F1 | Gian Carlo MINARDI “Canada at risk too”

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Christijan Albers (NDL) Minardi Cosworth PS05.
Formula One World Championship, Rd 8, Canadian Grand Prix, Practice Day, Montreal, Canada, 10 June 2005.
DIGITAL IMAGE

The latest grand prix to be pushed back is Baku. If the Monaco grand prix is definitively cancelled for the 2020 season the number of rounds that today have been delayed and looking for new dates rises to seven.

According to the current calendar, the start of the Formula 1 World Championship could take place in the final weekend in June, on the occasion of the Canadian Grand Prix, even if Gian Carlo Minardi has some doubts.

“I believe that Montreal is also in serious doubt since, like Monaco and Baku, it is a semi-permanent structure. So they will shortly be called to make a decision to avoid incurring further losses, starting with the time needed to set up the grandstands and the track”

The Circus is unanimous for finding a decision. The intention is to let the 2020 World Championship start. The summer break has been brought forward in order to have available the weeks of August which are traditionally closed for the holidays.

“We have to also keep in mind another major economic issue. This year the teams receive the television rights for last season but the problems could emerge in 2021 if seven or eight races should be missed. The confirmation of the 2021 Budget Cap is positive news in this sense,” was the analysis of the manager from Faenza.

“At this time it is too early to make any predictions since the Covid-19 emergency has very different times for each country,” concluded Minardi.

[Breaking News] Reprogramming Historic Minardi Day

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Dear Friends,

We have been working hard to to be able to put on an edition of the Historic Minardi Day this year which will be even more exciting and involving in every detail. The organizers of the Minardi Day are ready, even in smart working mode in order to conform with the directions of the Italian Government Decree concerning the Coronavirus.

Despite this we have a duty to consider the COVID-19 emergency with the utmost seriousness.

For this reason we have decided to identify new dates for the Minardi Day which can give You and all of us the peace of mind to be able to put together an event in conditions of the highest safety, happiness, passion and sharing.

The reprogramming of the new date will occur and be notified as soon as possible and you can be sure that it will offer an effective and excellent solution for the running of the Historic Minardi Day.

Therefore, this year we will have once more three fantastic days at Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit where we will and must celebrate the restart of activities and the relaunching of our Country.

F1 | Gp Australia, MINARDI “Thursday, the first challenge”

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CWell here we are, between controversies and unknown factors all the teams got to Australia, the stage for the first round of a long and demanding season, even with the unknown factor of “COVID 19” .

Despite the closing of the Albert Park Hotel near the track and the staff placed in quarantine after having recorded its first positive case to Covid-19 the weekend of racing is still confirmed even if the Premier of the State of Victoria admits that all could change in an instant.
Teams and drivers arrived in Melbourne after only six days of testing, not enough to define the forces in the field but enough to fuel various controversies.

The first race of the season will be run on Thursday with the Federation called in with the first most complex and in-depth verification of the regularity of all the cars. Any disputes could start from there.

Under the magnifying glass there are the World Champion Mercedes, with Red Bull that could be asked, under the regulations, for an explanation of the grip of the rear bracket that last year FIA had retained regular but also Racing Point, the well built “clone” of the 2019 Mercedes that surprised at Barcelona.

The verifications will also be the testing ground for knowing if there has been an end to the secret agreement between the Federation and Ferrari which the seven teams without Ferrari engines did not like with Red Bull’s Marko using tough regarding on FIA.

Controversies aside, Melbourne will be the opportunity to tidy things up and to understand the real forces in the field. At Barcelona we witnessed a very interesting compaction of the field with all the cars enclosed in a gap of barely 1’15”. And if this is so we expect a great tussle. Mercedes is still the team to beat, even if reliability is an unknown factor. We will see what will be the response of RP’s Perez and Stroll.

We expect a weekend full of uncertainties, including on the weather front with some rain expected in Friday but a sunny Sunday. The only certainty is with the tyres, the same as last season, with the teams that have practically confirmed their 2019 strategies. Ferrari and Red Bull have opted for 9 sets of the C4 Softs, like last season and with Mercedes which will have 10 available, one more than to 2019.

It is a track of traction and braking with little grip since it is a purely street asphalt which could easily see the entry of the safety car.

In brief, there are all the premises for experiencing and enjoyable weekend full of developments. Qualifying will start at 7.00am and the Grand Prix at 6.10am (Italian time live on Sky Sport F1 HD).

Gian Carlo Minardi

Chaos F1, MINARDI “7 teams are attacking but only Red Bull’s consultant speaks”

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The Covid-19 crisis is not the only thing destabilizing Formula 1. Less than a week away from the Australian Grand Prix there is still no certainty that it will run smoothly, even if it is now practically sure. In the mean time the decision of the organizers of the Bahrain has come, the GP will be run but behind closed doors.

In recent days however, there has been a rumour that seven teams without Ferrari engines -– Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull, Alpha Tauri, Renault, Force India e Williams –have asked the Federation with a joint communiqué for greater clarity on the agreement reached by the FIA with Ferrari on the matter of the power-unit.

According to articles 4 (ii) and 4 (vi) of the disciplinary and juridical regulations FIA has decided to enter into an agreement with Ferrari to end this proceeding (having failed to show any irregularity) and to guarantee its confidentiality. The person raising the tone was Helmut Marko, the right-hand man of Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz, who used heavy words in regards to the Federation.

Gian Carlo MINARDI “I am perplexed because all the teams and motors suppliers not tied to Ferrari have kept their silence and only supporting a joint statement in which they requested greater clarity from the Federation. Only Marko raised his voice using very strong words in regards to Federation which declared that it had taken all the measures necessary to protect the sport and its role and reputation as regulator of the Formula 1 World Championship. Being only a consultant Marko cannot be pursued from the sporting point of view,” underlined  interviewed at the microphones of Minardi.it.

“To me it looks like a staged act. Let’s not forget that we’re in the middle of the renewal of the Concorde Agreement, a period that is historically full of controversy in which all the teams try to achieve the maximum result and the current financial sharing has not met with Mercedes’ approval.”

“In the mean time the World Council has supported Jean Todt’s work in regards to the secret agreement reached with Ferrari (which should have revealed its secrets on all the grey areas of the regulations), warning the seven teams,”

Has “the end” really been written?