MINARDI M01 | NURBURGRING, BETWEEN JOY AND PAIN

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The Minardi M01 designed by Gustav Brunner after his period in Ferrari represented a very ambitious project for the team from Faenza. Unlike the racing cars that had preceded it the car presented no component that came from a previous model. The whole car was new.

Both the hub-holder and the guide box were cast in titanium, while the gearbox casing was represented a pioneering work of magnesium casting. The rear of the M01 was undoubtedly the most successful part from the aerodynamic point of view with the engine hood and the side appendages that improved the air flow in front of the rear tyres.

On the drivers’ side Gian Carlo Minardi and Gabriele Rumi, who joined the company in 1997, called to Faenza Luca Badoer who had put himself on show in 1996 before becoming a point of reference in the development of the Ferrari and at his side was the Spaniard debutant Marc Genè, supported by Telefonica.

Badoer did not disappoint the expectations by showing all his technical and speed values, especially during the European GP run on the new Nurburgring on September 26

  • Minardi M01 Lunch

Under pouring rain that contributed to reducing the differences between the major and minor team by lowering the influence of the power of the engines, Badoer took his M01 into the top placings achieving fourth place in front of Ralf Schumacher in the Williams, Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR and his team mate Genè by setting impressive times which brought him closer to Barrichello in the Stewart (3rd).

The dreams for glory of both Luca and the Minardi Team were shattered by the failure of the gearbox during the 54th lap, 13 laps from the chequered flag, which forced him to park the racing car on the side of the track. The Spaniard relieved the team’s morale by giving the team its first world championship point with 6th place the finishing line.

This wonderful race was a comforting demonstration of the quality of both Luca Badoer and the Minardi M01 which once again had only the engine as its Achilles heel.

However, the two eighth places in the San Marino GPs on May 2 by Badoer and the Canadian GP on June 13 by Marc Genè should also be remembered.

MINARDI M195 | FAENZA RAISES ITS NOSE CONE

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After the positive season in 1994 which ended with 5 points to its credit and tenth place in the Constructors’’ Championship the Board of Directors decided to raise the bar by giving priority to a more powerful engine which would have given greater guarantees for the leap in quality.

The choice fell on the Mugen-Honda with the Japanese who made themselves available. After having made all the preliminary agreements and with the work already started for the definition of the details of the engine to be installed in the new racing car Honda announced that its engines would go to Ligier owned by Flavio Briatore. Minardi stated a long legal action against the manager from Cuneo and his team which ended only on the occasion of the British Grand Prix on July 9 with the lump sum refund for the damages suffered and the cancellation of Minardi’s residual debt in regards to the Cosworth owned by the same Briatore.

The design of the M195 had to continue in any case and for the 1995 season it was decided to fall back on the usual Cosworth engine, the 3000 cc Ford ED V6.

Designed by Aldo Costa, the M195 was the first Minardi with a high nose cone and made its debut in Interlagos in Brazil on March 26 in the first of the 17 rounds on the calendar.

The design of the flanks and the air intakes of the radiators will be taken up by the 1997 Ferrari F310. Created with a new front wing with step that traced the pan section, this solution was gradually abandoned between the GPs in Spain and Monte Carlo. Furthermore, the M195 was characterized by the exhaust of the hot air on the upper part of the flanks (similar to the first McLaren Mp24), a solution that was also abandoned after the French GP.

The major developments in 1995 on the sporting front were the retirement of Michele Alboreto from F1 after having started his career with the F2 Minardi in 1982 winning at Misano and the arrival of Luca Badoer beside Pierluigi Martini with the latter giving way for Pedro Lamy starting from Hungary.

The season was run fast with a number of placings in the top 10: 8th place with Badoer in Montreal and Hungary, 7th Martini at Silverstone and Badoer 10th, 9th by Lamy at the Nurburgring and Badoer in Suzuka and Lamy’s 10th place at Spa-Francorchamps.

Just when it was thought that the season would end with no points, on November 12 in Adelaide the Portuguese driver took 6th place (after having started in 21st place on the grid) behind Mika Salo in the Tyrrel, a point that once again placed the team in 10th place amongst the Constructors.

During the end of season tests on the Fiorano track of November 25 and 26 another young driver was called, Giancarlo Fisichella, who would make his debut in the Formula 1 world championship with the Minardi team in Melbourne on March 10, 1996.

MINARDI M194 | MICHELE ALBORETO CAME TO FAENZA AND REACHING 150 GP

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The 1994 season began with the new corporate structure with the entry of the new group of partners led by Lucchini
On the drivers’ front Minardi-Scuderia Italia placed its trust in the very fast and skilled Pierluigi Martini and Michele Alboreto who with the M193B took sixth and fifth places in Monte Carlo and Spain before debuting the new car, the M194, which was presented on the occasion of the Canadian Grand Prix, the sixth round of the world championship.

Equipped with the 3500 cc FORD HB V8 engine, the car was a development of the M193 and had aerodynamic modifications as a result of the new technical regulations adopted after the accidents in Imola and Monte Carlo, some of which were the skid block, the reduction in the size of the diffusers and the flow deviators on the front wing.

Despite the introduction of the new regulation in mid-season which penalized the team from Faenza on the economic front, in Hungary the electro-hydraulic gearbox was tested by Alboreto and from Spa-Francorchamps was fitted in Martini’s car as well.

The M194’s first mark did not take long to arrive: on July 3 at Magny-Cours Pierluigi Martini was once again in the points with fifth place behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s Sauber after having started from 16th place.

During the 16 GPs Minardi took another seven positive results in the Top 10 (in that period the points were attributed only to the first 6 finishers): 8th place in the first grand prix in Brazil, 9th in Canada, 10th in Silverstone, 7th in Hungary and 8th, 9th places in the selective and fast Spa-Francorchamps with which on August 28 Martini and Alboreto celebrated the Minardi Teams 150 GPs and 9th place in Adelaide.

From the penultimate round, the Japanese Grand Prix, the engine hood was introduced.

The tenth season in F1 finished with another 5 points and 10th place in the Constructors’ ladder with 14 teams registered.

 

 

MINARDI M193 – RECORD SEASON. FROM THE “LINK” TO THE FEAR AT MONZA

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The M193 was the result of excellent teamwork between Gustav Brunner, who was newly arrived in Faenza, Aldo Costa and Gabriele Tredozi.
As well as the new livery in which Gian Carlo decided to favour white, this was the first single-seater equipped with hydraulic suspension. The regulations required the use of active suspensions and for this reason the people at Faenza designed the M193 with passive suspensions with a view to passing to the active in the following season.

The system provided for an innovative “link” between the front axis and the rear which made it possible to reduce the car’s pitching variations during breaking and acceleration. Unfortunately this innovative solution was short lived since it was banned by the ’94 technical regulations.

1993 was also the year Minardi adopted the first sequential gearbox. The racing car proved to be extremely performing in the races, especially thanks to the Ford HB V8 which was not very powerful but with low fuel consumption which allowed a lower fuel load which saved up to about 10-15 kg of load compared to its rivals with an obvious advantage during the race.

In the first race of the season, the South African Grand Prix on March 14, Christian Fittipaldi took an incredible fourth place followed by two 6th places in the European GP run at Donington Park and at Imola with Fabrizio Barbazza and the 5th place overall on the roads of the principality of Monte Carlo on May 23.

During the 1993 season Minardi showed major growth taking two 7th places (Donington Park and Monza with Pierluigi Martini who had taken over from Barbazza), three 8th places (Montmelò, Magny Cours and Monza), two 9th places (Montreal and Estoril) and 10th place at Suzuka in Japan.

From the British Grand Prix Pierluigi Martini returned to Faenza inheriting Fabrizio Barbazza’s seat and the two drivers quickly showed great feeling. However a misunderstanding probably created a dramatic incident on September 12 during the final metres of a hard fought Italian Gp in Monza.

The Brazilian driver in 8th place in his Minardi collided into the rear of its twin car driven by Martini in 7th place and flew a perfect loop, managing to cross the finish line. The telemetry reconstructed the dynamics: the Brazilian’s car was “sucked” into the wake of Piero’s car and the rear end collision was inevitable, just like the fainting fit that struck Christian’s mother who was present on the pit wall.

At the end of 16 Grands Prix Minardi had conquered 7 points which were worth eighth place in the Constructors’ ladder (out of 13 teams). The M193 did better than its “sisters” M189 and M191 that had stopped with a haul of 6 points. Gian Carlo had top level technical and sporting staff but the economic side was always a concern. At the end of the season Minardi sold two thirds of the team to Beppe Lucchini giving form to the Minardi-Scuderia Italia with Gian Carlo Minardi keeping his role as President and C.E.O., together with engineer Gianpaolo Stanzani.

MINARDI M191 | THE FERRARI ENGINE CAME

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April 5 1990 was another historic date for Gian Carlo Minardi and the Minardi Team. It was announced that from the 1991 season Ferrari would supply its 12 cylinder engine to the Minardi Team. For the first time in its history Ferrari supplied one of its components to another team.

The Aldo Costa designed M191 became the first car in history to mount a Ferrri client engine. The chassis, built around two small drivers such as Pierluigi Martini (68kg) and Gianni Morbidelli (65kg) presented a reduced and extreme body. The car was born and entirely developed around the engine from Maranello and the Minardi gearbox. During the season it benefitted from significant aerodynamic and technical development. It was an extremely expensive car that heavily committed the team from the technical point of view.

The M191’s Achilles’ heel was the gearbox, created in house which proved very fragile. Constantly, the clutch broke after a few race laps forcing the drivers to continue on without.

Despite this the car stood out constantly reaching the top 10 in qualifying in the last eight GPs of the season (from Hungary to Australia) achieving two fourth places (at Imola and Estoril with Martini) and a total of six points and 7th amongst the Constructors of the 18 teams entered.

As stated, the season’s first great satisfaction came on April 28th on a Sunday strongly conditioned by the rain. On the home track, the third round of the season, Martini achieved a real masterpiece placing 4th at the end of a race run after the 20th lap without the clutch and therefore with the nightmare of breaking the gearbox and without being able to stop at the pits to change tyres. It was a true triumph.

With this result the trust in Ferrari was also rewarded, having brought the only car with a Ferrari engine across the finish line on the darkest day for the cars in red with Prost out in the formation lap and Alesi stuck in the sand at the Tosa bend immediately after the start. The same situation occurred in Montreal with the M191 no. 23 which crossed the finishing line in seventh place with the only surviving Ferrari engine.

On July 15th, on the occasion of the British Grand Prix, the Minardi Team crossed the finish line of 100 grands prix, finishing in 9th place. The 1985 Brazil GP was a distant memory.

MINARDI M189 | THOSE FANTASTIC LAPS IN THE LEAD.THE CAR THAT OPENED A CYCLE

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SThe M189 was born from the wake of enthusiasm of the results achieved in the 1988 season. The car made its debut in the fourth round of the world championship on the occasion of the Mexico Grand Prix, taking the place of the M188B.

Designed by Nigel Cowperthwaite and Tommaso Carletti with Aldo Costa in the role of technical director the car was powered by the 3500cc Ford Cosworth V8. The M189 was the first racing car in which the model of the chassis was not created by hand but worked for the surfaces at the I.De.A. Company in Turin with a 5-axis numerical controlled machine that exploited CAD-CAM technology.

The M189 was entirely designed by CAD and developed in the wind tunnel in Crandfield in England and was also the first racing car to mount rear rocker shock absorbers above the gear box with the hub holders made of welded steel, a solution that was subsequently adopted by everybody.

Particular attention was given to the profile of the wings developed by the former Lotus technician Cowperthwaite. Experiments also began with a high nose cone. The M189 was equipped with the low nose cone but at the same time raised a few centimetres with respect to the bottom of the body. This “step” was the first attempt to favour the air flow in the forward part of the rib, a constructive philosophy that was subsequently adopted by all the teams with the introduction of the high nose cone. The M189’s main weapon was probably constituted by the Pirelli tyres which were particularly perfuming in qualifying but less incisive in the race. They were characterized by a special mix that after the first use allowed the buffing of the surface layer for a second use with performance that was even superior to the first.

The start of the season was not the happiest for Pierluigi Martini and Luis Sala who were forced to seven retirements in as many races with the M189 suffering from overheating problems and the nightmare of prequalifying coming ever closer. The turning point came on July 16 at Silverstone on the occasion of the British Grand Prix where a new arrangement of the heating system was installed and with Martini and Sala who brought the two Minardis into the points, in fifth and sixth places respectively.

GIAN CARLO MINARDI “It was a decisive race for us and the history of the Minardi Team. Those three points allowed the team to not take part from pre-qualifying in the second half of the season which would have meant a great less on the economic level with the loss of the television bonuses and those of the transportation. Piero had a stupendous race even if characterized by a horror start. After three laps he came into the pits because the water temperature was sky high. Taken by the desperation we sent him back onto the track without any intervention on the car and luckily all the parameters fell back into the norm. We never understood what happened but that’s ok”

September 24 at Estoril in Portugal was another incredible date. Martini took Minardi to the lead of a Grand Prix for the first time in its history, controlling the two very fast Williams-Renaults with a stupendous performance and crossing the finishing line in fifth place. To these results Martini added a deserved 6th place in Australia under pouring rain, the 7th and 8th places at Monza and the 9th in Germany and Belgium.

With 6 points to its credit the Minardi team finished in the Top 10 with 20 teams entered for the second consecutive year.

GIAN CARLO MINARDI “The 1989 season was certainly the first of 3/4 seasons in which the Minardi was really fast. 1991 and 1993 come to mind”

MINARDI M188 | THE “CAMEL” THAT CONSECRATED MINARDI AND MARTINI

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April 5th, 1985 is the symbolic date for Gian Carlo Minardi and the Minardi Team. At 9.30am of that Friday 35 years ago the Team from Faenza marked its debut in the Formula 1 World Championship on Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro track during the first round of free practice with the sole example of the M185 entrusted to Pierluigi Martini. “Everybody looked at us as if we were Martians,” remembers former mechanic Bruno Valli.

During the 21 years of history in the World Championship there were many other important occasions and one of these was certainly July 19th, 1988. On the Detroit track in the sixth round of the world championship, Pierluigi Martini and the Minardi Team gained their first world championship point with the M188. This was a triumph for the driver from the Romagna who finally asserted himself in the ranks of the true drivers in the highest series but it was especially a reward for the tenacity of Gian Carlo Minardi, the first great achievement since his arrival in F1.

The M188 designed by Giacomo Caliri and nicknamed the “camel” due to its chronic instability should have been a liberation for the team. Unfortunately these expectations were soon disappointed. The racing car with the naturally cooled 3500 cc Ford Cosworth DFZ V8 with a very short wheel base of 2670mm, even if aided by a torsion bar suspension (a solution that would be taken up in F1 only 10 years later) the M188 did not perform and was badly suited to the regular road surfaces. In the first five grands prix the M188 counted three retirements, three did not qualify (Monte Carlo, Mexico and Canada) with Adrian Campos and barely a sixteenth place and eleventh place twice. These results brought about the dismissal of the Spaniard who was replaced precisely by Martini on the occasion of the USA Gp.

The poor results brought a technical revolution with the departure of Caliri whose functions were entrusted to a team of young engineers led by Aldo Costa, Gabriele Tredozi, Tommaso Carletti and Vincenzo Emiliani, the latter charged with redesigning the traditional suspension with helical wheels which, thanks to its geometry, hinged more effectively to the chassis making everything more rigid and improved the behaviour of the car. The lengthening of the wheel base contributed to making the racing car more stable and improving above all the aerodynamic flow. Finally, starting with the Italian Gp, a dynamic dome was adopted to increase the flow of air to the engine.

All these improvements ensured that the racing car achieved better overall performance of a total of about 3 seconds and achieved 7th place in Australia, 8th in Portugal and 10th place in the Constructors’ Championship

F1 in the time of COVID-19 | MINARDI “The teams have allegedly asked Liberty Media for three months of sabbatical before restarting”

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These are delicate days for Formula 1. At stake is not only a Motorsport season but also the future of many teams. Not racing would mean losing television rights and subsequently lower income but this time of worldwide health emergency does not allow drafting long term programmes since we are faced with scenarios that are continually changing.

After Canada, the future of the French Grand Prix scheduled for June 28th is also at risk,

“At this time it must be remembered that the main problem is the closure of the borders and therefore as of today any type of movement is banned, both within and between countries. I smile when I hear that Austria gave the OK to race,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi.

“Maybe Red Bull is one of the few tracks that can host a grand prix behind closed doors but with the teams unable to move nothing is done. At the moment it is impossible to hypothesize international involvement,”

continued the manager emphasizing that for most of the circuits ticket sales represent the sole income to deal with the huge costs of hosting and organizing a grand prix.

Furthermore, putting into action such a complex organizational machine as a Formula 1 team requires time.

“For this reason the teams have allegedly asked Liberty media for a three month sabbatical from the earliest date. This being the case, the first grand prix would be raced no earlier than September,” was the analysis of the manager from Faenza.

F1 in the time of COVID-19 | Silverstone tries to double MINARDI “ I can’t see the change of direction as feasible”

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Fernando Alonso(ESP) European Minardi PS01 – British Grand Prix, Silverstone 15 July 2001 – DIGITAL IMAGE

The world of Motorsport, and not only, is in an uproar and we read almost every day new proposals to try to save what can be saved. The Formula 1 Circus does not absolutely seem to want to take into examination the idea of cancelling the 2020 season. With the Canadian Grand Prix we have reached seven rounds that must be rescheduled but now we are coming to important hours for France and the months available continue to shrink. China and Monte Carlo have already cancelled their events for the season.

The most recent idea to try and save the season comes from Stuart Pringle, the manager of the Silverstone circuit which, according to the calendar, should (the conditional is compulsory) host the world championship during the weekend of July 19th.

“It will be very difficult to carry out this solution as firstly the aspect of safety must be considered. The escape routes must be designed according to the direction of the travel of track, which will be followed by the issue of the homologation of the circuit and on a historic track such as Silverstone any such change of direction is not so fast,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi interviewed by www.Minardi.it

“A few years ago the Adria circuit had taken into consideration the creation of a private championship alternating races from one direction to another. What stopped the project was the safety factor tied to the positioning of the escape routes and obtaining the double homologation of the system. For this very reason I do not consider the idea proposed by Silverstone to be feasible,” concluded Minardi.

COVID-19 | Gian Carlo Minardi “The crisis will come in 2021”

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The health emergency is holding the world and the whole economy hostage and sport is also asking itself if and when it will be able to start once more. If the Tokyo Olympic Games have already been postponed and the Italian Rugby Federation has cancelled the whole 2020 season Formula 1 is trying to organize itself to be ready to go.

The World Motor Sport Council has granted FIA president Jean Todt full powers (subject to consultation with the Vice President for Sport, the Secretary General for Sport and, if necessary, the President of the competent Sports Commission) regarding the organization of the international competitions for the 2020 season, including the modification of the calendar without passing through a vote and/or amendment of the articles with the support of only 60% of the teams.

“We are faced with an absolutely unpredictable and new scenario. At the moment it is impossible to make predictions the virus is developing in each country with different times,” was the analysis of Gian Carlo Minardi at the microphones of www.Minardi.it

“As ACI Sport we are continuing to work in close contact with the authorities but at the moment it is not possible to release calendars. This is an emergency which will have a major aftermath with significant repercussions,” continued the manager from Faenza.

“I have the impression that no team wants to sign the new Concord Agreement even in order not to make a commitment of its permanence in the Circus long term. Let us not forget that this year the teams receive the television rights for last season which was run regularly. The real problems will come in 2021, with a very dietetic cake. As of today the income from eight grands prix is already missing…”

“I am worried for the fate of some private realities such as Haas, Williams and Racing Point despite the arrival of Aston Martin to which I would add an uncertain future for Renault which will lose the supply from McLaren to which they granted the waiver to modify the 2021 chassis and to host the Mercedes power-unit,” concluded Minardi.