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

/in /by

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

Gian Carlo Minardi: “ A heart-stopping end of season also for the Italian F.3”

/in /by

dallara-mygale.jpg'It’s a heart-stopping finish for the Italian ACI CSAI Formula and F.3 Championships. After the Formula Abarth struggle on the edge of a thousandth, an exciting Italian F.3 season has come to an end on Monza track. The verdict has been returned only after a vibrant struggle in which three drivers, members of two different teams, were involved.
Read more

F.3 – At Monza Latifi finishes a racing season during which he has so much progressed

/in /by

nicholas_latifi.jpg'The races run on Monza track marked the end of the Italian F3 European Series Championship and the end of Nicholas Latifi’ first racing season behind the wheel of a Formula car.
Read more

GT – Davide Rigon draws attention on himself at Navarra

/in /by

In the final racing weekend of Blancpain GT Endurance Series which took place at the Spanish circuit of Navarra, Davide Rigon drew attention on himself by keeping a top driver pace and leading his Ferrari 458 to the second place, before yielding the wheel to his team mate Gattuso.
Two years after winning the Superleague Formula Championship for the second time, the talented Italian driver is now ready to go back to the Spanish track behind the wheel of his Ferrari 458. In a cool and rainy Sunday, Davide took the lead of the car during the second hour of the race and soon managed to get up to the 2nd position, next to McLaren.
When the rain was getting harder and harder and the race was getting into the final part, Rigon had to pit to change tyres and yielded the wheel to his team mate. Due to heavy rain, the track was impracticable, so the race director decided to stop the race a little bit in advance, just after the safety car dominated the track for a long time.
“ It was a good weekend, I like the Navarra circuit so much. Last time I raced here was in 2010, when I won the Superleague Formula Championship for the second time. We handled a good race since qualifying and during the race I managed to get up to the 2nd position under a rainy weather, and got next to the McLaren. As rain was getting harder and harder, we decided to pit and that was the moment I yielded the wheel to my team mate. It was a hard season and the Championship was very selective. I want to thank Kessel Team for giving me such a great opportunity.”
With the race at Navarra, Davide Rigon’ first racing season in the GT Blancpain Endurance Series ends up. It’s a magnificent Series in which more than 50 cars were involved throughout the six venues scheduled for the Championship.
rigon.jpg'

F.3 – Nicholas Latifi ready for the final race in Monza

/in /by

nicholas_latifi.jpg'This weekend the circuit of Monza will host the final race of the Italian F3 European Series Championship and the Italian F3 Championship. It’s been 6 months since the opening race in Valencia and, weekend after weekend Nicholas Latifi has been able to rise in grid, obtaining the podium in the last two races, in fact he finished second in Imola and scored an impressive win at Vallelunga.
The 17 year-old Italian-Canadian driver, to whom the series represents his debut behind the wheel of a single-seater car, has managed to go as far as fighting against more experienced runners who have a deeper knowledge of the car and of all the International tracks which hosted both series. In these months Latifi has not only demonstrated his exceptional talent behind the wheel of the Mygale F.3, but he has also shown resolve and obduracy.
In the “speed mecca”, the driver of JD Motorsport Team, will try to end up his first season at best, aiming at scoring as many points as possible to preserve the 4th place in the rookie standing and the 7th in the general standing.
“ I think that Top 5 is within my reach. After finishing second in Imola and winning at Vallelunga, my next goal is to obtain another important result to raise in the standing further. Compared to other tracks, qualifying will be not so decisive to get a good final result, considering the long straights which compose the track. The layout of the Monza circuit gives you several opportunities to make a pass.”, says Nicholas Latifi.
“We are all focussed and highly motivated coming off such an incredible Vallellunga race weekend. Nicholas’ impressive victory in the final sprint race on Sunday was an incredible accomplishment, he is determined to continue his momentum going into Monza. His progression this year has been extremely impressive and once again has demonstrated his immense driving talent and natural ability”, says David Tennyson, the driver coach.
“ We’ve come to the final race, so we want to end up the season by obtaining another good result, in the wake of race-3 at Vallelunga. In this way we’ll also help our team mate to win both Championships, given the fact he’s the leader of both standings.”, says Giovanni Minardi, the sport advisor.
The racing weekend will start on Friday with one session of free practices ( 9.00-09.30 )to be followed by qualifying which will determine the starting grid of the two races. The 22 minutes- long first race, scheduled for Saturday, will start at 14.15 and the 30 minutes- long second race will start on Sunday at 09.00. The sprint race, which is the final race of the season, will start at 16.00.
nicholas_latifi.jpg'

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

/in /by

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

/in /by

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.3 – Nicholas Latifi discovers the Monza track

/in /by

nicholas_latifi.jpg'Waiting for the last racing weekend of the Italian Formula 3 – European Series, scheduled for the next October the 21st on Monza track and also valid for the tricolour series, Nicholas Latifi has been back to work behind the wheel of his Mygale 18, to take part in the collective test which took place just on the track located in Northern Italy.
Read more