We saw the Aston Martins once again in the points zone with both its drivers and Magnussen who brought another two points to Haas. It was a positive day for Valtteri Bottas too and Alfa Romeo   with a fifth place finish behind an excellent George Russell. The Englishman consolidated fourth place on the ladder and overshadowed Lewis Hamilton, only fourteenth just like at the end of the sprint race.

Now Formula 1 will move to Miami but the Imola Circuit is ready to host new and exciting races including the Le Mans Series in mid May, the DTM the month after, the Historic Minardi Day at the end of August and the ACI Weekends.

Gian Carlo Minardi

We saw a wonderful grand prix and I am very satisfied with what I saw. An exciting season awaits us with a battle played on the edge of thousandths of a second but very correct between two great drivers and teams who will certainly know how to entertain us. I am satisfied with the current race management which was much more attentive than in the recent past. There is uniformity of views in the decisions taken and I hope it can continue on the same path.

Seeing a win slip away in the last three laps certainly leaves a bitter taste in the mouth but Ferrari confirmed its competitiveness that consolidates its lead in the ladder but we are only in the second GP. They will have to continue working hard because in front of them is a Red Bull that is exceedingly beautiful to look at and much more stable compared to the Ferrari that must compromise by giving something away in speed.

Mercedes is still in difficulty. It was not exempt from errors of strategy both on the occasion of the Safety Car and the start with the hard compounds. They gave a big sign to the direct rivals. Russell was much better than Hamilton during all the weekend, however, I am convinced that they will know how to solve their problems quickly and with the arrival in Europe the fight could extend to three.

It was an interesting GP in the rear with a lot of overtaking even if there was no lack of reliability problems in Alpha Tauri, McLaren and Alpine. There is a great competition and above all overtaking is possible in breaking.

Now we will see what will happen in two weeks in Australia.

 

Gian Carlo Minardi