Road to Bahrain | MINARDI “Villeneuve lost a chance to keep quiet”

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We are on the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship that had its first act in Melbourne which gave us some verdicts that may be confirmed or overturned in Sakhir. Jacques Villeneuve upset the last few days when he used some inelegant (to say the least) words concerning the return of Robert Kubica. I believe he lost the chance to keep quiet. With all due respect for the results achieved, maybe his career in Motorsport would not have begun without his surname. Kubica’s decision must be respected.

To me it seems more correct speaking about Motorsport rather than creating disquiet with sterile debate, where we find Ferrari that exudes tranquillity with the statements by Binotto, Vettel and Leclerc who do not make glaring claims even if I fear that the true Mercedes is the one we saw in the penultimate lap in Australia with Bottas who, with extreme ease, lowered the best time by 1”.

We come to a true track with parametres that make the thermometer important for the future of the season and where the high temperatures will have an important bearing on the reliability. The one to watch will be Red Bull – Honda that two weeks ago gave proof of great strength with the first podium reached by the Japanese in the hybrid era.

There will be a great struggle behind the first three, as we saw right from qualifying in Melbourne with sixteen drivers within a range of 1” in Q1 where Gasly paid a high price for a mistake in strategy.

Getting back to the matter of Kubica, Williams was the negative point and I truly hope that they have identified the area where they must intervene even if, seeing the big gap, it will take time to recover. In many cases you resort directly to the B version of the racing car. Luckily the budget is not a priority problem for them.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Post-race Melbourne. Too much criticism. Let’s put some things in order

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The first race of the season has been filed away with the win by Mercedes with Valtteri Bottas in front of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Honda. And Ferrari? Sebastian Vettel crossed the finish line in fourth place with a gap of nearly a minute, in front of Charles Leclerc.

The result surely was less than expected, especially after the winter tests in Barcelona.

“The winter tests did not prove to be true and I hope that, from what we saw in Melbourne, it is not the reality,” analyzed Gian Carlo Minardi, “We are only at the first race of the season made up of 21 rounds and we do not see the day from the dawn. We have to consider that Albert Park is an abnormal track with many bumps that alter the geometry of the suspensions. Furthermore, the race was conditioned by the tyres that did not answer as expected with the surprise of the Hards. In Bahrain we will have truer results and it will be a more realistic gauge, also because, considering the expected temperatures, it could highlight some problems,” continued the manager from Faenza.

“I am still convinced that the main difference between Mercedes and Ferrari is in the power unit and the best management of the power must be found by one team rather than the other. Sunday’s debacle must surely make them think”.

The post race period left a trail of criticism, both Ferrari, guilty of also finishing behind the Red Bull, as well as having paid too big a gap to be true and also of Daniel Ricciardo from Abiteboul.

“It makes me smile and I find it hard to believe some criticism, after only gp, directed at a driver who in recent years achieved more than respectable results, above all if these come from one of the people most criticized for Renault’s lack of results. Renault should think about the criticism about the motor, especially compared with the excellent result obtained by the direct rivals of Honda that, with Red Bull, celebrated the first podium of the hybrid era. I have the impression that certain statements are expressed to divert attention from more important problems.

“We need to recognize that the Japanese made a great step forward and the result gives morale and solidity to the work carried out both by Honda and Red Bull”.

The first two points for Lance Stroll with Racing Point, ninth behind Kimi Raikonnen and in front of the Toro Rosso’s Kvyat on his comeback. “He was very good and, unlike Perez, made no mistakes It was not easy for him putting aside the label of the paying driver, but I am convinced that he has his papers in order to stay in F1. Last year he was in a team, Williams, which had a number of problems that sadly have grown exponentially this year. I saw him in action in the lower formulas where he won. When you win it means you have the right characteristics. But becoming world champion is another story,” concluded Minardi.

GP Australia | THE POINT by MINARDI “The difference Mercedes-Ferrari dictated by the engine”

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In order to analyze the Melbourne grand prix we need to take a step back to Q1 in qualifying where we had 16 drivers within 1” – that confirms the closing up towards the top ranks in the performance of the teams in which a small mistake is enough to be cut out – the difference from top to bottom of the group grew to a second and a half in Q2 up to 2” in Q3 with a gap of 7 tenths of a second between Hamilton’s Mercedes and Vettel’s Ferrari.

In my opinion the advantage is to be found mainly in the engine and the capacity to manage the power as Bottas showed in the record lap (1’25”580) in the second last lap in which he managed to increase his race pace by 1” with great ease taking away Vettel’s fastest lap (1ì26”2). Ferrari stopped at 1’26’9 with Leclerc.

We witnessed a very tight race that was won by Valtteri Bottas who was the lead actor with his best race. The Finn was unbeatable, especially in the middle part in which he set the fastest lap six times between the 31st and 42nd laps with a race pace clearly superior to the competition between 1’26”7 and 1’27”2.

Ferrari will need to analyze this negative result that was dictated not so much with the fourth and fifth places of Vettel and Leclerc but especially by the considerable gap inflicted during the race, Sebastian and Charles crossed the finishing line with a delay of 57” and 58” from Bottas. This is an enormity if we think of the results of the Barcelona tests. Vettel complained a lot about the tyres and I am honestly amazed by the choice of the teams to bring only one set of Hard tyres which showed that they were the best mix for the race as we saw with the Ferrari number 16 during its comeback.

This was an excellent result for Verstappen with the Red Bull Honda who took a very important podium finish (the first for the Japanese since its return to F1). The Dutchman set a rhythm, especially in the final part that Ferrari found hard to match. A round of applause also for Kvyat who celebrated his return to the world championship with tenth place in front of Gasly’s Red Bull and to Kimi Raikonnen with an excellent eighth place with Alfa Romeo Racing. Antonio Giovinazzi paid the price for an imperfect qualifying when he missed the cut for Q3, as well as a less than excellent race strategy by the team. With a parity of tyres however his rhythm was not far from that of Kimi.

We now anxiously wait for the Bahrain Grand Prix (March 31st)

Gian Carlo Minardi

Road To Australia | MINARDI “In Melbourne in memory of Charlie”

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I am shocked and incredulous at the premature death of Charlie Whiting, a person who made Formula 1 history in recent years. My course through the world championship was tied to him as he became part of FIA in 1988 and Race Director in 1997. There was mutual respect and he was always close to my staff when we brought innovative solutions onto the track. I extend my condolences to his family.

Sadly, in these cases the show must go on and we are at the gates of the first grand prix of the new season. We finally get back to racing and the teams will be forced to put all (or nearly) their cards on the table to show the true values on the field.

I am still convinced that the reins of the race are once again in the hands of Mercedes and Ferrari despite an important compaction of performance towards the top also by second level teams where the drivers will have to make up the difference. The tests show how all the teams have worked very well and the expectations for Melbourne are for a weekend of competitiveness.

Last year we had a remarkable start by Ferrari that scored first and third places with Vettel and Raikonnen and Lewis Hamilton in second place. We are only in the first round of a very long season made up of a good twenty one races. It will be very important to keep both feet on the ground regardless of the final result.

It is the start of a season full of talking points.

ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI: Beginning with the return of one of our flag bearers on the starting grid, something that has been missing for too long. I hope he and Alfa Romeo will be able to fight it out for the places just behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull that will have the unknown factor of the Honda engine. Reliability will be an important factor for all the teams, as we saw in the second session of tests in Barcelona, even if for some years they have accustomed us to incredible results right from the start.

KUBICA’S RETURN: After eight years since his last grand prix Robert Kubica will make his second debut in F1. Sadly the premises are not rosy with the expectation of Williams in great difficulty. It is inexplicable what is happening to a team that has written some of the most memorable pages of this sport. I hope that the earthquake that it is experiencing –Paddy Lowe will leave the team – will be turned into an incentive to find the right road and to rise again since it does not deserve these results. We can sense they miss founder Sir Frank Williams who has been kept away from the team and the tracks by sickness

A POINT FOR THE FASTEST LAP: In the last few hours the allocation of an extra point for the fastest lap in the race was approved (if the driver places in the top ten) which will be valid for both the drivers’ and the constructors’ ladders. It seems banal, but in the course of the season these are twenty one points that can make the difference. An extra variation on the strategy front comes into play, especially in a very close season.

I await with great anticipation the free practice but especially the first qualifying session that will have us a measure of the world championship to come. I will catch up with you on Sunday to comment the Australian Grand Prix. Good world championship to you all.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | MINARDI “Qualifying will be close in Melbourne”

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The countdown has begun for Melbourne, the first grand prix that on March 17th next will will begin the new F1 world championship season.

The teams and drivers have left behind them the second session of collective tests with many kilometres run and the best time set by Sebastian Vettel (1’16″221) in front of Lewis Hamilton (1’16″224) who was three thousandths ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc (1’16″231) and Valtteri Bottas (1’16″561) in the second Mercedes.

Mercedes was also the most active in the last four days with 580 laps, breaking the thousand lap barrier (1,190) in the eight days of tests (148.75 laps/per day) in front Ferrari’s 997 laps (124.62 laps/day) and Renault with 961 laps completed. We must go down to eighth place to find the Honda powered Red Bull with the pair of Verstappen-Gasly that completed 833 laps (104.12 laps/day).

“The figure that came out of the last session is the coming together towards the higher times with ten –twelve drivers enclosed in a gap of less than a second,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

“It is not easy to establish a ranking but I have the impression that Mercedes has space for improvement after having set the best time only in the last five minutes. Ferrari showed that it has a competitive car and is on a level with the current champions, even if there were problems of reliability.”

“In Melbourne in ten days time the bluffs will end and we will finally see the true forces on the field. I expect to see a very hard fought qualifying”.

As for the choice of tyres, a certain alignment emerged. Nearly all the drivers opted for 9 C4 (Soft) mixes, 3 C3 (Medium) and 1 C2 (Hard). Amongst the top teams, only Leclerc differed with 2 C2s and 2 C3s.

Open letter from Gian Carlo Minardi "Imola is synonymous with the Romagna around the world"

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As a man of sport I would have preferred not entering in person into the question tied to the Imola circuit but in recent weeks I received many requests for information from passionate enthusiasts worried about the future of the Historic Minardi Day. For this reason I want to calm all the fans by confirming that on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 April the Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit will host the fourth edition and to state my thoughts on what is happening.

Around the world Imola is synonymous with the Romagna region and speaking in a sporting way I consider it my second home as it was the stage of 21 Grands Prix for the Minardi Team.

The Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit is an international heritage.

The core lies in defining once and for all the meaning of the Circuit for the city of Imola. A Circuit is obviously a place where auto and motorbike races are held, both at national and international, and in the specific case of Imola we are talking of a facility with a historic image that is exceptional in the world, a point of reference for all of Motorsport, beginning with the Italian Federation.

All the circuits have high management costs, tied above all the renovation work for its safety. In order to protect the budgets, it is necessary that the facility functions for the greater part of the year, also through days of open testing that are open to all the fans. This would be easily to facilitate in the Imola Circuit because its image would attract this very type of clientele. Without forgetting that hosting national and international events brings income above all to the cause but also to the benefit of the Imola Local Council’s overall economic performance and also to the neighbouring Local Councils.

The circuit is certainly also a source of discomfort because of the sound for those who live nearby but goodwill is needed to overcome these problems. Today there are technologies and interventions that can alleviate a good part of the problem.

Despite Formula Imola having managed to relaunch activity strongly in recent years, if we do not decide to follow the road to saving the Circuit we seriously risk losing the Enzo and Dino Ferrari.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Imola to spend a weekend together under the banner of Motorsport with the fourth edition of the Historic Minardi Day.

Gian Carlo Minardi