Davide Rigon: "Waiting for Le Mans"

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In a little more than two weeks the spotlight will turn on the most prestigious competition in the Endurance landscape, the 24 Hours of Le Mans: among the 168 pilots, there will be also Davide Rigon, in pair with Calado and Olivier Beretta, at the wheel of the Ferrari 458 AF Corse. The talented driver from Veneto (Italy) arrives to the appointment which is worth a season, on the strength of the podium at Spa-Francorchamps and of fifth place obtained in the opening race at Silverstone, which launched the crew #71 at fifth place in classification. “The evaluation so far is certainly positive. At Silverstone we collected less than deserved, while at Spa everything went great. The maximum would have been the second place”, Davide Rigon comments. “Now we have several kilometres behind and begin to be very familiar with the car and the team, with whom there’s a great feeling”.

Along with Bruni and Vilander, you have made Ferrari and AF Corse the leaders in their respective classifications. What are your goals?

The main objective is to bring Ferrari to success among the Constructors and then, in succession, to achieve the titles for teams and drivers, thus trying to repeat the three of last year. We’ll try to win the Drivers’ Championship, even though we are rookies. For James this is the first experience in GT, while for me it’s their first season as official driver. Last year, thanks to 8Star Team, I had the chance to get to know the championship, but now I feel much the weight of responsibility. Thanks to AF Corse and Ferrari we have everything on hand to make it right. We are professionals and we have to give the 100%.

What about your relationship with the other Ferrari drivers?

There is a great team spirit and we work very well together, also sharing the data. Gimmi and Vilander are two champions with an extensive experience: I can learn a lot from them. We have a great engineer with whom we feel very well: we build the car in order to suit our needs.

After Silverstone and Spa, now it’s time for the 24H of Le Mans.

It’s the most important race of the year and one of the finest in history. All drivers wish to run the 24H of Le Mans at least once, for its charm and importance. Perhaps it is worth more than a win in Monte Carlo. For me it will be the first time and I cannot wait.

What are your goals?

The objectives are clear. We have to run for the podium, if not for the victory. We know that it will be very tough – especially for us, considering that we are at the debut – although on our side we can count on Olivier Beretta, who can already claim a victory. We are ready to challenge ourselves: we have already analyzed and studied different strategies and we’ll have an important reference with our fellows Fisichella-Bruni-Vilander, who know this race very well. We’ll try to keep their pace in the race.

Have you already had the chance to get to know the track?

I will experiment the track for the first time in the official tests before the race. As far as now, I’ve had the opportunity to study the circuit through the simulator and some videos. It’s a very long track: I’ve never driven on a circuit where a complete lap takes nearly 4 minutes.

It will be the first time at Le Mans for you, but the fourth in a 24H race, with the 2008 success in FIA GT.

I have already run three times a 24H, although all of them on the track of Spa-Francorchamps. In 2008 I won at the debut in the FIA World GT with the Ferrari of Scuderia Italia, while in Blancpain Endurance Series I had to retire both times, including last year in the last hour of the race, due to an engine failure. I know what it means not sleeping at night. It’s a really tough race where we should not leave anything to the rivals.

What kind of physical preparation is required for this kind of race?

This year, with my trainer Emiliano Maraldi of the Driver Program Center of Forlì, we are working primarily on floor exercises with aerobic workouts and on reflexes, continuing with the program of last year. In terms of physical strength, endurance races are less demanding than Formula ones, while they require a greater resistance to heat and to extended “suffering”. Especially in the 24H I’ll have to stay several hours in the car, with stints of even three hours. For this reason, I don’t want to arrive unprepared to this important appointment.

Monaco GP – Drivers’ Scorecard

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At this time, the ranking of teams is well defined, especially regarding Qualifying, with two Mercedes, two Red Bull, two Ferrari and two Toro Rosso, along with some “interferences” such as McLaren and Force India. This situation is repeated in the race too: last Sunday, it was a little less defined (two Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India, Williams, Lotus, McLaren and Marussia), also because of the heavy debacle of Renault engines and for the particularity of the track. With the return to Europe it will be better highlighted again.
The difference will be made – beyond the technical values – also by the available budgets. The situation is quite critical for different teams, with bells ringing for the dead. This factor will definitely have an influence on the starting grid.

That said, let’s go with the votes:

Nico Rosberg – 9 He did very well all weekend, “hiding” in free practice, since he has never completed what I call the “filotto”, that is the best time in all sectors – something that, on the other hand, he achieved in Qualifying. I do not see any cheating from his side. He would even deserve a 10, but I do not approve his behaviour at the restart after the safety-car, even though he had the right to do what he did. A 10 is also deserved by Mercedes: with Nico and Lewis, they did not yield anything.

Jules Bianchi – 8.5 He took home an “encyclopedic” result. Two points (which could have been more without the questionable penalty) that are the life for a small team. I identify with their situation. Two points that mean survival and almost certainly a permanence in the Top 10, therefore television rights.

Daniel Ricciardo – 8 Great race for the Australian. In the end, he tried to attack a Hamilton with some physical problems, giving all out.

Lewis Hamilton – 7.5 He tried to trouble his team-mate, proving its limits of character and of inability to withstand the pressure. A pilot can not and do not have to act like he did both on the podium and in the moments before and after the race, evidently trying to annoy his team-mate.

Felipe Massa – 7 He was the author of an amazing race, penalized by Ericsson in Qualifying. In the first step he made a number of turns like on one, proving to manage well the tyres. A good seventh place for him and for the team.

Nico Hulkenberg – 7 Started from the sixth row, he ended with an outstanding fifth place among the steep streets of the Principality, bringing to the team precious points for retaining the fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Kimi Raikkonen – 7 Although he made the mistake at the Loews, he was the author of a great start. Unfortunately the contact with Chilton has compromised his best day since he’s been back in Red.

Fernando Alonso – 7 He accused some technical problems, in particular with a loss of power at start. He fought for fourth place, the actual position of Ferrari.

Daniil Kvyat – 6 of encouragement. Despite the incident in practice – which might happen – he brought the car into the Top Ten, together with Vergne. Both he and his team-mate have been victims of the black day for the Renault power-unit.

All other pilots: insufficient, including Sebastian Vettel, who is suffering the team-mate. Within the team there’s a situation of great irritability, that could lead Adrian Newey to take a gap year (read more here), returning in the Circus in 2016. The talented engineer might not be the only one to change air… A hot half and end of the season is taking shape, especially if the teams will not be able to put the pieces in place in order to bother the supremacy of Mercedes.

Minardi: "Red Bull not releasing itself from Renault? A sabbatical year for Newey"

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With the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo, teams traditionally begin to lay the foundations for the new year, especially on the front of power-units.

The leitmotif of the weekend in Monaco has been the debacle of the Renault power-units, which have laid out the races of Vettel, Kvyat, Vergne and Maldonado. Only Daniel Ricciardo kept up the honour of the transalpine manufacturer, with a third place at finish which also means the second consecutive podium for the Australian driver. Despite a power-unit with a deficit of about 80-90 hp, in the final stages of the race the Australian pilot was able to fight on an even footing with Hamilton’s Mercedes.

As we said, in the motor-homes the negotiations for 2015 have begun, especially at Red Bull’s. “The World Champions are unable to free themselves from the contract for the supply of next season”, Gian Carlo Minardi comments at the website minardi.it. “This could result in important changes, both regarding technicians and pilots. Adrian Newey might take a year off, waiting to return to the Circus in 2016 with other colours. The same could apply to those drivers who are no longer willing to lose”, the manager from Faenza continues.

Several engine manufacturers would be interested in entering F1 (BMW and Toyota in first place), provided that they find a valid technical partner. “The team not satisfied with their situation have explored alternative scenarios, in order to evaluate new supplies. The new engine manufacturers are interested in finding a valid technical partner that enables them to win straight away. Therefore, if the top teams confirm the current partnerships, the entry of these new players may be deferred”, the ex-constructor from Faenza concludes.

Monaco GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The sixth Grand Prix of Formula 1 is over, with another double scored by Mercedes. However, the real leitmotif of the weekend has been the debacle of the Renault engines, which have experienced several breaks. On this specific side, Red Bull is unable to free itself from next season’s contract for the supply of engines: this could open new scenarios, both regarding technicians and pilots. Adrian Newey might opt for a sabbatical year, waiting to return to the Circus in 2016 with other colours. This rumor could also lead other constructors, interested in providing their Power-Unit to strong technical partners, to change their “return-to-F1” plans – BMW in first place.

By the way, congratulations to Nico Rosberg, who repeated the success of last season, proving to have something more than Hamilton on this track; the team-mate finished in second place, allowing Mercedes to score the fifth double out of six races. Leaving aside controversies, with this victory Nico proved that he deserved the pole-position, being the only one driver to break the wall of 1’16’’.

As we said, it was a race characterized by many retirements, with only four cars at full speed (Rosberg, Hamilton, Riccardo and Alonso). A praise must go to Marussia, which – despite the difficulties – achieved with Bianchi the ninth place and two World Championship points. Two points that will be vital for the continuation of this adventure: as a former Team Principal of a small team, I know very well the significance of such a result.

Very good job for Red Bull too, a team constantly growing. Daniel Ricciardo scored his second consecutive podium and is the only driver to keep up the morale at Renault’s, with a great pace. Despite a Power-Unit with 80-90 hp less, he was able to fight on an even footing with a Mercedes.

A small praise goes to Ferrari, once again bringing both cars to the finish line. The result of Fernando Alonso highlights once more the problems at Ferrari’s. Too bad for Kimi Raikkonen: after a weekend troubled by physical problems, he was the author of a great start and of a good performance, messed-up only by race contacts. Unfortunately, in a track like Monte Carlo you have to put them into account.

Monaco GP – PREVIEW

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Formula 1 gets to Monte Carlo, the most glamorous appointment of the season. It will be an interesting Grand Prix with regard to several respects, being the first race on a street circuit with the new Power-Units.

The biggest problems, for some teams, will be to successfully transmit the power to the road and to find the optimal traction: these elements will make a difference.

It will also be the first time with the Supersoft 2014 (together with the Soft), that could lead to a strategy of only one stop. I do not expect big changes, with Mercedes ready to play again the hare of the race. Just last year, they proved to be unbeatable with Nico Rosberg, author of the pole-position & fastest lap and winner of the race. In this appointment Nico plays a great card for the championship, as he will try to break the hegemony of Hamilton, author of a good poker, before team’s hierarchies are defined.

It will be interesting to see who will be the rival of Hamilton and Rosberg. In this sense, I see very well Red Bull. Ricciardo and Vettel might annoy the W05 most, since power, horse power and consumption fall to the background, in favour of traction and chassis. Monte Carlo could therefore be a race where it will be possible to twist a little the forces into play.

Moreover, the appointment through the little streets of the Principality is historically the time when teams start to lay the foundation for the programs of 2015, especially concerning the engine.

Within the Motor-homes, interesting meeting will start to take place especially for teams not completely satisfied with their current situation. As we know, there are several constructors ready to join the Circus, looking for a strong technical partner. It will be interesting to see who manages to break the agreements currently in place.

Gian Carlo Minardi: "Let's focus on competitiveness, rather than noise"

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After the Spanish Grand Prix was over, Formula 1 has extended its stay in Barcelona for two days of collective tests.

The two days were led – as it regards timing – by Max Chilton on Marussia and Pastor Maldonado on his Lotus. “We must not be mislead by these chronometric surveys as it is virtually impossible to draw conclusions , without knowing the work programs of the teams. It’s likely that someone has worked looking ahead to Montecarlo”, Gian Carlo Minardi comments on the website minardi.it. “We cannot even make a comparison with the results on track during qualifying as the tyre compounds were different”. The two best times in tests have been realized with the supersoft compound.

“Pirelli brought different compounds after a Gran Prix, maybe with the intent of doing some checks both in view of 2015 and to define sets for the upcoming races”, the manager from Faenza continues. “An important fact that catches the attention is represented by the high number of kilometers covered by most of the teams which are focusing both on developments and reliability. A praise to Susie Wolff, who has covered 55 laps: an important technical and physical commitment, staying ahead of riders who have more confidence with the car”. The former constructor puts its attention on those teams that have focused on young pilots. “It’s good to see that some teams have decided to rely on young drivers. Some have done this for economic needs, but not all: an example is McLaren, who bet on Stoffel Vandoorne for tyres tests. My hope is that, in the near future, this may become a fixed and important rule for Formula 1”.

Wednesday was also the debut day of the “megaphone” to improve the sound of the V6 Turbo. “To me it’s absurd that we need to focus on noise, when it’s certainly not the primary problem. It would be better to achieve more competitiveness among the top teams. In Spain we registered a gap of 49’’ between Mercedes and Red Bull, the first among the chasers: an abyss”.

Spanish GP – Drivers' Scorecard

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Fifth success in as many races for Mercedes, with the first official podium for Daniel Ricciardo. Let’s start with the votes.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – 9 From Friday to Sunday evening, they have been able to dominate the situation in an absolute way.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel – 9 While Ricciardo achieves his first official podium, Vettel performs a good comeback (starting from 15th place), finishing at the foot of the podium – despite a car which is not yet at the top, still evolving and trying to exploit the chassis as the best of its strength points.

Valtteri Bottas – 8 He did a great job, placing his Williams between RB and Ferrari, something which the team-mate failed to achieve. Thanks to the German power-unit, the English team is able to compensate for some chassis problems.

Roman Grosjean – 8 He finished behind the Ferrari duo, scoring the first points of the season for his Lotus.

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen – 7 They went into an incredible struggle to be able to bring a car into the score-zone.

Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez – 6 A vote of encouragement: again, new points for them and Force India in Spain.

The other drivers are at the same level, with Button and Magnussen who pay the price of finding themselves in a season of transition. McLaren is not helped by Mercedes and pays the duty; in the future, it will be a machine of which we will talk about. Magnussen has the opportunity to reinforce his experience in view of 2015.

At this time, the Constructors’ rank reflects the forces in the field, with Mercedes before everyone, with a technical advantage that makes it hard for rivals to catch up. From what we can imagine, they still do not exploit their power-unit at 100%. Behind them we find Red Bull, Ferrari, Force India and Williams. RB is trying to make the most of his chassis, despite some reliability issues, trying to make up to a Renault engine still not at the top. Ferrari is the third force, but they have so much work to do.

As said before, Williams takes advantage from the best engine of the lot, as well as Force India which hits consistently the score-zone.

Spanish GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Five out of five: Mercedes continues its solo ride, thanks to the poker played by Lewis Hamilton who finished first, before (for half a second) Nico Rosberg, fierce until the last corner.

The Spanish Grand Prix underlined once again the great strength of the W05 and the gap on the lap of more than 1’’ between Mercedes and Red Bull and of 1’’50’/1’’80’ between Mercedes and Ferrari, with two teams, Williams and Lotus (the last scoring the first points just in Spain) which can be considered as outsiders in the second bracket.

Free practice, qualifying and race: Mercedes’ superiority is so high that they give the impression of “playing” with rivals, as we have seen with the strategies during the race. It won’t certainly be an easy mission to recover such a gap, as we are talking of a distance of 49’’ between the Mercedes and the first of the opponents, i.e. Ricciardo’s Red Bull.

This weekend we saw the result of the great work done in the last three weeks by Red Bull, Lotus and Williams, something that cannot be said for Ferrari, with Alonso first among non-dubbed pilots and Raikkonen opening the dancing between drivers outdistanced of 1 gap and the McLarens, still out of the score-zone.

Mercedes’ superiority makes me go back to the 80s and early 90s, when McLaren won as much as 15 races out of 16 starts, behind which other teams placed in pairs, just as happened in Spain with two Mercedes, two Red Bulls, a Williams, two Ferraris, a Lotus, a Force India and a two McLarens.

The race was animated by the recovery of Rosberg, who finished just over half a second from the teammate, and by the various overtakings performed by Sebastian Vettel, also helped by the strategies, who closed at the foot of the podium, after a fifteenth position on the starting grid.

Spanish GP – PREVIEW

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We are almost at the first quarter of the World Championship, now preparing to get back to Europe, field of the competition until summer (exception done for Montreal).

The teams are preparing to get back on track, three weeks after the race in China. It will be interesting to see what they have been able to achieve in terms of development. Until now, the Circus, stage by stage, has made giant steps regarding the technique. Mercedes’ direct rivals will hardly manage to undermine Hamilton and Rosberg: at the time, the fight is between Ferrari, Red Bull and Force India for the third place.

Undoubtedly, the Spanish Grand Prix will be a weekend full of uncertainty. Behind the W05, we have seen great movement and liveliness. Rumors speak of a Red Bull with several innovations, as well as Ferrari, even though Formula 1 is not very “talkative” this year. There’s more talk about tomorrow, rather than about what happens in the present. We often hear about future regulations – with not really appropriate proposals – trying to distract attention from Research and Development issues.

About this silence and detachment, I’d like to open a parenthesis. Imola has just hosted a sensational show, with over 32,000 fans who literally invaded the “Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit” not to watch a race, but to remember Ayrton Senna – the man and the driver. The good thing is that the audience was mostly composed of young fans, who have not directly experienced Ayrton’s Era. What happened in Imola is the example that fans love to be in contact with their idols: Formula 1 should treasure this experience. The noise – a topic over-discussed in the last weeks – has nothing to do with a decline in interest. Regarding this, Ferrari deserves a 10+ because they showed a very sensitive attitude, approaching the public and getting close to fans. In Imola, I myself have been subject of sympathy, contacts, requests for autographs and photographs as it had never happened during my career in F1.

Going back to Spain, we come from a year in which Ferrari dominated with a first and third place, whereas this year they have to run after and catch up. Let’s see what happens. I myself will be in Barcelona to see this new Formula first-hand, to report the situation at best and to face this new era with you all.

Davide Rigon: "A podium which looks ahead to Le Mans"

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“A podium is always great, but if you get there driving a Ferrari, during a World Championship race and on Spa circuit, then it becomes special and unique”: these are the first words of Davide Rigon, back from third place at finish in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, stage of the second round of the FIA WEC.

At the wheel of Ferrari 458 GTE, the talented driver from Veneto (Italy) has realized a great comeback, conquering the third step of the podium, assisted by teammate James Calado and by the excellent pit stop performed by the men of AF Corse, after a qualification below expectations. He drove in the first and third hour, with a double final stint, for a total of four hours at the wheel of the red #71 of Maranello.

“Unfortunately qualifying did not go as we wanted to, especially regarding the times of free practice. In the race, on dry conditions, I drove fast since the start, trying to attack Porsche, advantaged in straights and fast corners”, Davide Rigon comments. “Both James and I kept a great pace, that allowed us to catch up to the podium. It was a very competitive race – one of the kind I like most – and I have to congratulate all our mechanics for the fantastic pit stops. Every time we were able to nibble away something at our rivals”, David continues.


A podium that is good for the spirit in view of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and that represents a good close-up for the great weekend of Amato Ferrari Team. “Le Mans is a race that is worth a whole season. My double stint on the final was also a test in view of the 24H, both for me and for the tires”.

With the third place, Rigon and Calado climb the standings arriving in fifth place, with 25 points and a gap of only two points from the Top 3, contributing decisively to bring Ferrari to the first position in the LMGTE Manufacturer’s World Cup.