F1 | SINGAPORE GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI: “VERSTAPPEN WAS PERFECT, ANTONELLI A GREAT CHAMPION”

/in , /by

The weekend in Singapore was all about Red Bull and Max Verstappen who won both the Sprint Race and the Grand Prix, after having even taken pole position in both. The Dutchman showed that he is in great form, managing every phase of the race with great composure. However, it was a more complicated weekend for Isack Hadjar who was hampered by technical problems that forced him to start the Grand Prix from pit lane. In any case, the Frenchman managed to climb back up to tenth place, taking a point. Also to be noted was Liam Lawson’s excellent performance, seventh in the GP after fifth place in the Sprint Race, with another solid performance by the Racing Bulls.

In the Sprint Race Verstappen managed the very treacherous conditions in the best way possible. After having overtaken the Dutchman at the start George Russell took the lead, he made a very bad mistake and crashed into the wall at the last corner of the first lap. This episode compromised his result and opened the road to victory for Red Bull’s driver, and “handing over” precious points to Antonelli.

Sunday confirmed the superiority of Verstappen who controlled the race right up to the chequered flag. Behind him, Charles Leclerc took an excellent second place for Ferrari, but questions remain about the behaviour of their two drivers. At one stage of the race, Hamilton seemed to have a better pace, yet Leclerc did not let him pass, making him lose precious seconds. Previously, during the tyre change, it had been Hamilton who had let his teammate pass. On this occasion, the seven times world champion showed he was more willing to work in the best interest of the team. It is hard to say whether a different choice would have changed the final result, but the management of the situation warrants some reflection.

The third step of the podium went to Antonelli, who delivered a performance worthy of a true champion. Once again, he had to contend with several track-limit violations. Despite this, he displayed great maturity—especially when compared to the errors made by other key contenders like Russell and Hamilton.

Antonelli managed the pressure well and secured crucial points in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. His championship lead over Russell has thus extended to 102 points, aided by the struggles of his teammate, who after a power unit change managed to recover to ninth place.

It was a disastrous weekend for McLaren, between the crash in the last lap of the Sprint Race with the collision between Norris and Piastri when they were battling for the top places, and the performance and strategy issues in the Grand Prix. Added to this was another mistake by Norris in the closing stages, in the battle with Hamilton, which also allowed Antonelli to make up ground. One would expect a driver fighting for the title to handle such moments differently: these are mistakes that can have a huge impact on the outcome of the season. I don’t know how pleased they can be at McLaren.

Now the attention turns to Austri where a decisive stage in the title race could unfold. Antonelli has a very comfortable lead and, should he continue on this path, he could already have the chance, as early as the next round, to mathematically secure the World Championship. Furthermore, Mercedes is also expected to introduce updates to the power unit, something to watch very closely.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | SINGAPORE GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI: “EVERY POINT STARTS TO COUNT”

/in /by

After Sepang, the Formula 1 World Championship stays in Asia and moves to Singapore where the Sprint Race is also scheduled for this weekend. This situation is completely different from Malaysia: Marina Bay is a very demanding street circuit characterized by many corners, braking points and acceleration zones, with the barriers very close to the track and limited opportunities for overtaking. The changes introduced in 2023 made the third section faster, but Singapore is still one of the most demanding races for the drivers.

The Sprint format will make all this even more complicated. In fact, the teams will have only one session of free practice before the real action begins, with the Sprint qualifying and race taking place between Friday and Saturday. It will therefore be crucial to quickly find the right set-up of the car, without having much time to make adjustments.

Even the tyres will be interesting, Pirelli will bring the C3, C4 and C5 compounds, Hard, Medium and Soft respectively. Marina Bay is medium to high level of roughness for a street circuit and a marked change of the levels of the grip over the course of the weekend. Add to this the chance of intermittent rain, typical of the equatorial climate, which could quickly alter the conditions of the track.

Wear of the tyres should not be particularly high, and a one-stop strategy remains the benchmark. In any case, this year the Softs could play an even more important role in the race itself, thanks to its performance in recent races and the capacity of the current racing cars to make better use of the softest compound. It will therefore be interesting to see how the teams will interpret this factor, especially over a weekend in which the Sprint Race will provide further insight on the behaviour of the cars.

Kimi will need to carry on racing as he has done so far, without letting his lead affect him. At Sepang, he handled a difficult race very well and he took home a second place which, in light of Russell’s retirement, has taken on even greater significance.

For George, however, Singapore is his first chance to bounce back. The retirement in Malaysia came at the worst possible time, after having narrowed the gap from his teammate in Baku. Now he must try to make the most of a circuit on which precision, speed and skill at handling pressure can make all the difference, even though he will be hampered by the replacement of the power unit.

It will also be interesting to see if Red Bull and Verstappen will be able to continue the form shown at Sepang on a completely different circuit. The win in Malaysia confirmed the competitiveness of the team, but Singapore will present a different testing ground.

For Ferrari, after Hamilton’s third place and Leclerc’s fourth place at Sepang, and for McLaren that comes off a weekend that fell short of expectations, it will instead be important to see to what extent the street circuit could shake up the pecking order once again.

Singapore will therefore be a particularly interesting round: there is little time to find the right set-up, a Sprint Race which will already award points as early as Saturday and technical characteristics that are very different from those in Sepang. Following a Grand Prix that further extended Antonelli’s lead, the championship would give us new insights on the Title race.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | BAHRAIN MALAYSIA GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN PERFECT, ANTONELLI WITH A VERY HEAVY SECOND PLACE. FERRARI MAXIMISES ITS RESULT”

/in , /by

As was easy to predict, the Sepang Grand Prix was strongly affected by bad weather that delayed the start by about 90 minutes. This delay could have also influenced the planning of the strategies, given that we are talking about a track with asphalt that tends to dry quickly. This is precisely why we saw very different choices among the drivers: some chose the Soft tyres, including the two Ferrari drivers, while Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell started with the Mediums. On the other hand, the two McLarens chose the dry weather Medium tyres.

The strategies then changed quickly. In Ferrari, we saw two different choices: Leclerc returned to the pits to switch to the Mediums, while Hamilton chose the stay on the track with the dry tyres, and he then managed to make up many places. It was a decision that paid off in the end and allowed the Englishman to take an excellent third place, with Leclerc fourth.

The race was dominated by an absolutely flawless Verstappen. Max consistently posted excellent lap times and managed an extremely complicated race, characterized by the wet track, by the progressive changes to the conditions, by the Safety Cars and the Virtual Safety Cars, to perfection. He was always composed, finding an excellent race pace even when the track was drying. After having slipped behind the two Mercedes in the early stages, he took back the lead and from that moment he built up a well-deserved victory, without making any mistakes.

Albon’s retirement then triggered the Virtual Safety Car, that was then turned into the Safety Car.  At that point all the frontrunners took advantage of the neutralization to make another pitstop. The closing stages first gave us Norris’ mistake when, during the Safety car, he risked crashing into his teammate by braking too late and losing several places, and then, the biggest turning point, Russell’s retirement due to technical difficulties. George was in the running for the podium and could have limited the damage in relation to Antonelli. The problem at the end cost him crucial points and paved the way for Hamilton’s third place, and fourth place by Leclerc, at the end, they had the better over an excellent Hadjar who crossed the finish line in fifth place.

Hadjar confirmed once again that he is an excellent teammate for Verstappen, and, at this time, he is one of the drivers who can put him to the test within the team. Even in Sepang, he disputed a very solid race, staying in the top places for much of the race.

On the other hand, for Antonelli second place carries enormous weight in terms of the championship. Kim disputed a very mature race, managing conditions that were anything but easy and taking home a hugely important result. Russell’s retirement, which came a few laps from the finish, further highlighted the significance of this result. Antonelli consolidated his lead in the ladder and took his lead over his teammate to 84 points. This result is worth more than the 18 points collected, it is another very important step forward in the battle for the World Championship.

For Ferrari, Hamilton’s strategy proved particularly effective. Starting from the front row, Lewis knew how to make the most of what his Ferrari could achieve today. After dropping down to the rear due to the choice of Soft tyres in the wet conditions, he managed to stage an extraordinary comeback to finish in third place. Leclerc too, after the early difficulties, recovered back up to fourth place. Considering the conditions and the choices of strategies, this was therefore a doubly positive result for Ferrari. Today’s result is probably the best they could have hoped for. Also, thanks to some favourable circumstances arising from outside the team.

A round of applause also goes to Alonso. After the renewal of his contract and some positive signs that came out over the weekend, Fernando showed once again that he is competitive and took home an excellent eighth place. In a race that was chaotic and conditioned by the strategies, this was a very positive result for Aston Martin.

This was also a decidedly positive weekend for Racing Bulls who said goodbye to Sepang with both cars in the points: Lawson seventh and Lindblad tenth. This was an important result in view of the head-to-head battle with Alpine which finished the weekend outside the points. Racing Bulls consolidated fifth place in the Constructors’ World Championship.

McLaren, on the other hand, faced major difficulties, both in terms of the performance and due to Norris’s mistake at the end which wiped out part of the result. Piastri did not go beyond sixth place, while Norris finished only ninth after ending up in the gravel during the Safety Car. This weekend was decidedly below expectations for a team that, for the values shown in the track during the season, could have been even more a frontrunner.

Now we look ahead. In a week’s time they go back onto the track in Singapore which will also host the Sprint Race. This is another very special round, on a street circuit that is completely different from Sepang, where the world championship could yet throw up some new twists in the challenge for the title.

Gian Carlo Minardi