F1 | Gp Austria, PRESENTATION by Minardi “Vettel used the last bonus in France”

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Having put away the French grand prix, we are entering a hot month of July with four grands prix within five weeks. It will begin this weekend in Austria and then go to England (July 7-8), Germany (July 21-22) and Hungary (July 28-29). It will be true tour de force for the teams and drivers, at the end of which we will have an important picture of this world championship.

In addition to Mercedes’ supremacy, at Le Castellet we saw a race full of errors, beginning with Sebastian Vettel who, with his fifth place, left behind important points in the light of the world title. Ferrari’s German driver was too impetuous when he tried to overtake Bottas at the first curve which ended with a touch and a 5” penalty. He must remember that he is a four times world champion.

In a world championship that is so much on the limit it will be the errors that make the difference, Seb has already played all his bonuses and finds himself behind his direct rival with a gap of 14 points.

We must also take into account the growth of Red Bull which is supported by a fantastic chassis that partly makes up for the deficiencies of the Renault power unit. With the passage to the Honda engine the handicap of the motor will be felt even more but it will still be the arbiter of this world championship by taking away important points and places on the podium from Vettel and Hamilton.

It will also be a hot month for the second rank teams led by Renault, in front of McLaren. Force India, Haas and Toro Rosso which comes from two difficult weekends which ended with no points unlike Haas which is growing, but is off and on, despite Grosjean who is still “dry” and Force India which is on the comeback trail but troubled by non technical issues.

The Red Bull Ring is a demanding track that is full of pitfalls with the gravel at the edges of the track that is characterized by an undulating surface, fast curves, long straights and demanding braking in which the weather is an important factor. On the tyre front, Pirelli will bring the Softs, SuperSofts and UltraSofts with the Ferrari drivers choosing 9 sets of the softest mix against the eight of Mercedes and Red Bull. We predict a race with different strategies.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Super Trofeo, Three from three for Karol Basz who made his mark at Misano with Vito Postiglione

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For the third straight week Karol Basz made his mark on the Super Trofeo Lamborghini together with Vito Postiglione. After Monza and Silverstone the Polish driver also scored a win on the Misano track in a race than ended the third of the six rounds of the single make championship dedicated to the carmaker from Sant’Agata Bolognese.

In his turn in qualifying at the wheel of Imperiale Racing’s number 44 Lamborghini Huracan Evo the driver followed by Minardi Management claimed the front row on the strength of the second best time and confirmed the position after race-2 before handing the car over to his Italian team mate who, with a spectacular move on his direct rival Daniel Zamperi, took command of the race and maintained the position until the end.

The win, which ended the third round, cancelled some of the disappointment of the retirement in the opening phase of the nocturnal race on Saturday which was caused by a puncture that did not even give Karol Basz the time to climb into the cockpit for his part of the race.

“The race was tight up to the final curve. Zampieri is certainly not an easy driver to deal with and Vito was very good overtaking him and also fast on the track. I was very happy with my stint because, in addition to not making any errors, I confirmed my place. The team did a great job and we showed once more that we have our papers in order for playing for the title. I am very happy with my work at Misano even if the disappointment for Saturday’s retirement hurt. We would have made a fantastic double which still escapes us. Even in qualifying we confirmed that we are amongst the fastest drivers,” commented Karol Basz.

“The third race and the third win, we are only 66% happy since after the two front rows in qualifying and the win, the first double escaped us, this time because of a puncture during the night race We showed that we have a pair of very strong drivers and because of this we are ready to take our revenge at Spa-Francorchamps. We will continue to fight for the objective that we made our priority, winning the European Championship. For this very reason we will concentrate all our forces with the Imperiale Team and interrupt the American adventure. It was a positive experience and we thank Jonathon Summerton and all the P2 Motorsport staff for having given Karol the chance to have his first contact with America,” commented Giovanni Minardi and Alberto Tonti.

With the win in race-2 the Italian-Polish team sits in second place on the ladder. The next round will be on July 27-28 at the Spa-Francorchamps track.

F1 | Gp France, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With Hamilton’s win and Vettel’s fourth place there is once more the 14 point gap between the two drivers that existed before the Canadian Grand Prix. In France the situation was turned upside down once more, this time in favour of the British driver. This is the confirmation that we are faced with a championship that will be uncertain until the end and where mistakes will make the difference. This time it was the Ferrari driver’s turn to make one.

Vettel started very well trying to attack Bottas immediately at the first curve, however they collided. It is not a matter of being caught up in the heat, above all when you run on a track where, as we saw, it is possible to overtake. It was a grand prix with a number of overtaking manoeuvres and between the number two drivers Kimi Raikonnen was not caught unprepared. In addition to overtaking a number of cars he also gained a good podium in front of Red Bull which, with Verstappen, was the protagonist of a great grand prix close behind the winner.

On paper the Paul Ricard was a race in favour of Mercedes and Hamilton’s times confirmed this, especially in light of the times set from the 23rd to the 26th laps.

It was once again a decidedly positive weekend for Leclerc who “gave” Alfa Romeo Sauber a vital point on the occasion of the Milanese carmaker’s 108th anniversary, showing that he is now ready to make a leap in quality. The moods are decidedly different at Williams and McLaren that are paying a heavy price of assessment and organization. Williams’ situation is inexplicable as, despite counting upon a fantastic Mercedes motor, it is not going through the development and growth that had been hinted at in recent years. It is surely not being helped by its two drivers. It is certainly clear that McLaren’s problems are to be found within and the prediction made by Alonso lets us understand that they are well aware of their limits. They are two of the most famous teams in the history of F1 and it is very sad to witness this involution.

We now start a very intense and hot month of July with four appointments (Austria, England, Germany and Hungary) within five weeks in which there will be no time to breathe and at its end we will have a very significant picture.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Ricciardo is the centre of the 2019 drivers’ market. Hamilton is the key to change

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Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, Renault and, naturally, Red Bull. Never has Daniel Ricciardo had been at the centre of the driver’s market as much as now.

He has given himself ten days to decide. Next year Red Bull will abandon the Renault engines to pass on to the Japanese supplier of its cousins at Toro Rosso. It is another unknown factor for the Australian, even if the Honda Power Unit has shown that, compared to the disastrous seasons with Honda, it has made gigantic strides in terms of reliability and performance.

The win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the lack of competiveness by McLaren may push Fernando Alonso to say goodbye to F1 as soon as this season to aim for new challenges and in fact freeing a seat at Woking. There could be a contract worth 20 million dollars a year for Ricciardo but Renault could have knocked on the Australian’s door as well. There could be a swap with Carlos Sainz who is still under contract with the team from Milton Keynes.

Sebastian Vettel may have opposed Daniel Ricciardo’s move to Ferrari and so closed the doors to Maranello to his former team mate despite Kimi Raikonnen having floated the idea of definitely finishing his adventure in F1 which leaves a very pleasing seat free that could be occupied by the Monegasque driver Leclerc.

“I have not yet won a world title and, despite McLaren and Renault not being my main choices, an eventual arrival there would not be a backward step in my career but an investment in the future. The aim is to have a car to aim for the maximum result but if this is not possible then other considerations will be made,” commented Daniel Ricciardo, “Honda’s arrival at Red Bull was not a shock, as I already knew about the possibility. Now I will try to understand what the developments will be. Honda made progress with Toro Rosso”.

Before taking any decision Ricciardo will also take a look at Brackley where Lewis Hamilton’s contract will end at the close of 2018.

“As of today Lewis Hamilton has still not signed an extension to his contract with Mercedes and Ricciardo will wait to see what happens at Mercedes before making any decisions. Should Hamilton not renew this will set off a chain reaction in the paddock with a round of important seats. If I were Ferrari in an imaginary market, I would not let the British driver get away to build a Dream-Team with Vettel despite the German driver’s veto of the Australian driver,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

“It would be a big coup for Maranello having two great drivers for aiming at both the drivers and the constructors’ titles by taking the main actor and adversary away from the competition. As an alternative, I really like the idea of the young Leclerc which in turn would free a place for Giovinazzi at Sauber,” continued the manager from Faenza who says that he is increasingly convinced that the recent winner of the 24 Hours of Le mans, Fernando Alonso will retire from F1. “McLaren will need another top driver, as well Renault. It could be an explosive market but a lot will depend on Hamilton,” concluded Minardi.

F1 | Gp France, PRESENTATION by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With Friday’s free practice France will once more have its own grand prix after a ten year break. However, F1 will go back at the Paul Ricard Circuit which left the calendar in the long ago 1990 after Alain Prost’s win with Ferrari.

After his win in Montreal, Sebastian Vettel heads the world championship ladder with a one point lead over Lewis Hamilton. The World Championship begins again and it will be vital not to make any mistakes and Ferrari must continue on the take the race to Mercedes’ British driver. Red Bull, which announced its new partnership with Honda beginning in 2019 and thus leaving the Renault Power Unit, could be at a disadvantage compared to its direct rivals exactly on the motor front, even if Ricciardo and Verstappen are still fearsome adversaries, as well as possible arbiters of the world championship.

On the Constructors’ front, Ferrari needs Raikonnen’s contribution. He must change his approach to the grands prix and bring important points to the team. Otherwise it will be hard to win the title despite the car showing that it is competitive.

We come back to a circuit that has been renewed in structures and safety, even though in recent weeks there had been work in progress with a partial replacement of the asphalt of the run offs in favour of gravel. The layout will be that used in 1985, the year of my debut in F1, with the first “Verriere” variant made even slower and the very long straight has been “broken” by a chicane.

On the tyre front, Pirelli will bring the Softs, the Supersofts and the Ultrasofts with the tread lowered 0.4mm which led to a lot of talk in Spain. In the latest GPs the tyres did not live up to expectations with the number of pit stops, wear and the difference in performance between mixes.

Beginning this weekend the starting grid will be one new title richer thanks to Fernando Alonso’s win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Canadian Gp, THE POINT of Gian Carlo Minardi

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Ferrari gained its third win for the season and regained command of the world championship ladder with Sebastian Vettel who made the best of the whole weekend by setting pole position and the win. Ferrari did not start in the best of fashions but it managed to overturn the situation between Friday and Saturday with a lot of hard work by the German, as well as by his technicians. Kimi Raikonnen disappointed by finishing the race behind both the Mercedes and both the Red Bulls.

Lewis Hamilton was also off his game after having suffered, particularly in qualifying and, subsequently also in the race by finishing only in fifth place. On the other hand the race was positive for Valtteri Bottas’ and Red Bull’s two drivers. Despite running the race in defence, Daniel Riccardo finished in fourth place just behind a strong Verstappen. They will be the deciding factors in a very balanced struggle between Mercedes and Ferrari.

As happened in recent races, Pirelli too did not meet expectations since the mixes did not show the differences in performance that were expected. A number of different strategies were expected but they did not then occur. In two weeks F1 will be back in France at the Paul Ricard Circuit and Pirelli will bring the mixes with the tread reduced by 0.4mm which made their debut in Spain.

Fernando Alonso “celebrated” his 300th grand prix with a retirement, even though he will be able to make a quick come back in a week’s time at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Spaniard’s future is drawing further away from F1 and could go the way of endurance or Indy races. Le Mans is a very coveted objective for all drivers who boast one or more world championships and for Alonso it would be another good objective, even if this year’s edition is poorer due to the loss of a number of top players. In any case, I wish him the best of luck and I will surely follow him in this new challenge.

We file away a grand prix that was poor in emotions, even if it is a normal enough situation when we witness a technical levelling such as we have this year with Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull very close to each other. On the other hand, just behind them there is no lack of competition as today’s ladder shows with Hulkenberg and Sainz’s Renaults, Ocon’s Force India and Leclerc’s Sauber just behind Ferrari’s Finnish driver.

The next appointment will be in France in two weeks.

Gian Carlo Minardi