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

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