F1 | GP USA, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI PERFECT. LAWSON AND COLAPINTO TO BE APPLAUDED. CORRECT TAKING AWAY THE POINT FROM THE GPV”

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The three races in America started with an extraordinary double by Ferrari. Charles Leclerc was the protagonist of a perfect start. That type of attack by Verstappen on Norris was probably expected.

The driver from Monte Carlo was just as skilled at the start after the safety-cay caused by Lewis Hamilton (protagonist of a mistake not worthy of a seven times world champion), maintaining a high pace for all the grand prix. Just as infallible was the strategy regarding Carlos Sainz that allowed the double taking them to only eight points from second place on the constructors’ ladder with five races still to be run.

This was a prestigious result for Ferrari and a good omen that confirms the important step forward, especially in the long run configuration. They must still improve something in qualifying, but we are talking about tenths of a second. Leclerc and Sainz can only recriminate for having blocked each other excessively during the sprint. Otherwise, they would have made it harder for Verstappen to return to success.

Third place for Red Bull with Verstappen, who found his smile once again, the fruit of a tussle with the poleman Norris and the subsequent penalty. Unfortunately, we do not know the guidelines dictated during the briefing between the race director and the drivers. It certainly seems to me that there was more permissiveness during the first lap compared to the rest of the race, because the two episodes – always with Norris and Verstappen as protagonists – are very similar.

George Russell and Lian Lawson also stood out. Both, starting from pitlane, were the protagonists of important comebacks with both finishing in the points zone. Sixth place for the Mercedes driver, with the mistake in qualifying that probably wiped out a result that could have been more important, and eighth place for the Racing Bulls flagbearer in his first race of the season. An important result for the direct challenge with Haas in view of sixth place, currently to the hands of the American team with a two-point lead, the result of both Hulkenberg’s eighth place and, above all, the better result in the Sprint.

Just as important, tenth place by Colapinto who put an unjudgeable Albon in serious difficulty. In just a few races the young man has shown that he deserves to stay in the world championship. We hope that correct choices are made in his regard. Until a few laps from the finish, he had also set the fastest lap of the race, taken away only in the final lap by Ocon with an action that has little to do with sport or technique.

Precisely for this reason I am absolutely in favour of eliminating this regulation. It would be fair to reward if it is done during the race. Used in this way it has so sense.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP SINGAPORE, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “THE FINAL RESULT OF THE WEEKEND IS THE SUM OF QUALIFYING AND THE RACE”

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Compliments must be made to these young men.  In such a complicated race, dictated above all by a high level of humidity, once again the safety-car stayed in the pits. Only Norris “gave” us a few seconds of suspense by touching the battier despite an important lead over Max Verstappen.

As could have been expected, it was a very tactical race by Lando Norris in an excellent McLaren that left the world champion almost twenty-one seconds behind. It was certainly an important gap. A positive second place however for Verstappen who kept the leadership with a 52-point advantage.

The final result of the weekend is the sum of the results between qualifying and the race, Ferrari paid a high price for a disastrous Saturday. Fifth place, a hand full of tenths of a second behind George Russell(fourth) is certainly a positive result, but, considering the pace on the track by Leclerc, supported by a good strategy (change of tyres after the 37th lap, Ferrari certainly has something to recriminate, also together with the physical difficulties in the end felt by the winner. We could probably have seen a Baku-2 with the two drivers very close. But this is racing.

The other factor to emerge from the final placings was the only seven drivers on full laps, Carlos Sainz, seventh it the first non-lapped driver. A result of the mistake in qualifying, but also a perfect start and a different strategy compared to his teammate’s. The Spaniard was amongst the first to make a pit-stop, switching to the whites after barely fourteen laps of the sixty-two.

Even always being competitive, right now the gap between the four top teams (McLaren-Red Bull-Ferrari-Mercedes) and the rest of the group is strongly becoming evident at the moment. The result is the lapping of drivers that have not been seen for quite some time, see Fernando Alonso in Aston Martin.

Theee was team play between Red Bull and Racing Bulls with Ricciardo recalled to the pits at the end to set the fastest lap and take the extra point away from Lando Norris. Racing Bull however says goodbye to Singapore with zero points, counting the 2 points gained by Haas’ direct rivals (9th Hulkenberg, ahead of Perez) in the fight for sixth place on the constructors’ title.

We have another six grands prix. The appointment is in Austin on October 18-20.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP SINGAPORE, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “IS MCLAREN PREPARING TO OPEN A NEW CYCLE? HERE KEEP AN EYE ON THE WEATHER”

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From Azerbaijan to Singapore, the Formula 1 World Championship is stopping at the Marina Bay Circuit street circuit for the eighteenth round. For the first time after 55 grands prix, McLaren lines up at the start as the leader of the World Championship.

Thanks to Oscar Piastri’s win and Lando Norris’ fourth place in Baku, Andrea Stella’s men have overtaken Red Bull.

Despite the modifications carried out last season that reduced the length of the track to 4,940m and the 19 bends (against the previous 23) it is still one of the most twisty and insidious tracks of the season.

The first novelty this year is the introduction is the fourth DRS zone (between bends 14 and 16), which has the aim of facilitating the spectacle and overtaking. At Baku the drivers gave us an exciting race run on the edge of tenths of a second. On this track I also expect a struggle on the edge of tenths, if not hundredths of a second. It will be interesting to see if they manage to continue the positive trend without the entry of the safety-car. A week ago, it did so only at the end, the collision between Pere and Sainz led to the use of the VSC.

On the tyre front, Pirelli has opted for the softer compounds, (from C3 to C5) and it will be interesting to see on how many pitstops the strategy will be based on a track that improves considerably session after session. Watch out also for the weather that represents another unknown factor, due to both the layout of the track and because it is run at night. The risk of rain will be present for all the weekend with a very high probability for the Sunday.

It will be interesting to follow the weekend of Red Bull and Mercedes, at the present time the ones most in difficulty, compared to the McLaren (currently the car to beat), and good competitiveness from Ferrari. Right now, the priority for McLaren is the constructors’ title. Historically, when a team is about to open a new winning cycle, it starts by taking the constructors’ title and only then concentrate solely on the driver’s title. Amongst other things, they must also perfect some things that range from the management of the drivers and strategy, which are not always perfect.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP AZERBAIJAN, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “51 HEARTSTOPPING LAPS. PIASTRI PHENOMENAL. PEREZ-SAINZ? THE MEXICAN WITH THE GREATEST FAULT

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These young men know how to entertain us. They gave us 51 heart stopping laps with as many as 4 drivers within little more than two seconds. Piastri, Leclerc and Perez within less than one and a half seconds.

It was a hard-fought grand prix, won by a very good Oscar Piastri, author of a wonderful overtaking move at Leclerc’s expense, but above all skilful in managing the not easy situation on a track as complicated as Baku. This is certainly not a surprise because Piastri is a young man with all the credentials to make people talk about him. Plus, he has a car that is a notch above all the others, that allows him to brake later than the others and with better DRS. This was particularly evident when he overtook the Ferrari driver. He was able to recover 5 tenths of a second, against the mere 2 tenths of Leclerc, the author of a magnificent pole position. This however should make the men in Maranello pause for thought.

It was a shame only about the finish. We could have had a race with no interruptions despite a very high pace.

Until that moment it was an incredible comeback by Carlos Sainz, after a sluggish first part of the race. It was an equally remarkable race by Sergio Perez, who always gives his best on these tracks. Right now, Red Bull’s difficulties seem to be punishing mostly Max Verstappen. It is not easy to analyse the Sainz-Perez collision. Speaking from the television images, it seems to me that the Mexican had a higher percentage of blame since the Spaniard was ahead of him. Plus, he did not have a favourable view of him. He had plenty of space to move, there was enough to the left, to avoid the fatal contact.

Sainz’s retirement cost Ferrari dearly in terms of points, with the gap from the lead growing to 54 points with another seven races still to go.

It was a double celebration for McLaren. In addition to the win, it also took home the leadership of the constructors’ ladder, climbing above Red Bull after 55 races. Lando Norris’s race was also to be applauded. Starting from fifteenth position, he finished fifth ahead of Verstappen, also taking the additional point for the fastest lap-

The double retirement favoured George Russell, who took an unhoped-for podium, as well as the 2 Williams drivers and Oliver Berman, protagonists of an excellent weekend and rewarded with important points. Positive results especially for the two young men (Colapinto and Berman). The Argentine, an excellent shield bearer in regard to Albon. In his second grand prix, Berman once more entered the points zone with two different teams. Certainly not a result to be taken for granted driving a Haas.

We are approaching the final rounds which we predict will be fiery I am looking forward to seeing what will happen in Singapore street circuit.

As for our flag bearers, important results came in, starting with Gabriele Mini’s podium in Formula 2 (on his debut). Followed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s third place despite a car damaged in a collision. In Japan, Davies Rigon drove the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 to the win in the FIA WEC World championship, and Raffaele Marcielllo took second place at the wheel of the BMW Hypercar. These results are all a source of great pride, as well as the fruit of the work carried out over all these years by the Federation and ACI Sport.

Gian Carlo Minardi

 

F1 | GP AZERBAIJIAN | GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MCLAREN THE FAVOURITE, BUT WATCH OUT FOR MERCEDES”

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We are now at the gateway of the Azerbaijan GP. The seventeenth round of the World Championship. With Baku the third stage of the season begins.  It is a very demanding track, 6,003m long to be run 51 times, characterized by 20 bends, some at right angles and very slow, others very fast followed by the longest straight of the world championship.

The first novelty is the scheduling. Traditionally it was in April or June, while this year it is being run in September, just like next year. Compared to the past, teams and drivers will find warmer weather and the shady parts of the old town could affect the performances.

Being a street circuit, the performance will improve session after session and Pirelli has brought the softest compounds (C3 as hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft).

On paper one stop is the best strategy, but they have to watch out for possible safety-cars or yellow flags.

On the race front, currently McLaren has replaced Red Bull as the car of reference, Horner’s team is trying to defend the leadership in the two ladders. The battle is open on the constructors’ front, especially between McLaren and Red Bull with Ferrari strongly narrowing the gap after their win in Monza.

Keep an eye on Mercedes. The characteristics of the W15 and its engine should be well suited to the configuration of the track.  We expect a very hard-fought end of the season. On the drivers’ front, Verstappen’s lead on Norris is still substantial. The reigning world champion can allow himself defensive races. He makes the difference within the team. Perse had not lost his “compass”, he is simply not supported by the car and it is the driver who must make the difference.

In addition to Formula 1, also coming back is F2 which will see Gabriele Mini in the Prema Team, paired with Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Mini will take the place of Oliver Bearman, committed with Haas in the place of the disqualified Magnussen. We will have the first taste of 2025.

With Aston Martin’s announcement the Newey soap opera has come to an end. The talented engineer has given continuity to his historicity, aiming at a reality that is still not world class. This is precisely what I expect, a while ago he made me think about this final destination. (link to the article)

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | ITALIAN GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “A SENSATIONAL WEEKEND NETWEEN “KIMI” ANTONELLI, LECLERC AND FORNAROLI”

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It was a weekend full of excitement, that began with the debut of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in F1 at the wheel of the Mercedes during the first free practice, followed with the confirmation as an official driver for the 2025 World Championship alongside Geroge Russella and ended with the incredible win by Charles Leclerc and Ferrari in the GP. In between, the F3 World Championship win by Leonardo Fornaroli with an incredible move on Mansell in the last bend of the last lap.

As far as “Kimi” is concerned, it is an honour for Italy finding its flag bearer again in the F1 World Championship. In this case, the pride is double because the debut came with a top team with eight world constructors’ title to its credit and goes to the GP to win. Of course, as ACI and ACI Team Italia, we are proud of this achievement and we will continue to support and help him even in the eventual difficult moments, should they come, because we must not forget that we are talking about a team that starts the season to win the constructors’ title.

As the Federal School, Leonardo’s win makes us just as proud since it opens the doors for him into Formula 2. I wish that Gabriele Mini can quickly forget this disappointment and that those who follow him closely will help him in continuing his adventure in racing cars. He has shown on a few occasions that he has the right qualifications to do well in this world.

Coming to the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari put together an incredible strategy, solidified by excellent work by Charles Leclerc, assisted by Carlos Sainz. Unlike the direct rivals, they opted for a single stop managing to overtake the excellent McLarens, by managing to protect the tyres. The constancy of the driver from Monte Carlo was incredible, from the 37th lap to the 52nd he consistently lapped between 1’23.5-1’23.7.

This weekend everything went well for Ferrari, putting the work into practice. It was a breath of fresh air, and we hope it can bring some peace of mind within the team.

To be applauded was Oscar Piastri’s overtaking Lando Norris. Done like a true champion. As I have always maintained, we are talking about one the most promising drivers who, as the grands prix pass by, gains the serenity to impose his choices on the team. So, we are talking about two young, very promising drivers. For some time, I have been saying for a long time that McLaren has the best pair of drivers,

It was a defensive race for Mercedes.  A result that did not live up to their expectations, also considering the fantastic engine that it has, as shown by the same McLaren. Russell’s initial mistake made a big impact on the result.

It was another defensive race by Red Bull that said goodbye to Monza at the head of the constructors’ ladder, but with the lead reduced to only eight points.

Now we wait for Baku, that will not see Kevin Magnussen amongst the protagonists, disqualified for having accumulated 12 penalty points this season. Decisive was the collision wit Gasly (a 10” second penalty and 10 points on the license).  We will see who will be entrusted with his Haas.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | ITALIAN GP GIAN CARLO MINARDI “IT IS AN HONOUR TO SEE AN ITALIAN DRIVER IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ONCE AGAIN. COLAPINTO, AN INTELLIGENT CHOICE”

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We have left behind the Historic Minardi Day in Imola and the Dutch GP in Zandvoort and it is already time for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

A Monza that is getting ready for two new developments. On the Mercedes front, it is an honour to have one of our drivers in the world championship once again. in this case the pride is double because the debut is with a top team that has eight constructors’ title to its credit and on a track like Monza. It is certainly a reward for everything he has been able to achieve over the years, starting with karting. It will be important to keep his feet on the ground.

The Argentine Franco Colapinto, born in 2003, will make his debut in Williams. Twenty-three years after Gaston Mazzacane, who made his debut with Minardi, Argentina has once again found its flag bearer. I believe this is an intelligent and fitting choice. He is a fast young man who knew how to put himself on show in Formula 2, as he did in the minor formulas. What is more, he comes from a country with a strong tradition in Motorsport.

This weekend will see an important grand prix based on strategy and reliability with the engines at full throttle for more than 75% of the lap. It will also be interesting to see the first bend after the finish line- which has been modified following the works that involved the Monza facility and track in recent months.

All eyes are on McLaren that is worrying everyone, with Red Bull having to defend itself to keep the lead in both rankings. Watch out especially on the constructors’ front. At the present time McLaren can count on the best pair of drivers. For some time, Red Bull had been racing with only one driver: Verstappen.

After the almost unhoped for third place a week ago, Ferrari will try to exploit in the best way possible the conditions of the track that require a low load to try and improve its performances.

After an anonymous weekend in Holland, I am convinced that Mercedes will return to the fight for the podium, considering that their engine is not second to none.

There are plenty of cues for following all the stages of the sixteenth round, starting with free practice on Friday.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | DUTCH GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MCLAREN HAS SETS ITS SIGHTS ON THE CONSTRUCTORS’ TITLE”

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The Dutch grand prix gave us 72 demanding laps, run at a very high pace, and without a single accident or safety-car. It was a long and complicated grand prix, with a Lando Norris leading the way, despite an imperfect start, just like for his teammate.

I believe McLaren’s politics is to take out the constructors’ title, so they set up a particular strategy on Piastri, aimed at winning the highest number of points without worrying Norris who also took home the additional point for the fastest lap on the final lap with an excellent 1.13 812, leaving Verstappen 20 seconds behind.

In this circumstance Verstappen showed he is a champion. Having guessed that it would not have been a race to aim for the win, he managed his car as well as possible without taking any particular risks, bringing home an important second place. At this moment he must defend himself from the overwhelming power of this McLaren.

Excellent job by Charles Leclerc who took his Ferrari onto the podium in third place. An almost unhoped for outcome after the result in qualifying and could not have been predicted at all, especially having raced for the last 15 laps over the limit with a Piastri constantly on the edge of of a one second gap.

Carlos Sainz was just as good. The Spaniard recovered up to fifth place, after having started on the sixth row. A positive result for Ferrari ahead of Monza.

On the other hand, Mercedes was inexplicable. I saw them struggling after the latest positive results, but above all I find it hard to understand their strategy.

We are heading towards a very interesting end of the season with an important alternation. In a weeks’ time it will be back to the track with the Italian Grand Prix.

Gian Carlo Minardi

 

 

HISTORIC MINARDI DAY AT IMOLA AND THE DUTCH F1 GP. IT STARTS AGAIN! MAXI SCREEN AT IMOLA

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With the end of the summer break, we can restart with a super weekend of Motorsport and Formula 1. On the one hand, at the Imola Circuit there will be the 8th edition of the Historic Minardi Day, an event that confirms that it is growing, with many cars, drivers and F1 cars (37 the historic F1 cars expected) for two days of fun.

On the other hand, the World Championship starts again from the Dutch GP. It is a particular circuit in which the host Max Verstappen will try to make up for what was lost in the recent rounds. We expect an extremely competitive second half of the championship with three/four teams fighting for the win. It will be interesting to see which new developments will be brought onto the track by all the teams which surely have not been with their arms crossed.

In my opinion, Verstappen and Red Bull remain the point of reference for everybody, but they must be wary of both McLaren and Mercedes.

Mercedes will rely on its reliability, but, above all, on the quality of its power-unit which, in addition to having a consistent number of “horses”, is the one with the lowest consumption

In this moment McLaren can count on the best pair of drivers as shown also by the ladder. If Norris was not perfect in the last few rounds, making fundamental mistakes (especially at the start), Piastri has shown all his worth. As far as I am concerned, I consider him to be one of the best drivers of the new generation, and as he grows, he is able to put another driver who demands respect in difficulty, like Lando.

Zandvoort will be the antechamber to Monza.

Considering the conjunction of the Historic Minardi Day and F1, there will be a maxi screen within the Paddock of the Imola Circuit to follow all the phases of the 15th round of the world championship.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Imola.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP BELGIUM , THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “CRAZY COMPETITIVENESS. GREAT RUSSELL. YET ANOTHER MISTAKE BY NORRIS”

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We are now in the fourth year of a regulation that is coming to its end, and it is giving us fascinating and very combative grands prix, the result of an upwards compaction of the performances, with more pretenders to the podium and the win.

In particular, Spa-Francorchamps, a demanding circuit for cars and drivers, gave us a classic with three drivers (Russell, Hamilton and Piastri) within little more than a second (1.173s) and the first six within less than 10 seconds.

George Russell was excellent in believing in himself and the duration of the tyres, taking the win ahead of his teammate who completed the Mercedes one-two. Behind them a very good Oscar Piastri who is putting all his worth on show. On the other hand, when you win the F3 and F2 championships, in your first year, you have already shown your talent. Furthermore, he sat out a year waiting for the seat to be freed. He is no less than Lando Nonda (sixth place for him), once again, the protagonist in the negative at the start. The summer break probably comes at the right time. He will have time to think about the mistakes he made.

The only fault for the Australian was the mistake in the pitstop. Having arrived slightly long – luckily without hurting his mechanic – he lost about two seconds. Considering that he finished six tenths of a second from Hamilton and 1.1” from Russell, we could have witnessed a different finish. We are seeing a very different phase of the championship in which the slightest slip-up can really cost a lot. The challenge is in thousandths of a second, also concerning the updates.

It was also a positive race for Charles Leclerc, finishing barely 8.5” from the leader. An unexpected result I would say, especially in these hot conditions. Seventh place for Carlos Sainz, 19” from the leader. He played all his cards to bring home the best result.

It was a disastrous result for Sergio Perez. Starting in the front row, he finished only eighth. Paying a gap of more than 43”, but above all behind Max Verstappen, who started in eleventh place and finished fifth, with a gap of more than 30”. I do not know what decision they will make, but the standings are getting shorter. Red Bull’s lead over McLaren has been reduced to 32 points.

It was a more than positive result for the reigning world champion. In such a competitive grand prix he managed to climb up to fifth place.

Now we are all going on holiday. The appointment is for Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 August with the 8th edition of the Historic Minardi Day  at the Imola Circuit in conjunction with the Dutch Grand Prix. At Imola there will be maxi screens available also in the Paddock area to follow all the phases of the 15th round of the F1 World Championship in the best way possible, experiencing a weekend of international Motorsport amongst incredible historic F1, GP2, F300, F3 and F.Italia racing cars, GT cars, prototypes, Hyper cars, and also much more.t. Therefore the victory was awarded to Lewis Hamilton, with Oscar Piastri 2nd and Charles Leclerc 3rd completing the podium.

[UPDATE] All this before the disqualification given to George Russell. At the end of the GP, his car was found to be underweight. Therefore the victory was awarded to Lewis Hamilton, with Oscar Piastri 2nd and Charles Leclerc 3rd completing the podium.

Gian Carlo Minardi

 F1 | GP BELGIUM, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN MUST HELP THE TEAM, NOT ATTACK IT”

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From Hungary we quickly pass to Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps. A circuit absolutely the opposite compared to the Hungaroring. It is very fast and long with its 7,004 metres and just as demanding for the cars and the drivers. The unknown factor of the weather is not to be underestimated. On the Friday and the Saturday, the chance of rain is around 50%, lowering to 20% for the Sunday.

We come quickly to this round after the episodes that marked in a particular way the final part of the race in Budapest. Now Verstappen should be trying to lead the team, rather than attacking it badly with inappropriate team-radio and acts on the track certainly unworthy of a three times world champion. He is the tip of the iceberg. After years of unchallenged domination, he must help the team, as he has already done in the past, and as he certainly knows how to do.

In my opinion, today Red Bull and Verstappen are still the point of reference, even if behind them is a McLaren in great shape that is proving to be competitive in many different conditions. With last weekend’s one-two, it overtook Ferrari in second place on the constructors’ ladder and is trying to put its sights on the leadership that is running with only one driver.

With the Hards Ferrari had been the fastest car with Leclerc, before switching to the mediums.  It remains to be seen if they will be able to repeat the performance as Pirelli has brought the C2-C3-C4.

In the meantime, came the news of Mattia Binotto joining Audi’s programme. An operation that could be very attractive for some technicians now working at Maranello. 2026 is approaching quickly and all the teams are committed to reinforcing their departments, especially on the engine front. In September, Vasseur will announce the new organizational chart.

And talking about the engines, Alpine could be leaning towards the Mercedes engines. If this is the case, it could be a sign of a sales negotiation.  It would be strange to think that a team linked to Renault using a Power-Unit of a competitor, but at the present time it is hard to interpret these rumours.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP HUNGARY,THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “VERSTAPPEN SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUNISHED. A DANGEROUS MANOEUVRE AND SHAMEFUL TEAM-RADIO. MCLAREN IS TO BE APPLAUDED”

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The Hungarian weekend and grand prix were certainly interesting, and it was entertaining right from the start. At the start Piastri-Norris-Verstappen got to the first bend side-by-side, with the Australian taking the lead of the race by overtaking his teammate and poleman Norris. Verstappen having gone long, ceded the position he gained to the British driver-to avoid a possible punishment – and McLaren returned to the top two positions.

With a “questionable” undercut, but at the time, he was protecting the team from any attacks by Red Bull and Mercedes. Norris overtook his teammate and leader.  From that moment on there were severable discussions between the teams and drivers, but in my opinion the correct decision was made. Norris returned the lead to his teammate who went onto his first career win in F1. McLaren is mainly fighting for the constructors’ rather than the drivers’ title. We are talking about a team growing strongly that at this time has the best chassis in this configuration, as shown by the results in free practice, qualifying and the race, together with the best engine – Mercedes – of the lot.

We are seeing a marked change in the forces on the field compared to the start of the season with Red Bull encountering a few too many difficulties.  If, on the one hand, one driver is missing, Perez, on the other hand, there is a highly nervous Verstappen who made a very dangerous manoeuvre that deserved an exemplary punishment. Compared to Hamilton (who took his 200th podium) he committed an infraction that is not worthy of a three-times world champion (and not even the first this year).

It is especially shameful to hear that team-radio against his own team that, in the last three seasons, delivered an unbeatable car into his hands. Instead, today he must put his own spin into it. He has an important lead – he has a 76-point lead over Norris – which he must preserve on the track. He cannot and must not allow himself to swear in that way.

A positive fourth position, 19 seconds behind, for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz sixth behind Verstappen. It is a result to be read in a positive light, even if their performance is quite inexplicable. From lap 29 to lap 36 the driver from Monte Carlo was one of the fastest on the track. At that time, he had the hard compounds. Let us hope that Maranello will be able to identify the problems encountered.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JULY 21: Race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and PREMA Racing (4) celebrates on the podium during the Round 9 Budapest Feature race of the Formula 2 Championship at Hungaroring on July 21, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)

The Sunday started with the wonderful win by Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Formula 2, the second of the season that launched the Prima driver into sixth place on the ladder, on his debut in the championship.

I await with trepidation the Spa-Francorchamps weekend in a week’s time.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP HUNGARY, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “MERCEDES HAS MADE THE MOST OF THE DEVELOPMENTS”

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Gianmaria Bruni (ITA) Minardi PS04B.
Formula One World Championship, Rd13, Hungarian Grand Prix, Practice Day, Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary, 13 August 2004.
DIGITAL IMAGE

Formula 1 has arrived in Hungary for the turning point of the world championship. This weekend will see the start of the second half of the season which promises to be very hot with an open battle between three teams. Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes.

is a track with a very high downforce, and it is the second shortest track of the world championship after Monte Carlo. Amongst other things, the track is not used much during the year. This is precisely why it will not be easy to choose the tyres, and the performances will change positively from session to session. The track is not very severe for tyre wear. In fact, Pirelli has brought the softest compounds, C3-C4-C5.

In the latest grands prix, the updates introduced by Ferrari did not pay off, unlike Mercedes – which personally is optimizing the developments in the best way possible – and McLaren which has always been at ease on tracks with high downforce. On the Constructors’ ladder, Ferrari has only a 7-point lead over McLaren and 83 over Mercedes, the winner of the last 2 GPs. It remains to be seen whether it will be able to defend itself

Verstappen and Red Bull certainly remain the point of reference and everyone will race to defeat them, which has already happened this year.

An important rival, above all for reliability, will be the high temperatures. Entering the second half of the season possible penalties for changing Power Units and the components will also have to be taken into account. Before the summer break they will go to Spa-Francorchamps (26-28 July), a track that is very tough on the engines, followed by Holland (23-25 August) and Monza (30 August – 1 September), another selective track. And let us not forget the Historic Minardi Day at Imola on the 24th and 25th August

The last few days have also been characterized by the drivers’ market. In particular, Haas has rejuvenated its line-up, betting on the experience of Ocon (born in 1996) and on Oliver Bearman (2005), as well as having extended the collaboration with Ferrari until 2028 for the supply of the Power Units. The team wanted to give an important signal of peace of mind and continuity.

Carlos Sainz remains the needle of the scales of the latest movements, who interests, in particular, Williams, Alpine and Audi. At Monza we will probably have further details.

Gian Carlo Minardi