F1 | GP CANADA, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “A STEP FORWARD FOR FERRARI. RED BULL-VERSTAPPEN UNBEATABLE”

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In an anomalous track such as Montreal, a semi-street circuit characterized by long straights and major braking, we saw an intense grand prix with fourteen drivers at full throttle and only four who paid a gap of a lap. The positions from seventh to tenth place were decided in a sprint.

For the first time in the season the first five drivers were enclosed within little more than 21”. Sergio Perez could have been there too, but he decided to make a pit stop to take out the fastest lap (and the point).

If first place was certainly not a surprise, with Max Verstappen equalling Ayrton Senna on the number of wins (scoring his 41st win and “giving” the team its 100th victory), the positive note of the ninth round of the World Championship was the reawakening of Ferrari which put up its best race with Leclerc and Sainz in 4th and 5th place respectively.

Beyond the final positions, they were protagonists of an important stint, especially with the “mediums”, then passing onto the hard, completing the seventy laps with only one stop. Making them smile were also the excellent times recorded (the first five practically lapped almost identically), as was the 18” gap paid by Charles compared to Verstappen. Too bad for the mistakes in qualifying that forced the two drivers to start from the middle of the grid. Recovering in these conditions of high competitiveness is not easy.

It was a very nice tussle between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who were separated by a handful of seconds for all the grand prix. Nando’s overtaking the English driver was nice. A Mercedes that, since Monte Carlo, continues to improve and grow.

Montreal was not the best race on the part of Red Bull but, despite this, they won. This says a lot about the quality of the Dutchman who has decidedly has an edge over Perez. Without Verstappen they probably would not have won the last 3-4 races. He is certainly making the difference and he creates an unbeatable combination with the team.

It will be interesting verifying the competitiveness and compactness of the performances seen today in Montreal at the permanent circuits such as Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps which will close the first part of the season.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP CANADA, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “WE ARE COMING FROM AN EXCITING WEEK”

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We are coming from an exciting week with Ferrari’s win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 499P setting pole position, fastest lap and, of course, the win with the #51 interrupting Toyota’s domination of the last five years and taking its wins in the category to nine.

In a little more than a year Antonio Colletta and all his staff and the AF Racing Team have given life to a winning project, managing to hit back at a superpower after an absence of 50 years. We hope that this enthusiasm can also reach all the F1 team, so as to find once more that planning and peace of mind to try and get back on top.

The F1 world championship is the land of Red Bull, and it comes as favourite even in Canada, on a semi-street circuit characterized by long straights, braking and acceleration. The asphalt, with little grip, usually improves with the more laps covered. The weather forecasts however predict rain for Friday and Saturday. Precisely on the tyre front, Pirelli will bring the softest compounds with C3, C4 and C5. Presumably the C5s will be used only in qualifying.

Unlike most tracks, in Montreal only about18” are lost in the pitstops and this too will influence the choice of strategies.

We have reached a third of the world championship and the teams are trying to do their best to limit the gap from the uncatchable Red Bull. It will certainly be interesting to follow qualifying which, up till now, has given us stronger emotions, thanks to the good competitiveness of all the cars enclosed within a limited gap. At least in a fast lap. The scenario then changes in the race. Right now, we have Mercedes that is growing, having taken second place at the expense of Aston Martin (currently third) ahead of Ferrari and Alpine.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP SPAIN, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI CANNOT BE THE ONE WE SAW IN MONTE CARLO”

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Not even the time to absorb what happened in Monte Carlo and is it already time to “dive into” the next round. This weekend the Formula 1 world championship will be in Montmelò in Spain.

It will certainly be interesting to evaluate, on the one hand, the major innovations announced by Ferrari and, on the other hand, verify the potential of the “new” Mercedes after the updates introduced in Monte Carlo. With the arrival in Barcelona, we will be able to have the first test of the team situation, without prejudice to the absolute domination of Red Bull.

I want to hope that what we saw a week ago in Monte Carlo does not represent the real face of Ferrari which must absolutely give a turn to its season around, as well as finding once again that peace of mind necessary to face difficulties. Lately I have seen too many drawn faces. They need to smile again and enjoy themselves. The results will come accordingly. I believe that, for the first time in his career, Fernando Alonso is also enjoying himself.

I welcomed with pleasure the news of new grafts. Having finished the period of gardening they can get to work with a view to 2024. Ferrari must inevitably reinforce its team and insert new life to start halving and then eliminating the gap from Red Bull. The road is long, but you have to start somewhere.

Monte Carlo gave us a growing Mercedes, just like Alpine (with the first point of the season) and McLaren which placed both drivers in the top ten. Monte Carlo is certainly an anomalous track, and I had the impression that, especially in McLaren, they had wagered a lot on the setup for rain.

Starting from Friday it will be interesting follow the “third tier” teams with McLaren, Alpha Tauri and Alpine. This winter Montmelò did not host the pre-season tests and therefore we can only make a comparison with 2022. In terms of the front-rank positions, I certainly do not expect an upheaval (except for disasters) with Verstappen and Perez dominating. I was amazed by the strong criticism levelled at the Mexican driver by the team. He certainly made a rookie’s mistake in qualifying but, in any case, he still won two grands prix this season.

I await free practice 1 and 2 which will inaugurate the seventh round with great trepidation, with the hope of being able to see an electrifying qualifying like a week ago and an exciting grand prix.

Gian Carlo Minardi