F1 | CHINESE GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MERCEDES IS STILL IN THE LEAD, BUT FORMULA 1 IS STILL IN THE LEARNING STAGE”

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From Australia to China. Formula 1’s new season lands in Shanghai in an atmosphere of uncertainty among the drivers and the insiders. The weekend of the Chinese Grand Prix will in fact be a particularly important test, also because it will host the first Sprint Race of the season.

The first signs from the opening round have already sparked some thoughts within FIA. The pre-season test days showed that they were probably not enough for all the teams to thoroughly evaluate the technical variables of the new racing cars. It cannot be ruled out that there may be changes in the winter preparation in the future, although any changes will inevitably take time.

Dopo una sola gara, tuttavia, qualsiasi analisi sul reale equilibrio di forze tra le scuderie deve essere condotta con cautela. Le squadre si trovano ancora in una fase di comprensione delle vetture, tra raccolta dati, correlazione tra simulatore e pista e progressiva ottimizzazione dei set-up e di tutti i nuovi sistemi.

After only one race however, any analysis of the real balance of power between the teams must be conducted carefully. The teams are still in the process of understanding the cars, collecting data, correlating simulator and track performance and the track and progressively optimizing  set-ups and all the new systems.

One thing seems clear however: the strength of the Mercedes. The new Mercedes W17 has shown its competitiveness, not just in terms of the power unit, but also in terms of aerodynamic efficiency, the strategic management of the race and the overall balance of the chassis.

In Melbourne, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli demonstrated an extremely consistent race pace, managing to complete 47 laps on the same set of tyres. This highlights not just the effectiveness of their management of the tyres, but also the stability of the chassis throughout the different stages of stints, which contributed decisively to the first one-two finish of the season by the team from Brackley.

The weekend in China will add further complexity from the technical and operational points of view. In fact, the Sprint format drastically reduces the time available for preparing the car: teams and drivers will have only one session of free practice before entering the regime of parc fermé. This means that most of the choices of the asset will have to be made based on the data from the simulations and the analyses carried out ahead the weekend.

The Sprint race, to cover 19 laps, will also offer a different technical scenario compared to the traditional race. The reduced fuel load will affect the behaviour of the racing car, impact on the balance, the thermal management of the tyres and the strategies for using the tyres.

On the tyre front, Pirelli will bring to Shanghai the C2, C3 and C4 compounds. This is a different choice compared to the one made for the opening race, but in line with the specifications used in the last few rounds held on the Chinese circuit since it returned to the world championship calendar.

In the opening phase of the season characterized by many unknown technical factors and a balance that is still to be defined, it will be essential for all the teams to proceed methodically, collecting data and progressively developing the cars.

There are still many variables, and the championship has only just begun.

— Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | AUSTRALIAN GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MERCEDES CONFIRMED. FERRARI? THEY DID NOT GET THE STRATEGY WRONG”

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The new Formula season opened with a grand prix full of twists and turns, starting with Max Verstappen’s mistake in Q1, that contributed to making the race particularly interesting.  Among the mistakes to point out was also the one by Oscar Piastri who started the season with zero, and Kimi Antonelli in FP3.

And it was the Mercedes driver who showed a very important sign of growth and maturity. With little more than three minutes left in Q1 he took to the track with only one useful lap and a car not in the best condition, he managed to qualify for Q2 and then even took place on the front row, setting the second-best time behind his teammate.

The first Grand Prix of the season confirmed the current supremacy of Mercedes that took a one-two finish, albeit with a smaller margin than on Saturday. In the second half of the race the two cars managed their lead, even managing to cover 47 laps with the hard tyres, compared to the 32 of Charles Leclerc.

On the other hand, Scuderia Ferrari confirmed its strength is at the start, taking advantage of this in the best way possible. Despite a less than perfect start, George Russell was able to defend his position, while his teammate lost several places before quickly recovering the lost ground.

I do not believe that the people from Maranello on the wall made a mistake in the strategy they adopted. The team wagered on possible deterioration of the Mercedes’ tyres which, in fact, was the only option to try to put them in difficulty. However, this deterioration did not happen. The good work carried out by Pirelli with the new compounds must be pointed out.

Also to be pointed out is Verstappen’s excellent comeback, favoured by 4 VSCs and by a strategy of two pitstops that let him set the fastest lap of the race. The race management also handled the race well.

Isack Hadjar was unlucky and also very convincing, proving that he was very close to his teammate throughout the whole weekend.  It had been a while since Red Bull Racing had shown two such competitive cars.

Among the positive notes of the start of this season there is also Arvid Lindblad who took home the Racing Bull’s first points on his debut thanks to a solid eight place. Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto with Audi and Pierre Gasly also scored points.

However, the Aston Martin F1 Team still has a lot of work to do. The possible cancellation of the GPs in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia could offer a little more time to make up the ground lost. In any case, it will still be a week of intense analysis by all the teams ahead of the next race in China.

Gian Carlo Minardi