F.4 – Joao Vieira chasing after another podium

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At the turning point of the F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth, Joao Vieira attacks the podium’s top step on the track of Magione circuit.

After a day of test-driving on the same track on last July 23rd and after great times realized, the 16-year-old Brazilian of Antonelli Motorsport will try to increase his points in raking, to climb back up to the top of it, as he did over the weekend at Mugello, which has taken him from the 19th to the 8th place.

“I can’t wait to get back in the car, because I feel ready to try winning my first race. After the test at Magione circuit, where I immediately had a good driving feeling, I think we can try, even if competition is really fierce”, Joao Vieira says.

“I think the turning point of the Championship is the right time to chasing after the top step of the podium and Joao is doing everything to get into it, between gym and track’s workouts. From the first day he got in the car till today, Joao has improved a lot and, if we consider that he’s one of the pilots with less mileage, I think he has made giant steps, given also the high level and the large number of participants – 22 – we find in this Championship”, the Manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

The curtain will rise on the Umbrian circuit this Saturday, August 2nd with the two free practice sessions (9:50 am and 12:10 pm) and the two Qualifying sessions (4:00 to 4:25 pm), which will define the starting grid of the two rounds of the race (28 ‘+ 1 Lap), starting on Sunday at 9:00 am and at 4.40 pm. In the middle, starting at 12:30 pm, the sprint race (18 ‘+ 1 Lap).

Hungarian GP – Drivers’ Scorecard

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We saw another dazzling GP with many variables and masterfully conducted by extremely deserving pilots; therefore, grading these protagonists is going to be pretty easy.

Ricciardo – 10 For the aggressive race’s behavior and the overtakings on Alonso and Hamilton, made three laps from the end.

Alonso – 10 Perfect race, always on the attack, as if every lap will be Qualifying. He was very smart, taking advantage of the Soft tyres for 31 laps; without a sensational Ricciardo, he would have certainly won this GP

Hamilton – 9 He recovered from the bottom of the starting row and, with an offensive race, he conquered an important podium for the Championship

Rosberg – 8 After an extraordinary Qualifying during the race, he didn’t emerged as in other occasions, but strategy didn’t certainly helped him. Perhaps, if he had changed the Soft tyres two laps before, he could get another result.

Vergne – 8 He struggled in second position, especially in the early laps, and he finally took points to Toro Rosso

Raikkonen – 7 Perhaps, he did the best race of 2014, hoping for gaining some serious points for the Constructors’ Championship

Mass and Bottas – 7 They could not do better, even if they had cars with high-performances, thanks to the stategies’ choices of William – in my opinion, a bit weird

Button – 6 He brought home a point with a car which was in a difficult situation, with a very questionable strategy too

Bianchi – 6 A mark of encouragement, according to the Qualifying in Q1, when he eliminated Raikkonen with a perfect lap

Vettel – 5 Bad start, nervousness and a mistake that could cost him a lot. After a good Qualifying like an ex World Champion, he suffered Ricciardo during the race

Hungarian Gp – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The eleventh GP of the season has been enlivened since Qualifying, where human mistakes, see Magnussen, strategy mistakes, see Ferrari with Kimi, and reliability mistakes, see Hamilton’s Mercedes and rain in Q3, livened up the last five minutes of test. In a few moments, a succession of fast laps confirmed a sensational Mercedes, which set with Rosberg a time of 1’22″715 – nearly close to the time that the F1 scored a year ago – before a wild Vettel, a reconfirmed Bottas, a Ricciardo that in the last lap overtook a tenacious Alonso, who could not do better than a 5th place, even though improving  his time lap after lap with a 1’23″909.

The race was spectacular, thanks to the dramatic turn of events. Over all, the weather variability: rain thoroughly soaked the track and forced all teams starting with the Intermediate Rain. Secondly, the two safety cars, which intervened following accidents. Finally, the strategies used by teams: at Mercedes’, there were choices of different strategies for the two pilots; at Ferrari’s, an aggressive and risky strategy; at William’s, incomprehensible choices. There was a perfect choice at Red Bull’s, for Ricciardo’s car. With great sense of timing, Daniel used the pit wall’s recall, entering immediately the pits, as soon as the first safety car get out the track, taking advantage of the fact that the first ahead four cars had already passed through the pits’ entrance.

Great Fernando, a phenomenon that has been able to fight and complete 30 laps with Soft tyres in the final stint, achieving an outstanding result for the team and proving, once again, that he is the number one.

We saw also some nervousness mistakes by various actors; we mention a few. Vettel first; only the good luck allowed him to cross the finish line, even though he touched the wall on the pit’s straight. Mercedes’ pit wall, that, in my opinion, made strategies mistakes and, anyway, delayed too much Rosberg’s last pit stop. Williams, that inexplicably used medium tyres on both cars, compromising its drivers’ performances – nevertheless, everyone knew that there was more than one second per lap of performance difference between Soft and Medium tyre.

However, this F1 Championship is always showing a thrilling aspect, with amazing overtakings, races driven until the last lap and growing performances, that make us forget all the critics on this Championship circulated at the beginning of the year.

Now, everybody on vacation for three weeks, with the aim of recovering energies and renew ideas, to deal with the last eight GP, with the hope that the players of this amazing Championship will offer an even more spectacular final.

F.4 – Joao Vieira discovers Vallelunga and Magione

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They were two days of intense work for Joao Vieira at Vallelunga and Magione circuits, the scene of the next two rounds of the Italian F.4 Championship powered by Abarth.

The 16-year-old Brazilian driver from Gurupi started to approach the second part of the new Championship, together with the staff of Antonelli Motorsport, taking the first contact with the demanding “Piero Taruffi” circuit (4,085 meters long) and the eleven corners that characterize the 2,507 meters of the “Mario Umberto Borzacchini” track, at the wheel of his #28.

After bringing up the Brazilian flag onto the Mugello’s podium, Joao is determined to continue the positive trend from the next event – scheduled on August 2nd and 3rd – and, on the track of Perugia, he has certainly started off on the right foot,  scoring excellent chronometric results, getting very close the pole-position and quickly adapting to the track layout.

“These have been two intense days, during which I’ve worked alongside my team, looking ahead to the next two races. I am very satisfied with the results scored in Magione, while I made a few mistakes at Vallelunga. For me, every track is a completely new discovery and time to learn is always very little. We are approaching the second half of the season and I’m happy with my progresses. For this reason, I would like to thank all the staff of Antonelli Motorsport”, the driver of Minardi Management says.

“I’m really happy with the work done by Joao in these two days, especially with regard to the results obtained in Magione. He has adapted quickly to the track and the lap times were really interesting. Only for a few tenths, he couldn’t score the pole-position of the day, stopping at the second position. The day in Vallelunga was more difficult, but the track is certainly more challenging and he will have the opportunity to redeem himself. Now Joao will continue his physical and athletics training before the fourth round of the season at Magione”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

Hungarian GP – PREVIEW

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Formula 1 is ready to be back on track, entering into the second half of the season. There are still nine events, one of which Hungary, that is before the long-awaited summer-break during which the teams will be able to recharge their batteries, after a really intense start of the season.

We arrive on a particular circuit, not really different from a Go-Kart track and just 4 kilometers long, where overtaking is very difficult. Therefore, it will be difficult to see again what happened in England and Germany, with amazing overtakings and battles. We are speaking, however, of a track in which it is dangerous to get out of the trajectories and the tyres, given the hot weather, could play an important role. For the occasion, Pirelli will bring the Soft Yellow and White Medium compounds, that have similar performances, with which the teams will play on two stops.

I expect the usual family duel between Mercedes drivers, Nico and Lewis, with Williams ready to consolidate the second place, especially if bad luck will finally abandon Felipe Massa. The track takes some time to rubber-in and placements will be unclear on Friday, since they’re going to improve steadily until Saturday afternoon. Due to the circuit’s layout, Qualifying will play an important role, as starting from the front rows means staying away from any possible contact, mainly in the first two corners.

At the moment, the forces in play seem consolidated with Mercedes, Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari. Then, depending on the track, there can be outsiders in the top ten, such as Force India and Toro Rosso. Maranello will have to slog and Raikkonen will have to pull out the nails to get into the score-zone and help the team.

In 2003, the Minardi F1 Team celebrated, together with some of its pilots, its first 300 races in Formula 1.

In our official FaceBook page you can find a Gallery with pictures of our GPs of Hungary.

German GP – Drivers’ Scorecard

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Nico Rosberg – 9 He showed all seriousness, professionalism and peace of mind needed to lead the World Championship.

Valtteri Bottas – 9 He showed to be the strongest emerging pilot, like Daniel Ricciardo. With his third consecutive podium, he is preparing to attack Alonso’s fourth place.

Daniel Ricciardo – 9 He struggled a lot, creating an amazing battle with Fernando Alonso and demonstrating not only all his talent, but also that he can fight on par with a double World Champion like the Ferrari driver.

Fernando Alonso – 9 Another great race. After Vettel, he changed rival, offering a beautiful show to the public together with the Australian driver of RedBull. He is holding the honor of Ferrari, but nevertheless they have become the fourth power of the World Championship.

Lewis Hamilton – 8.5 For the Sunday’s race; he certainly deserves a 9 too, but his nervousness has sometimes emerged, preventing him from attacking Rosberg seriously. It’s true that he came from a rather serious technical problem on Saturday, but he should be able to manage the tensions, being a World Champion.

Sebastian Vettel – 8 He completed his task, being able to stand before Daniel Ricciardo, that has been slowed by the opening contact between Magnussen and the unfortunate Massa.

Nico Hulkenberg – 7.5 He was good, because he brought his Force India in the seventh place.

Jenson Button – 6 He defended with his tooth and nail, despite not McLaren at its best.

Sergio Perez – 6 He also defended well, winning the last available point.

Kevin Magnussen – 5.5 The incident with Massa was not his fault, but he should be more careful.

Kimi Raikkonen – 5 He was very submissive and not really aggressive. At this time, he cannot earn a positive vote.

Formula 1 – 8 Despite Mercedes’ supremacy, they are making us relive the battles of the past. The same vote should be given to the stewards, while Charlie Whiting deserves a 5, not letting the safety car enter the circuit at 19 laps from finish and favouring, thereby, Nico Rosberg.

F.4 – Joao Vieira at work in Vallelunga and Magione

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With the memory of the podium at Mugello very much alive, Joao Vieira is ready to return to the wheel of his Tatuus #28 for two days of tests on the tracks of Vallelunga (Tuesday, July 22nd) and Magione (Wednesday, July 23rd).

For the 16-year-old Brazilian driver of Antonelli Motorsport, it will be the first time both at the “Piero Taruffi” and “Autodromo dell’Umbria” Circuits, that will be the theatre of the next two (out of seven) appointments of the Italian F.4 Championship powered by Abarth, now entering into the “hot” part of the season.

Joao is ready for the second part of the season, continuing the hard work at the Driver Program Center of Forlì and galvanized by the important result achieved in Tuscany, crowned by the podium finish in Race-3 that launched him in the Top Eight of the overall standings, with the same points of his team-mate and friend Matteo Cairoli.

“Thanks to these days of tests I will have the chance to discover the next two circuits of race, Vallelunga and Magione. For me, every track is a discovery and challenge. Thanks to the simulator of the Driver Program Center, I had the chance to try the layout of the ‘Piero Taruffi’ and the first impressions are really good, similarly to what happened with Mugello. It would be great to repeat the result, with another podium. At each session, I take more and more confidence with the car and this helps me to get closer to the limit”, the pilot of Minardi Management says.

“After the good work at Mugello, it’s now time to get to know two other circuits in the Championship calendar. For Joao, these will be two days of apprenticeship ahead of the weekend of race, since he doesn’t know the tracks. I hope he will like them as much as Mugello, as the results have demonstrated”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

German GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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After Silverstone the show has moved to Germany in Hockenheim, with a race full of continuous overtakings and duels, in which the stewards have finally realized that for the sake of the show they need to take more risks, leaving more freedom to the players. In fact, we’re talking about race contacts, which are the trademark of this sport.

Despite an embarrassing supremacy of Mercedes, with Rosberg who has pretty much “gone for a walk”, we’ve seen great duels with Hamilton who conquered a podium starting from the twentieth position, with breathtaking overtakings, exciting the German public. The battle between Alonso and Ricciardo was also very exciting, with an amazing overtaking of the Australian driver on McLaren. In other words, a Grand Prix that took a revenge on all the negative comments of the beginning of the season.

The Achilles’ heel of Mercedes – reliability – adds a little extra spice to this World Championship, that remains an internal matter between its two pilots. Certainly Nico, with both pole-position and victory, has distanced his n.1 rival on the race field. He is consolidating his leadership within a team that is preparing not only to the title, but also to open a new cycle. The renewal of the contract is a significant fact and, under those circumstances, probably Hamilton will have to find a new team for 2015. Besides, Bottas – podium after podium – is undermining Alonso’s fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship and he is being much courted, considering that his manager is Toto Wolff. Therefore, little by little the games are taking shape.

The forces in play among Constructors are also being defined: Red Bull is growing, with Vettel able to stand in front of Ricciardo; Williams took the third place at the expense of Ferrari, that can count on a great champion as Fernando Alonso and on Kimi Raikkonen not at his best shape. We must not forget that Force India has overtaken McLaren and might even annoy whoever is standing before.

That being the case, we absolutely need to reserve our armchair and remote control, because in seven days drivers will be back on track, in Budapest, a circuit that is closer to a go-kart track for its layout. I have the impression that we will see many race contacts here too.

Besides the drivers’ market, there are interesting movements also regarding teams: it seems that Lotus has found a buyer and a new engine. So, we will have a really hot summer break.

German GP – PREVIEW

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Formula 1 is ready to arrive in the country of the World Champions in charge coming back, two years later, to the Hockenheim Circuit.

It will be a Grand Prix with several unknown elements, starting from the tyres. Pirelli, which has not run here since two seasons, will have the Soft and SuperSoft compounds that, in the previous appointments, contributed to make more uniform the performances of the competing cars, reducing the difference between Mercedes and non-Mercedes power units. After the last tests, Ferrari seems to have made some progresses, even if at the team they are still keeping their feet on the ground.
We expect a battle at the top between the two Mercedes drivers, with Lewis Hamilton almost forced to stand in front of Nico Rosberg, who recently renewed his contract. The English driver will have to try to cause problems to the team-mate before the team takes internal decisions. Behind them, the outsiders will try to consolidate positions by exploiting the only weak points of the “German Army”, related to reliability. On the front line there will be the “branch” of Mercedes, in other words Williams, with Bottas and Massa. Precisely the Finnish driver could be a bothering rival for Lewis, considering that his manager is Toto Wolff, who is also a shareholder of the British Team. This strategy, as it happens at Red Bull’s with Toro Rosso, should give origin to a reflection also at McLaren’s and Ferrari’s. It’s almost of vital importance to have a “satellite” team, in order to try and test new technical solutions, engineers and pilots.

The “back office” of the race will be very hot because there are several important seats that “burn”, such as Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso. In my opinion, Fernando will weight in the balance mainly the technical guarantees. Knowing him, he’d like to win his third title precisely with the team of Maranello.
In Silverstone, fifteen days ago, we saw a thrilling due between Vettel and Alonso. We hope that this will happen again, regardless of the first consolidated positions. We’re talking about a mixed-fast circuit where the weather could play an important role.

F.4 – Mugello on the podium for Joao Vieira

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The selective circuit of Mugello (Tuscany, Italy) has highlighted all the technical qualities of Joao Vieira who, at the third round of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth, won his first podium.

The third place is the icing on the cake of a good weekend which has blown away the disappointment of fifteen days ago at Imola, scoring an excellent hat-trick with three finishes in the points-zone in as many races, for a total of 32 points.

After conquering the third row in the two rounds of Qualifying on Saturday morning, respectively with the fifth and sixth fastest time, the 16-year-old Brazilian driver from Gurupi scored points in the first two races, thanks to an excellent fifth place in Race-1 and a seventh place in the sprint race. The greatest satisfaction came right at the last race with an attacking attitude, that from the fourteenth position led him to conquer the third step of the podium (which means also the first podium of the season). “I’m really happy both for the first podium and for the weekend. Since the first times on the track, in the tests of the past weeks, I’ve liked it very much, because it’s very fast and technical. Therefore very suitable to my style of driving. I must also thank all the staff of Antonelli Motorsport – they are really very good – as well as the trainers of the Driver Program Center. This podium has to be just the beginning”, Joao Vieira comments.

“I’m really satisfied. During the test, I was immediately impressed and this podium is the confirmation of the good technical and speed qualities of Joao. The Mugello is a challenging track and he was very good at not making any mistakes. In Race-3, despite a non-perfect start, he recovered several positions until he conquered of the podium. A result that boosts the morale for the second half of the season”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

Thanks to these precious results, Joao incredibly improves his position in the overall ranking, entering fiercely into the Top-Eight with 33 points.

Joao Vieira at Mugello, to leave Imola behind

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It’s already the time for the third round of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth. After the difficult weekend at Imola, Joao Vieira has the chance to turn the tables on the demanding Mugello circuit, where a few weeks ago he surprised everyone by scoring from the first steps excellent lap times, reaching the top of the rankings.

The 16-year-old Brazilian driver of Antonelli Motorsport will have the opportunity to show his skills on the demanding layout of the international track in Tuscany, whose major marks are the “San Donato” corner, the “Casanova-Savelli” – a descending right-left chicane – and “The two Angry” (in Italian, “Le due Arrabbiate”), which enhance his driving style

After the points scored in the opening race at Adria, Joao will try to add a new useful result to his palmares. “I’m really happy to be able to return immediately to drive. Imola was a weekend of apprenticeship. Now I want to try an immediate ransom, building on the work done in the last few weeks of tests right here, on the hills of Scarperia. It’s a challenging and technical circuit that is well suited to my driving style. A podium would be the best result”, Joao Vieira comments.

“I’m glad Joao can be immediately back at the wheel of his car, in order to leave behind the week-end at Imola. Given the good performance during the tests a few weeks ago, I hope that the Mugello will be the theatre of a good result for him, even though races are always different to tests. I am very confident, given also the important work that he’s carrying out with the Driver Program”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

The curtains will rise on the Mugello Circuit on Friday 11th July with the three free practice sessions, in preparation for Qualifying on Saturday 12th (9.00 and 9.25 am), which will determine the starting grid of the two rounds of the race (28’ + 1 Lap), starting on Saturday at 3.35 pm and Sunday at 5.10 pm. In the middle, starting at 9.00 am, the sprint race (18’ + 1 Lap).

British GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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We started the weekend with the wrong strategies at Ferrari’s and Williams’, but then the ninth round of the Formula 1 World Championship turned out to be the best race of the season so far, with plenty of duels and with Bottas – uncontrollable from the very first steps –that conquered the second podium of the season and of his career.

It has been a high-voltage race, with two World Champions, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, ready to perform duels of other times. With the initial ingenuity (resulting in a 5’’ penalty at the pit-stop), Alonso compromised one or two positions for the final results. Perhaps he could have stayed with Button and Ricciardo. The errors on Saturday and Sunday are a sign of the strong tension at Ferrari. Silverstone has been characterized also by the incident of Kimi Raikkonen – that has irreparably compromised the Sunday of Felipe Massa – and by the consequent stop of more than 40 minutes, that however represents a great achievement for safety. It was estimated that the violent impact caused a deceleration of 40G… Fortunately the Finnish driver got away only with a few bruises.

At Mercedes’, the bad luck struck this time Nico Rosberg, thus denying him the satisfaction of putting his signature on the fourth race of the season, in favor of his team-mate that, with this success, is only 4 points far from the top of the ranking. Reliability confirms to be the only Achilles’ heel of the W05, although the technical advantage is so high that the fights remain always “within the family”.

As we announced, with the hard tyres McLaren is reborn, especially with Jenson Button who gives his team an important fourth place. The English driver, on his home track, was able to give something more, proving to be at ease with these compounds.

With any specific technical problem, the two Toro Rosso confirm to be top-ten cars and also at Silverstone Kvyat and Vergne enter in the score-zone with the ninth and tenth place.

British GP – PREVIEW

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Formula 1 is back in the circuit that wrote the history of motorsport, on a track with a “choreography” and a sports culture that is difficult to find elsewhere. We arrive at Silverstone at a particular time of the season, with an exciting duel going on between Nico and Lewis at Mercedes’.

Rosberg will try to defend himself from a good driver that has always been strong and that can count on the support of his home crowd. We expect again a direct fight, important in the view of the World Championship, with very fast actors, such as Williams and the other cars pushed by the German PU, which will certainly not stand and watch. On the other hand, it’s a difficult moment for Ferrari and Renault, which is experiencing hard days, as we can read also in the various specialized weekly magazines. As we already mentioned in the recent weeks, problems and discussions are on the agenda and something might happen.

The extra variable can be represented, as often happens, by the weather that has historically influenced the final result. On the front of tyres, Pirelli leaves momentarily aside the Soft and Supersoft, relying on Medium and Hard that could change the values hitherto expressed. There might be a return of McLaren, which has always been at ease with Hard. In the last races they have shown signs of awakening with Magnussen, while Button is “entered in the viewfinder” and could be “sacrificed” in view of 2015.

It promises to be a hot summer on the front of riders. At Red Bull’s we have a Sebastian Vettel ready to be dumped, also because of the many young drivers who push to have a chance, such as Kvyat and Sainz J. For a company that lives on marketing, the passing of the baton it’s understandable. Vettel has given all he could give, making his team walking on clouds. We might expect movements at Mercedes’ too, where Hamilton is not happy with his situation. Moreover, we must not forget that Toto Wolf is a shareholder of Williams and manager of Bottas. Therefore, I would not wonder about a possible pair Bottas-Rosberg. The Finnish driver is proving good speed and technical characteristics. As said at McLaren’s, Honda wants a top driver alongside Magnussen. Therefore Button-Vettel-Hamilton-Bottas could really “fire” the market. We expect several “games” between motor homes.

For the Minardi Team, Silverstone is an historical circuit that evokes wonderful memories such as the 5th and 6th are scored by Martini-Sala. Thanks to that fantastic result, we were able to re-enter into the Constructors’ top ten. In those years, being in the top-six was like entering today among the top three of the ranking. An unforgettable result in the history and life of Minardi.

In a few days we’ll be in England, on the Silverstone track, which represents the history of this sport.