Archive for category: News

We are approaching only the third grand prix, to be held in China this weekend, yet between Australia and Bahrain the twists and moments of high tension were not lacking. Just look at the reliability problems with the gearbox suffered by the two Mercedes drivers, the mistakes by Red Bull, the finish at Sakir with only a 6 tenths of a second gap between Vettel and Bottas and passing through the wonderful surprise Toro Rosso.

We are in a period in which the teams are looking for their dimensions since the world championship began after only eight days of tests, conditioned by bad weather and rain. It was certainly not enough. The real forces at play have not yet emerged. We have had fluctuating performances between qualifying and the race, even though Ferrari scored two well deserved wins with Sebastian Vettel. Ferrari exploited 101% of the potential of its car and its driver who covered an impressive number of laps never done with the Softs.

However, analyzing the times Mercedes is still very fast, above all with the Medium mixes, and in China Pirelli will up put up the Softs and Ultra Softs. Therefore it will be interesting to see the behaviour and strategies that will be adopted on a track that traditionally favours Toto Wolff’s men.

Toro Rosso was very good at exploiting Red Bull’s debacle with Gasly, the protagonist of an exceptional weekend. His sequence of laps was impressive and this allowed him to safeguard the result from any charge by Magnussen and to grab an incredible fourth place. I hope that they can continue on this road and that the air of Motor Valley also does well for the Honda Power Unit.

The most interesting new developments compared to last season came from the second part of the grid with the TR surprise together with excellent performances from Haas and a good defence by Renault with McLaren which is now in third place on the championship ladder. The results of Force India’s after two seasons in fourth place and from Williams are decidedly below expectations.

These augur well to be able to witness again such interesting and adrenaline charged grands prix with a notable compaction of the grid. At Sakir qualifying gave us twenty cars within a gap of 3”.

Gian Carlo Minardi

A week after a solid performance on the Sarno track which was conditioned only by the penalty inflicted in the Final after the finish Andrea Kimi Antonelli came back to Naples’ International Circuit for the fourth and final round of the WSK Super Master Series.

It was not an easy weekend for Energy Corse’s young driver from Bologna who in any case closed the mini championship in third place overall in the 60 Mini category after filing away the final appointment in sixth place in the Final and fifth place in the Pre-Final.

“We’re sorry for how this Championship finished because in all the rounds Andrea showed that he deserved final victory. Despite an unfavourable weekend he continued to fight on the track without losing heart and we file away the WSK Super Master Series with third place in the ladder. Now we are concentrating on the Italian Championship,” commented managers Giovanni Minardi and Albert Tonti.

With the Melbourne Grand Prix the long F1 season will begin and it will be characterized by 21 rounds to which, in addition to the strategies tied to the Pirelli mixes (this year the range of colours has grown with the two new compounds), the SuperHard and the HyperSoft) we must add the unknown factor of the kilometres run with the power-units which will have to support a load of seven GPs per unit.

It will be a weekend full of questions which will be able to give us the first answers on the season. With its two drivers Ferrari set the best times at Barcelona by concentrating mainly on the Soft and SuperSoft mixes, unlike Mercedes which ran nearly all of its laps with the Mediums, except for some long runs with the SuperSoft.

The reigning Champions showed that they are extremely competitive from all points of view and it looks like there will be a three way battle with Ferrari and Red Bull, with the latter team very sly in the tests but may have a few more problems of reliability. A battle of nerves has also begun, as can be understood by Lewis Hamilton’s declaration that he wagers on the RB14 as the main rival as it can rely on the strong motivations of its two drivers with Max Verstappen on his third season, while Daniel Ricciardo is at the end of his contract.

It will be interesting to see the attitude of McLaren and Toro Rosso which this winter “swapped” engines. During the free tests TR certainly amazed us by completing a high number of laps, unlike the team from Woking which had some problems of reliability due to which we see few positive signs as was evident from the chassis that had no brands. All eyes will be pointed on the revelation of the last two seasons, Force India. After confirming its fourth place in the world championship it suffered some problems. Last year Ferrari won by taking advantage of some errors by Mercedes in the first races and then they “returned” the favour in the hottest months. In short, we have all the ingredients for experiencing an intense weekend of racing beginning on Friday.

Gian Carlo Minardi

The Bandini Trophy and the Minardi Day come together for a weekend of international Motorsport which will see the two prestigious events on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th May unite in a spectacular fashion, thanks to the collaboration of the heads of the two organizations: Francesco Asirelli – President of the Bandini Committee, now in the 25th edition of the annual awards in memory of the famous and much missed Ferrari driver who tragically lost his life in 1967 and Giancarlo Minardi who, together with Formula Imola, is preparing the 3rd year of Minardi Day.

The winner of the 2018 Bandini Trophy is the Finnish driver, Valtteri Bottas of the World Champion F1 Team “Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport who will collect his award on Saturday 5th May in Brisighella. Alongside Valtteri Bottas the Committee, which is made up of some of the most illustrious figures of the world of Motor Sport and Journalism, has assigned a special exclusive award to the President of ACI and Vice-President of the FIA, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, whose prestigious presence perfectly combines Italian Motor Sport with the International image of the weekend’s events with great emphasis on Motor Valley.

As well as the winners Aldo Costa – F1 World Champion designer and Riccardo Mosconi – Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer, will complete the formidable presence of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, which, for the delight of fans. will bring two F1 cars; the 2013 W04 and the 2016 W07.

On Saturday afternoon the W07, the world champion car of 2016, will be driven by Valtteri Bottas from the main square in Faenza to Brisighella, where he will receive the prestigious Award, one of the most coveted on the circuit.
Mercedes, the protagonist of the 2015 edition, with Team Principal Toto Wolff , the much celebrated and honoured winner in 2015, will be in the spotlight for the entire weekend first in the charming Medieval Romagnolo village of Brisighella and then at the Minardi Day at Imola with the 2013 W04 that will be driven by its designer Aldo Costa (formerly of the Mindardi Team). Valtteri Bottas will also stop at the pits to sign autorgraphs prior to going to Faenza.

It promises to be a breathtaking and intense weekend which will bring together the distinguished 25th edition of the Bandini Awards, and the 3rd annual Minardi Day – major events for true Motorsport fans.

The Bandini Trophy awards ceremony will come alive at 3,00pm on Saturday 5th May with an impressive parade of cars and breathtaking exhibits before the arrival of the F1 W07 car in Brisighella and will conclude at 6.00pm with the Closing Ceremony in the spectacular Amphitheatre of the spectacular medieval hamlet.

The final four days of tests at Barcelona have been filed away. Luckily, unlike the previous week, the weather was decidedly milder and this allowed the drivers to cover many more kilometres. The most important fact that hit the eye was the reliability achieved by the teams, with the exception of McLaren, and by the compactness of the group. It looks like being a season with some changes to the grid.

The most important surprise came from Toro Rosso which, leaving aside the timing, covered many kilometres showing that the combination of chassis-Honda motor works. Positive results also came from Renault. Hulkenberg and Sainz put together some interesting performances in preparation for a good leap up the ladder.

The pace of Hamilton and Bottas at the wheel of the Mercedes was impressive as they worked mainly on the Medium mixes. In only one day they ran more than 200 laps and covered the distance for nearly a whole season in the two sessions (4,841km).

According to the indications given by Pirelli we can have an indication of the potential of the cars, even though we still have the unknown factor of the fuel load. The supplier declared that there is a gap between the HyperSoft and the Medium mixes of 2.5” (Medium-Soft 0.8” –> Soft-SuperSoft 0.42” –> SuperSoft-UltraSoft 0.6” –> UltraSoft-HyperSoft 0.7”). On the basis of the 1’17”1 made by Vettel and Raikonnen’s 1’17”2 with the pink mixes. In this play of numbers we must also put Red Bull into strong consideration.

In two weeks time at Melbourne the teams will be forced to uncover their cards and the mosaic of the real differences will be revealed. It will be an intense and very tactical season not only on the tyres, but also on the management of the power units. Some could sacrifice places on the grid by paying the penalties for the use of a higher number of power-units compared to the three units required by the regulations.

We must make separate considerations for McLaren which, despite the mild temperatures, suffered some heating problems which led to the replacement of two power units. The time of 1’17”7 made by Fernando Alonso is a good time, but almost certainly came with a light fuel load and a new motor. There are few happy signals for Williams as well where, for the moment, the two young drivers are not giving the answers that the team expects with Sirotkin putting Stroll under pressure, even if Robert Kubica is showing the best performances of the three. Compared to the last two seasons Force India seems to lag behind, while Sauber has not shown the signs of revival that would have been expected after a disastrous season in 2017.

Gian Carlo Minardi

The tradition has been confirmed. Even this year the Montmelò track circuit will see the debut of the new racing cars that were presented over the last few days (with the exception of Force India). It will begin on Monday 26th with the first of two rounds of collective tests each of four days (from the 26th to March 1st and March 6th to 9th) before leaving for the first grand prix of the season in Australia on the Melbourne street circuit.

The teams and drivers will be called upon to carry out a lot of work whose main aim will be the collection of as much information as possible whether aerodynamic (comparing them with those of the wind tunnel and the simulator), as well as the behaviour of the new Pirelli mixes and testing the reliability of the power-units that have to resist the extra kilometres, equal to seven grands prix per unit (to avoid incurring penalties).

According to the weather forecasts the four days will be conditioned by rain and cold with temperatures between 2 and 6°C. If for the moment the fear of snow seems to have been averted, the work of the Formula 1 teams at Montmelò will be accompanied by a wet track on Tuesday and Wednesday while the forecast is for a sunny day for the final session with temperatures around 10°C.

In the Ferrari camp, Kimi Raikonnen will break the ice for the SF71-H leaving the wheel for Sebastian Vettel on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Finn going back on track on Wednesday. Whereas in Red Bull it will be once more Daniel Ricciardo’s turn to get into the car after the unlucky day of filming at Silverstone which ended with the car going off track. The Australian will be on the track again on Wednesday 28th while Max Verstappen will continue the work on Tuesday and Thursday.

Fernando Alonso will begin McLaren’s programme by taking out the MCL33 with the Renault engine for the first day of tests in Barcelona while Stoffel Vandoome will have to wait the following day to begin getting the measure of the new orange and blue car.

As we wait for Mercedes to officialise the work programme for its drivers, Williams has opted for a real relay with Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin (in his debut in F1) swapping places at the wheel of the FW41 by taking to the track for half a day each. In this rotation there will also be space for Robert Kubica who this year will be the test driver. As well as having given the car its first shakedown at Aragon, the Polish driver will take to the track at Barcelona on the afternoons of Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th.

Everyone will be looking at Force India, the true revelation of the last two seasons with successive fourth places. Despite not having yet fixed the date for its presentation, it has officialised the programme for its drivers at Barcelona. In the first four days of tests all the drivers under contract will be involved and the debut will be entrusted to Nikita Mazepin, while the regular drivers Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez will get into the action on the second and third days. Nicholas Latifi will close the programme.

In the course of the four days Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly will alternate at the wheel of the Honda powered STR13 and the New Zealander will get the ball rolling. The official presentation of the new car is set for tomorrow (Monday 26th) right in pit lane a few minutes before the start of the session, even though the team itself gave us a preview during the shakedown at Misano.

After having taken advantage of Thursday and the 100km allowed by the regulations for the filming day, Marcus Ericsson will take the wheel of the Alfa Romeo Sauber C37 for its official debut on Monday. The Swede will also be at the wheel on Wednesday 28th, while on Tuesday and Thursday the work will be carried out by Formula 2 champion and debutant Charles Leclerc. The team from Hinwil will work to try to cancel last year’s disappointing season which ended in last place. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen will swap places at the wheel of the Haas with the Frenchman called to get the ball rolling.

All eyes will also be on the Haas Renault R.S.18. After the publication of the images by the team, the Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul has already stated that what has been seen so far does not reflect the real forms of the new racing car, but only its new colour scheme. All we can do is wait for the first laps of the circuit.