F1 | BRAZILIAN GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI: IT WAS A SPECIAL SUNDAY FOR FORMER MINARDI STAFF

Simone Resta celebra con Mercedes la conquista del Mondiale Costruttori, mentre Massimo Rivola si gode in MotoGP la vittoria di Marco Bezzecchi in Qatar. Norris domina a Interlagos, precedendo Max Verstappen e Isack Hadjar.

Simone Resta celebrated Mercedes’ win in the Constructors’ World Championship, while Massimo Rivola savoured Marco Bazzecchi’s MotoGP win in Qatar. Norris dominated at Interlagos, finishing ahead of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

It was a very rewarding weekend for some former members of the Minardi Family.  Simone Resta celebrated with Mercedes’ win in the World Championship, while in MotoGP Massimo Rivola (Aprilia) celebrated Marco Bazzecchi’s win in Qatar Grand Prix. These were two important results that gave me particular pleasure because they bear witness to the careers of professionals who took their first steps in Faenza.

An excellent performance also came from Liam Lawson who took an important eighth place with the Racing Bulls after setting the third fastest time in qualifying on Saturday. I do not understand how the future of a driver of his calibre should still be in question since he accounted for almost 80% of the team’s points. Furthermore, the Racing Bulls are well placed in the fight for fifth place. Lawson is proving his worth once again and deserves recognition.

As far as the Grand Prix was concerned, it was a hard race to interpret. The performances were probably affected by the changes in the temperatures of the track, which were decidedly lower than the previous day. It was hard to understand how, even when using the same tyre compounds, the performance of the cars could change so drastically from one lap to the next, as we saw in the case of Antonelli and the Ferraris. The bad weather and the rain certainly affected the entire weekend, making the work of the teams even more challenging

The only true confirmation came from McLaren and Norris, who secured pole position and an extraordinary win. He set a fantastic pace, managing the race without making any mistakes and demonstrating clear superiority.  On the other hand, it was harder to understand Oscar Paistri’s weekend, he failed to make it into Q3 in qualifying and was unable to finish higher than sixth in the race.

Behind McLaren were the two Red Bulls driven by Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Starting from the back of the grid, Verstappen made an extraordinary comeback to finish in second place. With this result, I believe he took a big step towards securing second place in the Drivers’ World Championship.

Lewis Hamilton’s start was also worth noting. Starting from the back of the grid, he recovered several places right away, moving into the top ten as early as the first lap. He then finished in ninth place, with Charles Lecelrc seventh. The race gave us several incidents and moments of uncertainty that kept the race interesting right up to the chequered flag.

We are now approaching the final three races of the season. It is highly likely that the calendar will be completed as scheduled in the Middle East, particularly given that the MotoGP World Championship took place as planned in Qatar this very weekend.  We can therefore look forward to the final sprint of a season in which the Constructors’ and Riders’ titles have already been decided, but which still holds a few interesting storylines to follow.

Gian Carlo Minardi