F1 | GP ABU DHABI, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “A FASCINATING GRAND PRIX. WELL DONE BY FERRARI”

The last day of “school” has arrived for Formula 1 which gave us a fascinating and tight grand prix right up to the final lap. An unstoppable Max Verstappen took the win ahead of an excellent Charles Leclerc who won his personal challenge for second place with his direct rival Sergio Perez.

Despite the difference with the Red Bull Perez took a feat to its conclusion, also supported by correct strategy by the men on his wall. Ferrari took second place in the constructors’ title ahead of Mercedes after having finished last season in third place. An important step forward to try to race for first place next year.

As we had predicted, a swallow does not a spring make and Mercedes went back to what it was before Mexico. Since the start of the season they were the protagonists of significant growth but in Abu Dhabi whey were not able to replicate the performances seen in Brazil.

Now for the holidays, even if the time available is very short as on March 5th we start again with the first of the twenty four grands prix in 2023. A new year awaits us with many changes on the grid between changes of colours and new arrivals. I am very pleased to see two drivers on the track who worked hard in the lower formulas to force people to respect them such as Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries who already on the occasion of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza gave us a first taste of his potential by taking ninth place on his debut in the little competitive Williams.

Having said goodbye to Latifi the English team is getting ready to welcome the third debutant, the American Sargeant who in race 2 of Formula 2 obtained the points for the Superlicence thus completing the 2023 mosaic. Despite a few “old men” on the starting grid has been rejuvenated

The affection shown by the world of Formula 1 to Sebastian Vettel who finished his career in tenth place was very nice.

The test day on Tuesday dedicated to the young drivers is to be followed closely. Despite all the teams being projected towards the new year we will be able to make a comparison with what we saw this weekend.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | SAO PAOLO, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN’S TEAM-RADIO WAS BAD. LECLERC MUST IMPOSE HIMSELF”

In Brazil we saw an extraordinary weekend with eventful qualifying, sprint race and grand prix and enriched by actions that were even on the limit of the regulations and excessively penalized, such as the collision between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The penalty was probably dictated by the fact that the Dutchman had all four wheels off the track.

The same goes for the episode between Norris and Leclerc where there was a concurrence of fault on the part of the Ferrari driver. He tried to overtake at an unlikely point and above all in the first lap of an important grand prix for both him and the team in terms of the championship. The driver from Monte Carlo may have been unnerved by the episodes in qualifying but he must start to impose his technical decisions since he is the one who takes to the track. However, this too is part of the growth path and is a token to be paid to become a real champion.

He was then the protagonist of an incredible comeback that finished behind an excellent Carlos Sainz. Too bad for the start of the fire that slowed down the Spaniard who was the protagonist of an excellent comeback starting with the sprint race. Ferrari did well not to reverse the positions to avoid joint risks, even if this could have helped Leclerc who is currently tied with Perez.

I did not like Max Verstappen’s team radio in any way. With great determination he denied the position to his team mate who was fighting with Leclerc for second place in the drivers’ ladder. With two world championships and fourteen wins behind him he should have started to think about the team and not just himself. This was an episode that, in my opinion, highlighted the presence of a dispute between the drivers.

The weekend was decidedly favourable to Mercedes and George Russell who “took home” both the sprint race and the grand prix. If Red Bull and Ferrari froze development a while ago Mercedes continued to work and the results are showing. Having three teams fighting for the win would be a dream for Formula 1. We are also waiting to see the result in Abu Dhabi.

With the result in Interlagos Ferrari saw its lead over Mercedes shrink to only 19 points, with Leclerc and Perez tied on 290 points on the drivers’ front. The Yas Marina track will give us the final verdicts.

An exciting weekend that could have become a great spot for the sport has ended.

The final act will be in a week’s time.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP BRAZIL, MINARDI “A race within the race”

We have come to the penultimate round of the 2022 F1 World Championship.

Drivers and teams have arrived at the Interlagos track where three days of unstable weather should be waiting for them.

In conditions of rain we have seen upheavals up to the last lap, as happened in 2008 with Felipe Massa World Champion for a handful of seconds until Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren got the better of Timo Glock in the Toyota, so becoming the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history.

In the case of torrential rain with the ups and downs dangerous streams crossing the track can be created. On the race front it will be an interesting weekend because there are many duels. If first place in both the constructors’ and drivers’ fronts has been assigned, the duel between Ferrari and Mercedes is still open for second place. At the present time the team from Maranello has a lead of 40 points over its direct rivals.

No less important are the duels behind them: Alpine and McLaren are fighting for fourth place with a gap of only 7 points in favour of the French team. Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin are playing for sixth place. Up to now the pair Bottas-Zhou has brought the team 7 more points that Vettel-Stroll.

Only one point – 36 against 35 – separates Haas from Alpha Tauri for eighth place: positions that turn into money for the following season.
On the other hand, the direct duel between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc for the title of Vice Champion is a question of prestige. In Brazil Red Bull’s driver will take to the track with a lead of five points over the driver from Monte Carlo.

Brazil will also be the setting for the third, and final, sprint race scheduled for Saturday at 8.30pm which will decide the starting grid (as well as assigning the first points of the weekend) of the Grand Prix that will start at 7.00pm.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP MEXICO, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN PERFECT. MERCEDES FOUND THE ANSWERS WITH A VIEW TO 2023”

The Mexican Grand Prix slipped by without any dramatic twists. Max Verstappen and Red Bull confirmed their domination and we are fast approaching the end of this world championship with only two races to go.

With third place Perez took his lead over Leclerc to 5 points, who only took fifth place behind his team mate, with Mercedes nibbling away a few points in the constructors’ ladder, even if the margin still seems to favour the “reds”. Mercedes seems to have found the answers with a view to 2023.

With this win Max Verstappen goes to 14 wins in the season. This is an incredible result but I do not find it correct comparing it to other records set with calendars made up of 16 GPs compared to the current 22.

Mexico gave us a positive result for Bottas, tenth with Alfa Romeo and Daniel Ricciardo’s seventh place despite a (10 second) penalty that was certainly correct with the contact with Tsunoda.

Ferrari finished the weekend with 5th and 6th places but celebrating the excellent result in Imola with the World Championship Finals with a huge crowd of more than 40,000 fans who flocked to the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit. I must congratulate them on the excellent organization. It was a sensational weekend with the icing on the cake the presentation of the brand new 499P with which it will try to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in the highest category, together with the 296 GT3, the heir of the 488 Ferrari.

Now let’s wait and see what Interlagos will give us.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP COTA, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN AND RED BULL UNSTOPPABLE. ABSURD SANCTIONS FOR RUSSELL AND ALONSO”

 

After the two drivers’ titles won by Max Verstappen in Suzuka Red Bull took out the constructors’ title thanks to the Dutchman’s win and Perez’s fourth place that in this way interrupted the domination by Mercedes that this year has had a drought of wins.

Austin showed all the supremacy of the team headed by Horner but especially that of Max Verstappen. For the first time since the start of the year the team made a mistake during the Dutchman’s stop making him lose something like eleven seconds that he quickly recovered on the track and taking the win ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

This win was the demonstration of the strength of the pair and also being able to count on a good margin of potential that has still not been expressed. Unlike the other grands prix, in Austin Verstappen had to take risks highlighting the big difference between him and Perez. This aspect should also open the eyes on the question of the budget gap that should contain all the costs without exception. It is one thing to have a team of good drivers of the calibre of the Mexican and many others. Another is to be able to count on the talent of Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc… drivers who affect both the results on the track and the expenditure. The same also applies to the engineers of the calibre of Adrian Newey. The budget cap makes sense if it contains 100% of the expenses of the team, with no exclusion. I will not enter into the merit of the figure.

Going back to the grand prix, it was interesting, certainly conditioned by the huge mistake made by George Russell at the first bend that led to the retirement of Carlos Sainz, the protagonist of an imperfect but faultless start. An episode sanctioned with a ridiculous 5 second penalty. Absilutely ridiculous like the penalty inflicted on Fernando Alonso. Thirty seconds for racing without a mirror. Apart from the fact this was not a blunt element that had not even broken off but if an F1 driver cannot drive without a mirror then he should change jobs. Two absurd penalties.

Well done Lewis Hamilton who brought out all his class, as did Leclerc who, starting from twelfth place took his Ferrari onto the podium showing once more a major problem of tyre wear. The battle for second place with Perez is still open and they will go to Mexico in less than a week with the same engine strategy.

Since announcing his retirement I seem to see a new Sebastian Vettel. He raced like a four times world champion and Sunday he was the protagonist of a wonderful race fighting until the final bend. It was the demonstration of how much different components can come into play in this sport. We see it also with Gasly, ready to say goodbye to Alpha Tauri and Ricciardo who went from the stars into the mud in a few seasons.

The American weekend brought Antonio Giovinazzi back onto the track. It was a mistake that could have cost him dearly in such a delicate moment in his career. Running against the barriers after a few laps is not a positive sign, even if I do not know the causes the led to him going off the track. On the other hand, Mick Schumacher did nothing exciting on the track.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP JAPAN, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN UNDISCUSSED WORLD CHAMPION, BUT WHAT CHAOS WITH THESE REGULATIONS”

Max Verstappen is the World champion for the second time in his short career.

This is the first fixed point, with no ifs or buts. Regardless of the rain that hit the Suzuka circuit, regardless of whether the race lasted only 40 minutes, regardless of the penalty inflicted on Charles Leclerc by the sporting regulations and by the system of attribution of the points.

Both the Dutchman and Red Bull also dominated the Japanese Grand Prix taking out pole position and the win with almost a half a minute advantage on second place confirming the position at the top of this sport. A result that was also consolidated by the second place by Sergio Perez who, in the final laps, put Ferrari’s driver from Monte Carlo under pressure leading him to the mistake at the very end. With second place he equalled Leclerc’s points (249 points for both) and at this point of the season the situation for the Ferrari driver is not so rosy.

Even in the wet Ferrari confirmed its current limits. Competitive on the flying lap (in qualifying Leclerc missed pole position by only 10 thousandths of a second) while in the long run the differences with Red Bull come out, also linked to the degradation of the tyres that put Leclerc in crisis at Suzuka, but in any case he was the protagonist of an incredible defence stained only by the “long” stretch at the end that cost him second place.

Regulations in hand, I find the 5” penalty correct (this time coming after only a few minutes). Too bad that he had space to defend the position better but it is too easy to point the finger considering the difficult situation.

With the title definitively in Verstappen’s hands Leclerc has four grands prix (USA, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi) to try and save at least second place. It will not be easy staying ahead of Sergio Perez with this Red Bull.

Amongst the “others” congratulations to the two old men, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Thanks to their experience they knew how to handle a complicated situation finishing in sixth and seventh places. Well done also to Nicholas Latifi who, together with Vettel, was one of the first to pass from the intermediates so taking his Williams to ninth place ahead of Norris. It was an exciting tussle between Ocon and Hamilton for fourth place.

The real sore point of the weekend was the umpteenth case of confusion created by these absurd regulations. Despite having completed only 29 of the 53 laps (52% of the race) in the maximum time of three hours, full points were attributed. This is because the race was considered finished (the chequered flag was waved).

Honestly I find no big difference between finishing a race when the maximum time runs out or following a red flag.

After what happened in Spa-Francorchamps last year the Federation introduced new points systems that varied according to how many laps were raced. However, this points system is applied only if the race does not restart after a red flag…. To me this seems to be a useless complication, especially if it continues to be run on circuits hit by monsoons and/or cyclones. It may be appropriate to simplify these regulations and re-evaluate the calendars to avoid having three hour grands prix with cars committed on the track for much less time.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP JAPAN, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN UNDISCUSSED WORLD CHAMPION, BUT WHAT CHAOS WITH THESE REGULATIONS”

Max Verstappen is the World champion for the second time in his short career.

This is the first fixed point, with no ifs or buts. Regardless of the rain that hit the Suzuka circuit, regardless of whether the race lasted only 40 minutes, regardless of the penalty inflicted on Charles Leclerc by the sporting regulations and by the system of attribution of the points.

Both the Dutchman and Red Bull also dominated the Japanese Grand Prix taking out pole position and the win with almost a half a minute advantage on second place confirming the position at the top of this sport. A result that was also consolidated by the second place by Sergio Perez who, in the final laps, put Ferrari’s driver from Monte Carlo under pressure leading him to the mistake at the very end. With second place he equalled Leclerc’s points (249 points for both) and at this point of the season the situation for the Ferrari driver is not so rosy.

Even in the wet Ferrari confirmed its current limits. Competitive on the flying lap (in qualifying Leclerc missed pole position by only 10 thousandths of a second) while in the long run the differences with Red Bull come out, also linked to the degradation of the tyres that put Leclerc in crisis at Suzuka, but in any case he was the protagonist of an incredible defence stained only by the “long” stretch at the end that cost him second place.

Regulations in hand, I find the 5” penalty correct (this time coming after only a few minutes). Too bad that he had space to defend the position better but it is too easy to point the finger considering the difficult situation.

With the title definitively in Verstappen’s hands Leclerc has four grands prix (USA, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi) to try and save at least second place. It will not be easy staying ahead of Sergio Perez with this Red Bull.

Amongst the “others” congratulations to the two old men, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Thanks to their experience they knew how to handle a complicated situation finishing in sixth and seventh places. Well done also to Nicholas Latifi who, together with Vettel, was one of the first to pass from the intermediates so taking his Williams to ninth place ahead of Norris. It was an exciting tussle between Ocon and Hamilton for fourth place.

The real sore point of the weekend was the umpteenth case of confusion created by these absurd regulations. Despite having completed only 29 of the 53 laps (52% of the race) in the maximum time of three hours, full points were attributed. This is because the race was considered finished (the chequered flag was waved).
Honestly I find no big difference between finishing a race when the maximum time runs out or following a red flag.

After what happened in Spa-Francorchamps last year the Federation introduced new points systems that varied according to how many laps were raced. However, this points system is applied only if the race does not restart after a red flag…. To me this seems to be a useless complication, especially if it continues to be run on circuits hit by monsoons and/or cyclones. It may be appropriate to simplify these regulations and re-evaluate the calendars to avoid having three hour grands prix with cars committed on the track for much less time.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP SINGAPORE, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “INADEQUATE MARSHALS. LECLERC’S SECOND PLACE AT RISK”

Once again the marshals and race directors have not confirmed they measure up to a Formula 1 that is growing exponentially, giving us incredible emotions. The final decision, that confirmed Sergio Perez’s win despite the 5” penalty, came several hours after the episode despite having all the tools for verifying in real time and there have already been similar episodes in the past. Guidelines are needed to give homogeneity in the judgments.

Today’s grand prix gave us incredible emotions, especially considering the conditions in which they raced. The race ended due to having reached the maximum time and not at the conclusion of the laps. This already lets us understand how demanding it was for the drivers.

I take off my hat to Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. The Mexican was the protagonist of a great race and an excellent start. He gave his all and in the end he went into difficulty due to having made the most of the tyres. Red Bull confirmed that the car is extremely solid and is ready to open a new cycle that can be important.

It will be interesting to understand what went wrong for the driver from Monte Carlo at the start, but then he was the author of a race above his possibilities as the gap between him and his team mate amply demonstrates. With second place Leclerc gnawed a few points from his direct rival but the real problem is the five points lost over Perez who is now only two points behind. On the constructors front on the other hand Ferrari consolidated second place over Mercedes that left Singapore with only two points to its credit.

Instead the reigning world champion’s performance was weak. After the problems that stopped him in qualifying, Verstappen had various difficulties despite the overtaking he carried out to try and climb back. The duel between Alonso and Hamilton was very good. It was a pity that he was betrayed by the engine of his Alpine, just like Ocon.

It was an excellent performance by McLaren that said goodbye to Singapore with fourth and fifth places by Norris and Ricciardo. Good Aston Martin with Stroll’s sixth place and eighth place for Vettel who finished ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes and Gasly’s Alpha Tauri.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | ITALIAN GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN UNCATCHABLE. AN UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKE BY FIA”

An intense and exciting weekend has ended with 336,647 fans present in the temple of speed in Monza that celebrated its 100 years of history in the best possible way. Beyond the full grandstands, I was positively struck by the presence of a very young public that is luckily getting closer to Motorsport.

We saw many duels on the track, starting from the Saturday in the challenge for pole position won by Charles Leclerc, author of an extraordinary lap. Both he and Carlos Sainz confirmed all the goodness of the Ferrari in a flying lap, while they were forced to pay a “cost” from Red Bull (Max Verstappen in particular) in the race.

It was a much deserved new win, the fifth consecutive win of the season and the first personal win at Monza for the Dutch driver who strung together a sequence of incredible laps, while managing to protect his tyres. Under these conditions the people on Ferrari’s wall tried all or nothing by bringing forward the card of the early pit stop, maybe hoping for a safety-car or VSC (that partially happened) even if it did not pay off at the moment, the fight for Leclerc is for second place with Sergio Perez, just as it is for Ferrari versus Mercedes. An interesting end of the season is expected.

Carlos Sainz’s comeback was also to be applauded. Having started from the rear he managed to climb up to the foot of the podium, crossing the finish line behind George Russell’s Mercedes. A positive result considering that the objective was fifth place, characterized by excellent overtaking. Behind him was Lewis Hamilton, he too forced to start from the rear, the author of a positive comeback but with times that were inferior to his team mate.

Also to be noted are the results achieved by Gasly and especially the debutant Nyck De Vries who immediately got into the points (ninth place) with the Williams and who was also voted the best driver of the day. He showed he is a reliable driver capable of not making mistakes. He deserves a chance. This was not a surprise for me since I had already had the opportunity to observe him in action in the karts.

It was a negative for the decision by FIA at the end of the race. The arrival behind the SC compromised an incredible show. The safety car entered the track too late and in an incorrect position. The double management with the race directors did not pay off. It seems to me that there is a lot of work to do in the relations between Liberty Media and the Federation.

Amongst other things, the Federation must seriously consider the idea of changing the regulations tied to the penalties for the replacement of parts. This weekend we saw nine of the twenty drivers penalized with an overturned starting grid compared to the result of qualifying. It is unsporting for the drivers to pay for the team’s mistakes. Besides, it is unacceptable to wait for more than 5 hours from the end of qualifying to have the definitive starting order. It is a regulation that must absolutely be reviewed.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | DUTCH GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MAX DOES THE HONOURS AT HOME. FERRARI THE THIRD FORCE”

Verstappen deadly. At this moment both him and the car have no weak points and give nothing away to the rivals at all. He was stratospheric for the whole weekend, starting with qualifying with the masterpiece the final part of the grand prix after the safety car came back. Lewis Hamilton could do nothing.

Mercedes made a mistake in strategy precisely with the seven times world champion by not changing the tyres but they managed to nibble away further major at the expense of Ferrari that is now the world championship’s third force.

Leclerc was certainly very good. With third place he achieved the maximum result but he paid practically half a second per lap to his direct rival. He was already out of the DRS zone in the second lap. Another mistake in the pits, this time at Carlos Sainz’s expense who then also ran into the 5” penalty slipping back to the eight place after the end of the grand prix. A major and unforgiveable mistake that cost the Spanish driver 10”.

We will already be back on the track in a week’s time in Monza for the Italian Grand Ptix. The track is favours Red Bull that is working well with little downforce…

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP BELGIUM, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI MUST WATCH MERCEDES AT ITS BACK”

We have left the summer break behind and the “new” season has begun with Red Bull always at the top but able to significantly increase the lead over its direct rivals Ferrari.

again Adrian Newey was the most skilled in interpreting the updated regulations. A superlative Max Verstappen relegated his team mate to more than 17” with the same car.

There are still 8 races to go to the chequered flag but now, – rightly – the title is in the hands of the Dutchman.

Ferrari said goodbye to Spa-Francorchamps with the podium thanks to Carlos Sainz’s third place but it paid a big gap of more than half a second a lap. The Spaniard made the most of his material while once again Charles Leclerc had to take “misfortune” into account. The rip-off visor (from the Dutchman it seems) got blocked in the brake socket overheating and damaging the sensors that led to the mistake of management of the speed limiter that cost the driver from Monte Carlo the 5” penalty. Honestly, I would not have risked the two points that were already sure to try and grab the extra point for the fastest lap. Each pit stop is risky. The choice did not pay off Sunday but it is part of the choices that must be made during a race.

It was a step forward by Mercedes. As expected Toto Wolff’s team benefitted from the change of regulations and moved to only 41 points from Ferrari which confirms the second place behind Red Bull but it must be careful.

Spa-Francorchamps was the also the stage for many penalties in the starting grid. Of the 20 drivers on the grid 8 had to serve penalties (Verstappen, Leclerc, Ocon, Norris, Zhou, Schumacher, Bottas and Tsunoda). It is a regulation I still do not like. Unsporting in that it nullifies the result of qualifying. Furthermore, it is mainly the driver who pays most when it should be the team to be sanctioned in terms of points. From here on will we be able to witness more and more of these episodes.

Now we await two tough races: the Dutch and the Italian GPs. For the spectacle I hope that it was only an unhappy episode for Ferrari even if the signs that we saw are unfortunately not positive.
On this occasion, I want to thanks all the fans who came to Imola for the sixth edition of the Historic Minardi Day. It was exciting seeing the garages full of young people.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP HUNGARY, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “ON PARITY OF TYES, MERCEDES IS THE BEST CAR. FERRARI MUST PONDER”

It should have been the weekend of the Ferrari double and instead both Sainz and Leclerc finished off the podium. It was certainly a day for Ferrari to analyse since they made a number of mistakes in both the strategy and during the pit stops, especially with the Spaniard.
In these circumstances the car fell short of Red Bull and Mercedes. With the same tyres Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton performed decidedly better, so much so that the British champion set the race’s fastest lap.

At the moment the Ferrari package is not ready to win the world championship. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, protagonists of excellent overtaking and defence were blameless. However, with the fourth and six places they left many points to their direct rivals, just as Ferrari did a favour to a strongly growing Mercedes. They have three weeks ahead of them to ponder and plan the last part of the season in the best possible way with the aim of saving at least second place in the constructors and drivers championships.

This is not a surprise because they made us used to even more impressive comebacks but Max Verstappen deserves the title of “driver of the day”. He was the protagonist of a race in all out attack to then manage to advantage he had acquired. He made only one mistake that could have cost him very dearly, but he was good and lucky to take back control of the car. He is supported by a team that is aware of its strength and they work calmly without making any mistakes. At this point of the world championship they only have to manage the large advantage they have accumulated.

For the second consecutive grand prix Mercedes went onto the podium with both its drivers making a great leap forward on the ladder. The modifications carried out are paying off and they have taken away points from Ferrari whose advantage has been reduced to only 30 points.

I wish you all happy holidays and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 at Imola for the sixth edition of the Historic Minardi Day.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP HUNGARY, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI, A DOUBLE IS NEEDED”

Hungaroring: on paper the track favours the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari must try to restart with a double in order to try and reopen the world championship that at this moment is in Max Verstappen’s hands with a 63 point lead on the driver from Monte Carlo.

A tryptich is opening that will say a lot about the outcome of the season: Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps and Zandvoort with Monza immediately after. They are three very different tracks between them but very demanding for drivers and cars. I am convinced that not all is lost for Ferrari but it must exploit every opportunity without giving any more gifts to its rivals. They will be three decisive rounds to understand if there will be the possibility to recover or if they have to race to win the greatest number of grands prix. The team is fighting at high levels after some difficult seasons.

The Red Bull-Ferrari tussle is giving Formula 1 appeal and it is important keeping the world championship open. We are entering into the last ten grands prix of the season and reliability will be a sore point for many.

Mercedes has been the most skilled up to now, with Red Bull paying at the start of the season. The W13 had shown strong improvement that it is now called to confirm. Up to now they have been very good at reaching the podium not such much for their own merits but dues to the mistakes of others. Today they have a car for fifth or sixth place. At Spa-Francorchamps we will be able to see its true potential.

Gian Carlo Minardi