F1 | AUSTRIAN GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI: “RUSSELL DESERVED THE WIN. I WAS SURPRISED BY THE CONTROVERSY”
Once again Formula 1 gave us a spectacular Grand Prix, full of tussles and fought to the very last lap. The first three crossed the finished line within less than two seconds, a result I did not expect after an extremely close qualifying with the first eight drivers separated by just 519 thousandths of a second and the first ten by less than a second.
This is a very encouraging sign for this Formula 1 which, while still having room for improvement, continues to offer spectacular races. We expect a very hard-fought season up to the last Grand Prix, in which reliability, technical developments and skill in interpreting the races will be the decisive elements. At the moment Mercedes remains the benchmark.
George Russell was excellent in turning pole position into a win. I was sincerely surprised by all he controversy after qualifying. In my opinion, there was nothing to discuss: the regulations were respected by Russell who simply exploited a permissible situation with great experience. This is part of motorsport and who can best interpret the regulations deserves only congratulations.
On the other hand, and it was absolutely understandable, a touch of experience was missing from Andrea Kimi Antonelli over the weekend. During the early laps he made a few slips, but from the middle of the race he was simply extraordinary. From the 32nd lap he set an exceptional race pace, culminating with the fastest lap in the 59th lap. In any case, third place represents a very important result, even in light of the championship.
Instead, Ferrari must stop and think. After the win in Barcelona and the developments introduced to the power units we expected another step forward, but the final result was inferior to the expectations. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, paying a gap of more than 26 seconds from the winner, while Charles Leclerc finished eighth with an even wider gap. Now tidying up and continuing to work calmly are needed, without letting themselves be dragged down by enthusiasm after a win or by useless arguments when the results do not come.
Even McLaren experienced a weekend harder than expected, that confirms how close the championship is and how a few details are enough to change the powers on the field.
It was a positive performance for Racing Bulls too, taking both cars into the points, confirming the excellent word done by the men in both Milton Keyes and Faenza. After having tried all or nothing in qualifying, Max Verstappen fought a very high-level race coming back to second place, confirming the progress in Red Bull.
Furthermore, another very positive weekend has concluded for Italy’s motorsport. With second place in Formula 2, Gabriele Mini consolidated his leadership of the championship, while Leonardo Fornaroli also continues to grow and who is always under the eye of Formula 1 teams, and is already in the orbit of McLaren. These results confirm the excellent work done in recent years and put our young drivers at the centre of international attention.
In a week’s time the World Championship will land in Silverstone, a circuit with completely different characteristics, where we will see if the values that came out of Austria represent an episode or a confirmation.
Gian Carlo Minardi
