Gian Carlo Minardi “We’re at an interlocutory phase”

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The four-day-tests on the track of Barcelona ended up the second pre-season tests session. This session was characterized by bad weather conditions which affected the last day of testing during which teams usually put into practice all the work done, as analysed by Gian Carlo Minardi.

“Teams started to make amendments to be ready for the last session of testing and the first GP. It’s very hard to say if teams used cars to their full potential. What is almost clear is that it is quite hard for teams to manage soft tyres. I still remember what Paul Hembery said when new tyres were introduced; he pointed out the will (or need) to make the race even more interesting”, said the manager from Faenza.

“In the second half of the past season, teams equalized their performances on medium/hard tyres. Drivers pitted according to regulations. Comparing times in the first few laps of the long run with times in the last laps, we could notice sudden performance downfalls within a short time. It will be extremely hard but important to set the right time to pit. So, in the first GP it will be interesting to see different strategies. We’re still living an interlocutory phase and the four-day- testing session was interrupted by bad weather conditions. Generally, the last day of testing shows the results of the work done during the previous days, but this time it wasn’t possible.”

The tests at Barcelona confirmed a compression of times, as 7-8 teams crossed the line within one second.” Therefore, it will be so interesting to see what it will be going to happen during the third and last session of testing (from February 28 to March 3), to be held on the track of Barcelona, again. We will see how much teams will show their cars’ performances; I think they will be going to make separate tests in order to avoid opponents to take advantage of each car’ strengths and weaknesses. We’ll have two GP so close to each other (Australia and Malaysia), and then three weeks after the Malaysian GP, there will be the Chinese GP, where we’ll see amendments.”

The Ferrari gets people to discuss again: “We’re at the end of a cycle. It could be the result of a car built thanks to a cutting edge wind tunnel. Most of the mistakes made in the past season were certainly linked to an imperfect wind tunnel”, ends up the ACI CSAI supervisor.

Examination passed with flying colours for Bhai Tech

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A lot of work was done over the past few days at the Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Centre, the new cutting-edge vehicle centre located in Mestrino (not far from Padua) and conceived by the businessman Mr. Ferdinando Bada. The Centre hosted a three-day-event dedicated to all the young promises of the international motorsport.

Seven young drivers, racing in the main national and international championships – Formula ACI CSAI Abarth, Formula 3, GP3 and GT – had the opportunity to test the cutting-edge full motion driving simulator and experience mental and physical training. All the work done was made thanks to the presence of a gym equipped with advanced equipments and motorsport specialists, all supported by the staff of the Forlì based Driver Program Centre.

The centre was established to sustain the professional growth of drivers and teams by technologically contributing to tweak racing cars, as Mr. Roberto Costa, the technical manager, told to Autosprint: “A team which wants to cooperate with us conveys everything about tyres, set-up and downforce. All data are put into the system and, after defining a basic set-up, we start simulating.” Bhai Tech main facility is just the 6-DOF driving simulator, which is equipped with 5 outboard headlamps and an 8m210° curved screen with rear-view images. “In many F1 teams usually a hundred people are involved in this field”, says Mr. Costa, “we’re able to offer clients this kind of advanced technology by only involving few people, so to get costs down and make it affordable for teams”.

The GT driver Nicola De Marco, along with Juan Branger and Santiago Urrutia, two other young drivers running in the Formula Abarth, were invited to test Bhai Tech’s driving simulator. The rookie champion Santiago Urrutia, who was at his first experience at the wheel of a simulator, commented as follows “It was an amazing experience. I had the chance to run 20 laps on the Monza track at the wheel of a GP2 car. Everything was new to me, except the track. The simulator is an absolutely realistic and wonderful vehicle. I think it could be a good substitute for on-track tests”, said the future Open F3 driver. Alessandro Cicognani, the 21-year-old driver who ran in the Carrera Cup Championship last season, thinks the same, too “I think the centre is really fantastic, the simulator is so professional and realistic. It can perfectly simulate reality. When I got off the vehicle I felt like I had run on track. Arms and legs are stimulated just like when you’re racing on track, even though you have to be more concentrated. I think it’s an ideal device for the drivers racing in the GP2 and WSR 3.5 Championships, where you don’t have much time to test the track and private tests are so expensive”, ended up the driver from Ravenna.

His thoughts were also echoed by the Open F3 Champion Niccolò Schirò and the Trident GP3 team racer David Fumanelli “I think the simulator could be a good substitute for on-track tests. I drove a GP2 car for the first time and I got along so well with it, even if I had a little bit of headache, so I didn’t manage to race for too long”, said Schirò “I was astonished by the centre, which is so modern and advanced. It’s equipped with all sort of equipment, just like a F1 Team. The simulator is so developed and it’s even better than the ones used by F1 Teams, because it was built using better materials. Given the fact they’re at their first stages, I have to say that the base is so good. I drove a GP2 car, too, but on Barcelona track”, said Fumanelli “I had never driven this kind of car before and I was amazed by braking. I think it could be so useful to get ready for a GP3 or GP2 racing weekend, since you don’t have much time to test the track. For example, you can train to find the right braking point, besides working on the set-up.”
Nicolò Granzotto, who will be the next Antonelli Motorsport Team driver in the Carrera Cup Championship, was enthusiastic about the simulator, too “The centre is amazing and it’s run by a very professional staff. Nothing is left to chance. The driving simulator is astonishing, as it can perfectly simulate reality. Just after a few laps, everything becomes so automatic, as if you were on track. It’s an essential device and I think it should be tried, as it allows you to work both on car balance and braking points. Along with the engineers support, telemetry can also be analyzed. I want to praise the staff of the Driver Program Center who made us do some physical and mental training before and after the simulator session.”

Gian Carlo Minardi “At Jerez, a first taste of the 2013 racing season”

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The 4-day-testing at Jerez finished the first session of the 2013 collective testing. Over the last 4 days we started to know more about the new single- seaters (except the Williams which will be tested at Barcelona), which will be the protagonists of the upcoming F.1 World Championship. As shown, the performance level will be higher.


“The current regulations, which will last till the end of the upcoming season, have been taken to the extreme, At this point it’s so difficult to think up new amendments. The common denominator is represented by very thin sidepods which could cause rear side’s overheating.  All teams got medium-high positions and the Red Bull is a benchmark. The McLaren seems to be a very interesting car, as well as Sauber and Toro Rosso. Good feelings come from the Ferrari, as well. The long runs of the first two days (13-14 laps), during which lap times were less important than other performances, were quite good. I think that the Spanish track was a mean to collect as many data as possible and compare them with the ones obtained by making simulator and wind tunnel tests. This is the way the Spanish tester will help the team. According to his interviews, it seems that the team will have to improve the simulator hardware. Along with Davide Rigon’s contribution, we all hope that they will be able to solve a problem that sounds like a “false note” in the world of F.1. It’s unacceptable not to test cars before running such a long Championship. It is important to reach a compromise in order to give teams the chance to test the turbo engine on track. The turbo engine will be the 2014 racing season official engine; it’s also interesting for the world of production cars. Cars have to be tested directly on track, not only by using a simulator”, says Gian Carlo Minardi.

“Long runs have always been Sebastian Vettel’s prerogative and I think Red Bull has mainly worked on car reliability and race performances, rather than on lap time. Beyond Ferrari good results, it’s difficult to set an on-track hierarchy yet.  No doubt 4 cars are a step ahead of the others, but it will be interesting to see also the steps of the latter. After taking a shaky start on the first two days, the Mercedes recovered in terms of reliability and performance by running almost 300 laps between Thursday and Friday.”

At Jerez teams started to test and improve all the changes made by running hundreds of laps, before working on further revisions to be presented at Barcelona, the track where the second session of the pre-season test will take place from February 19th to 22nd and from February 28th to March 3rd “Pre-season test in Barcelona will be so important, as the Spanish track will also host the World Championship opening tests. Thus we’ll have accurate feedbacks from cars and drivers. With the Barcelona test we’ll get closer to the first GP of the season, so team will get ready to play their ace card”, ends up the manager from Faenza.