F1 | GIAN CARLO MINARDI “THE SPRINT IS A LESSER COPY OF THE GP. IN MEXICO I EXPECT A MORE SPORTING PUBLIC”

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While Formula 1 is ready for the stop in Mexico City for the nineteenth round of the world championship, the Circus is wondering about the future of the Sprint race. Created in 2021 to increase the spectacle, particularly in the programme for Saturday, up to now the mini-GP of 100km has failed to meet expectations.

As often happens on these occasions, they seek alternative solutions aimed at improving the show. Among the ideas there would be the use of an inverted starting grid, the creation of a championship apart with points and a dedicated prize pool as an “incentive” for the drivers. We wanted to ask Gian Carlo Minardi what he thinks about it.

“The sprint-race was created with the intention of increasing the show. Today this expectation has been strongly unsatisfying. At this moment the format does not help. It is only a lesser copy of the Grand Prix, without adding anything more as we saw in the last two rounds in Qatar and Austin,” commented Minardi.

The sixth and last sprint-race of 2023 will take place at the Brazilian Grand Prix. “There also needs to be a constant weekend programme, without having to go crazy remembering the format for the single grand prix.

“Furthermore, the sprint creates another problem. Only one hour of free practice for setting up the cars is too little, especially when thousands of a second make the difference from one qualifying session to another.

“When a driver lowers his visor the only goal is the win. I do not believe that there is any driver who saves himself with a view to the Sunday race. For this reason, I do not see the need to having to add a separate prize pool, or dedicating a ranking to it,” continued the manager from Faenza.

“Perhaps they can increase the points up for grabs, but at the moment I do not have the recipe. We are faced with an incredible domination on the part of Red Bull which will be hard for the rivals to end. Let us not forget that the history of Formula 1 is full of winning cycles. It is part of this sport. And you certainly will not stop it by creating a separate championship or putting mind blowing figures up for grabs.

“Now we get to the Mexican Grand Prix, I do not think there are any doubts on the leadership, but all the interest will be directed behind Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

“In front of his public, Sergio Perez must find the proper peace of mind. I was left very annoyed with the booing aimed at Verstappen by the American public. I hoped that fanaticism was part of other sports. I hope that they will be more gentlemanly in Mexico.

“In Austin, McLaren completed its comeback at Aston Martin’s expense, while Ferrari took its gap from Mercedes to 22 points (aided by Lewis Hamilton’s disqualification).

“The challenge will be between these four teams, each one with its own objective to achieve. We will wait and see who will be the most skilled. It will also be interesting to follow Alpha Tauri which comes from a very favourable GP in Austin,” concluded Gian Carlo Minardi.

F1 | GP AUSTIN, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “PEREZ’S RESULTS DO NOT REFLECT HIS WORTH”

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The Formula 1 world championship has arrived at the Austin Circuit in the Americas, the home of the United States Grand Prix, the 19th and fifth last round of the season.

For the first time in its history, it will also host the sprint-race (scheduled for Saturday at midnight, Italian time, editor’s note, the GP will start at 9.00pm Sunday), which will be preceded by only one hour of free practice and the Shootout qualifying.

Pirelli, which has available to the teams the C2-C3 and C4 compounds, has drawn the attention to the asphalt detached from the track which could cause problems of anomalous overheating of the tyres. One more variable to be considered in the strategies.

With the drivers’ and the constructors’ titles in the hands of Max Verstappen and Red Bull respectively, all the attention is focussed on the duels between Mercedes-Ferrari and Aston Martin-McLaren. Amongst the four the team from Woking is the one passing through the best moment and is only twenty-one points from fourth place. An objective that is not so hard to reach also considering that Aston Martin is fighting with only one driver, Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari will not bring anything new, having decided to block the development t of the SF-23. The direct challenge with Hamilton and Russell must be based solely on the strategies and the correct set up of the car.

In recent days the rumours about the future of Sergio Perez have taken the stage. Currently the Mexican is not experiencing one of his best moments, but the results on the track do not represent his true potential.

He must find his peace of mind and the statements by Helmut Marko have certainly not helped him in this sense. At the moment second place in the world championship does not seem to be at risk, but he will have to be careful not to make mistakes. From here to Abu Dhabi there are still many points at stake and Lewis Hamilton is only 30 points away. Losing second place would be the equivalent of a debacle.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP QATAR, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “IN THE ’90S THE TEAMS WERE WELL OVER THE CURRENT TEN”

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In the last few days, the International Federation sanctioned with a press release the acceptance of Andretti Formula Racing as the eleventh Formula 1 team. I find this decision absolutely correct, especially when a team respects all the many and severe prerequisites required.

Let us not forget that the current Formula 1 regulations allow for up to twenty-four drivers on the track, in other words, twelve teams.

I find it hard to understand all this obstruction by Liberty Media and the current teams. Nowhere is it written that those who are already an active part of the world championship must necessarily receive the bonusses. They are conquered on the track.

Let us not forget that in the ‘90s the teams enrolled were well over the current ten or eleven. To get into the top ten of the constructors’ ladder you must fight and invest. The Minardi Team always earned access to the TV rights on the track. When we entered the world championship back in 1985, we fought to earn the right to stay in Formula 1.

Amongst other things, the entry of Andretti will guarantee two more seats. I see only positive aspects from this whole operation, including a growth in the duels on the track to earn precious points.

We are also at the threshold of the GP in Qatar, the seventeenth round. We are in a hot phase of the season which will determine the vice-champion. Red Bull has already taken the constructors’ title and Max Verstappen is one step away (3 points to go) from his third drivers’ title. There is still however a hard-fought battle behind them between Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren.

At this moment Aston Martin is the one suffering the most, also because it can count on only one driver. Fernando Alonso is defending tooth and nail the points won in the first part of the season, but he could use the support of the second driver.

All the teams, with the sole exception of Williams, have confirmed all the drivers, 2024 will therefore be a good test bench for everyone which could open up a few changes.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | ITALIAN GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “UP TO NOW THERE HAS BEEN A LACK OF CONTINUITY BEHIND VERSTAPPEN”

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Formula 1 left Holland to come to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, the fifteenth round (fourteenth after the cancellation of Imola) of the World Championship, the last round in Europe.

It is a very fast track where the aerodynamic load is decidedly less important with the tyres highly stressed.

Stability in braking and traction while coming out of the two chicanes, such as the Parabolica now named after Michele Alboreto, and the Grande, are the factors that put the tyres to the hardest test on this track, even if the lateral loads felt in the fast bends must not be underestimated. Pirelli has opted for the three softest compounds, PZero White Hard C3, PZero Yellow Medium C4 and PZero Red Soft C5.

Last year the first ten cars adopted eight different strategies, for this reason we can expect anything. One exception, the competitiveness of Max Verstappen who is charging towards the tenth win of the season, which would mean the new absolute record for the highest category.

After Hungary, Monza will be the setting of the new test of the new qualifying format “Alternative Tyre Allocation” in which the drivers will have the compulsory compound for each session: the hard in Q1, the medium in Q2 and the soft in Q3. I think it proper to make these experiments considering the possible changes for the future which have already given us an excellent show in Hungary. It will be interesting to see it in action on a circuit with decidedly different characteristics.

If in Zandvoor we saw Fernando Alonso with the Aston Martin once again on the podium behind the leader of the world championship it will be interesting to see what happens in Monza. Up to now, there has been no continuity behind Max Verstappen. We have seen a good alternation between Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari. Ferrari must try to recover after the uncompetitive Dutch weekend, saved in part only by Sainz’s fifth place.

Too little.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GIAN CARLO MINARDI “I AM WAITING FOR YOU IN IMOLA AT THE HISTORIC MINARDI DAY FOR TWO DAYS OF PASSION” MAXISCREEN IN THE PADDOCK TO FOLLOW THE GP

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Imola -MINARDI DAY SABATO MATTINA MINARDI GIANCARLO

We have entering into an intense weekend full of events: at Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari International Circuit there will be the 7th edition of the Historic Minardi Day which, between the track and the paddock, will see more than 400 cars of which more than 20 are historic Formula 1 cars and in Holland the 13th round of the F1 World Championship will take place.

And this year too there will be a maxi screen inside the Imola Paddock to follow the Zandvoort weekend (qualifying and race) to experience it within the Minardi Day.

On the F1 front we are about to enter the second part of the season after a three-week break. It will be interesting to see what new developments the teams will bring onto the track to try and counter Red Bull’s domination, even if I believe it is practically impossible.

Very interesting on the other hand, is the challenge for second, third and fourth places in the constructors’ championship which currently sees Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari fighting it out.

This period of the year was historically characterized by the announcements by the drivers, but this year all the attention is turned towards the signing up of technicians and engineers which the teams are trying to take away from their direct rivals.

If Binotto should effectively go to Alpine, I am sure that many technicians currently in Ferrari will follow him. And they will not be second rate technicians or new additions.

F1 is coming to a particular circuit characterized by 14 bends and a straight of just over four kilometres with a narrow track. Pirelli has brought the hardest compounds (C1-C2-C3). In the race space should be given to the C1s and C2s.

They will go back to the traditional format of qualifying, while in Monza the compound imposed for each session will be imposed once again.

I look forward to seeing many of you at Imola to experience two intense days under the banner of Motorsport.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP BELGIUM, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “GREAT UNKNOWNS BEHIND VERSTAPPEN”

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If, on the one hand, we have a Red Bull that is absolutely beyond the limits of which we will (probably) never know (as shown by the fastest lap set in Budapest), there are great variations behind Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman is certainly making the difference. Without him we would be watching a championship with five/six different winners. For this reason, in view of Spa-Francorchamps the real question is: Which will be the second force?

Since the first grands prix we have seen radical changes from second to sixth place, due to the management of the tyres, weather conditions and, obviously, the developments of the car. It is not an easy to predict the name of the second place, above all in view of a long and demanding circuit such as Spa.

Today we have McLaren as the second force. At the start of the season, it was Aston Martin, then overtaken by Mercedes, with the introduction of the B version. Who is missing from the roll call is Ferrari. Let us see if they will be able to patch things up. They are passing through a moment of discomfort, as we can see from the strained faces. It will not be easy to recover.

Among the things we are seeing is an exciting competitiveness in qualifying, with the drivers enclosed within a handful of tenths of a second. A situation that changes drastically in the race.

It will be interesting to follow Sergio Perez as well, after his third place in Budapest. The Red Bull driver came from the last five unexciting rounds.

To try and avoid the rain, this year the round in Belgium has been brought forward, even if the forecasts talk about temperatures of 17-19°C with the possibility of showers. All this reminds me of an anecdote:

On 2 June 1985 the Belgian Grand Prix should have been run precisely in Spa-Francorchamps (it was the first year in the world championship for us), but the race was suspended because the asphalt crumbled as the cars passed, making it all very dangerous. A situation created by both the high heat and the newly laid street surface. The GP was later recovered with Piero Martini finishing in twelfth place with the M185.

It will be interesting to see what will happen on Sunday, and also Saturday afternoon with the sprint race on such a long (the longest of the championship) and demanding track.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | HUNGARIAN GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “WILL THE PERFORMANCES IN SILVERSTONE BE CONFIRMED?”

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We have come to Hungary, the eleventh round of this world championship which, apart from the (practically) unchallenged domination of Max Verstappen (with 8 wins) and Red Bull (10 wins), has given us a number of upheavals of the forces in the field.

If at Silverstone we saw a competitive McLaren which allowed Lando Norris to take second place and his first podium of the season (with Piastri fourth), in Austria the podium went to Ferrari with Leclerc who then slumped in England. Even earlier Mercedes had leapt over a good Aston Martin, being able to finish on the podium five times with Fernando Alonso in the first 8 grands prix, presenting itself as the second force of the world championship. The position currently occupied by Mercedes. Instead, Monte Carlo gave us Alpine’s exploit with Esteban Ocon’s third place.

It will be interesting to see if, on the slow Budapest track, traditionally characterized by high air and track temperatures, these forces will be confirmed or if we will once again see a change, even in preparation for the second part of the season. If the drivers’ ladder is defined with Verstappen launched towards his third title, on the constructors’ side there is great uncertainty behind RB.

Exactly the uneasy situation of Alpha Tauri (currently in last place with only two points) led to the dubious change of steering wheels between de Vries and Ricciardo.

The Hungaroring will be the setting for new qualifying, with the drivers to the various sessions with compulsory compounds (Q1 Hard, Q2 Medium, Q3 Soft). It will be interesting following it in light of the near future.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | BRITISH GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “SAINZ AND LECLERC MUST BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT. I’LL EXPLAIN WHY.”

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Having said goodbye to Austria Formula 1 has already arrived in Silverstone, England. With some exceptions, historically it is a track for the English teams and here it will not be easy to annoy Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

But it will be a good testing ground for Ferrari after the positive result achieved last week, to verify if there will again be a further step forward. Certainly, the weather conditions could play an important role since the SF-23 was in trouble in low temperatures.

At this moment Ferrari must aim at recovering the gap from Aston Martin and Mercedes to try to take second place in the constructors’ ladder. I do not see any other goals.

The drivers themselves must work together in this direction. In the ladder Carlos Sainz is ahead of Charles Leclerc but both cannot aspire to any trophy. For this reason, they should be free to fight it out on the track, having as sole objective the most points for the team.

Mercedes and Aston Martin seemed in difficulty in Austria. Silverstone will be a testing ground for them as well, to verify if that was only an isolated episode. The situation for McLaren is different. With the introduction of the new car Lando Norris took fourth place. This weekend Piastri will also be able to count on the updated car. It will be interesting to follow their work.

Yesterday (Wednesday) the 2024 calendar was made public, made up of 24 grands prix, starting on March 2 and closing on December 8. Running on Saturday will be nothing new for Formula 1. In fact, the 1985 South African grand prix was already run on Saturday. Next year Italy will again be able to count on Imola and Monza. We will get to work immediately to recover what it was not possible to do this year due to the flood.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP SPAIN, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FERRARI CANNOT BE THE ONE WE SAW IN MONTE CARLO”

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Not even the time to absorb what happened in Monte Carlo and is it already time to “dive into” the next round. This weekend the Formula 1 world championship will be in Montmelò in Spain.

It will certainly be interesting to evaluate, on the one hand, the major innovations announced by Ferrari and, on the other hand, verify the potential of the “new” Mercedes after the updates introduced in Monte Carlo. With the arrival in Barcelona, we will be able to have the first test of the team situation, without prejudice to the absolute domination of Red Bull.

I want to hope that what we saw a week ago in Monte Carlo does not represent the real face of Ferrari which must absolutely give a turn to its season around, as well as finding once again that peace of mind necessary to face difficulties. Lately I have seen too many drawn faces. They need to smile again and enjoy themselves. The results will come accordingly. I believe that, for the first time in his career, Fernando Alonso is also enjoying himself.

I welcomed with pleasure the news of new grafts. Having finished the period of gardening they can get to work with a view to 2024. Ferrari must inevitably reinforce its team and insert new life to start halving and then eliminating the gap from Red Bull. The road is long, but you have to start somewhere.

Monte Carlo gave us a growing Mercedes, just like Alpine (with the first point of the season) and McLaren which placed both drivers in the top ten. Monte Carlo is certainly an anomalous track, and I had the impression that, especially in McLaren, they had wagered a lot on the setup for rain.

Starting from Friday it will be interesting follow the “third tier” teams with McLaren, Alpha Tauri and Alpine. This winter Montmelò did not host the pre-season tests and therefore we can only make a comparison with 2022. In terms of the front-rank positions, I certainly do not expect an upheaval (except for disasters) with Verstappen and Perez dominating. I was amazed by the strong criticism levelled at the Mexican driver by the team. He certainly made a rookie’s mistake in qualifying but, in any case, he still won two grands prix this season.

I await free practice 1 and 2 which will inaugurate the seventh round with great trepidation, with the hope of being able to see an electrifying qualifying like a week ago and an exciting grand prix.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | MONTE CARLO GP, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR LECLERC AND ALONSO. IF YOU CAN DONATE FOR THE EMILIA ROMAGNA REGION”

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I look forward to the Monte Carlo weekend with pleasure to find a bit of normality after the events that strongly affected the territories of the Emilia-Romagna Region. A week after the disaster, the emergency is unfortunately not over yet and we at the Imola Circuit are trying to re-establish a touch of normality, as well as having given our contribution to the population by making the square available to house the water pumps coming from France, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Pumps which are already in operation with the capacity to extract thousands of litres of water every hour.

Amongst other things, the Local Council of Faenza, like the regional government, has decided to set up a fund raiser to support the people and the communities affected, thanks to the generosity of those who want to take part in this initiative.

On the ticket front, I also put my trust in the passion and the strength of our supporters who could reconfirm for the 2024 event. An effort by each one of them would be transformed into a big assist for the motor sport community.

In any case, the world must carry on and we have come to the weekend of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship after the cancellation of Imola. There is surely a lot of expectation both because Mercedes has brought many new developments (see suspensions and new barge boards) and for the ban on using the tyre warmers with the full wet tyres. This very experiment would have begun from Imola.

Unlike Toto Wolff’s men, Ferrari ‘s people decided to wager mainly on reliability, delaying the introduction of the new developments to Spain. We are faced with an anomalous GP in which qualifying traditionally plays a priority role. Up to now qualifying has not been a weak point for the “reds” and it could take advantage of this occasion.

The same also applies to Fernando Alonso. If he is supported adequately by the car the GP will be favourable for him. I heard the news of the Aston Martin – Honda agreement with pleasure. This is synonymous with continuity and growth. Those who enter (or come back to) the Circus to compare themselves with others is always welcome. This agreement can transform itself into a further technical leap for Aston Martin, a team in strong growth as it demonstrated in this first part of the season. Alonso-Honda? The agreement is for 2026 but, as much as I wish the best for “Nado”, it will be hard for me to see him still in the Circus for that date.

The race on the streets of Monte Carlo has been anticipated by the latest Hamilton – Ferrari “rumour”. The seven times world champion has been cornered with a downward economic agreement. I honestly think this is hard and I believe it is all talk. At the present time Ferrari has major difficulties on the car front and it would make no sense to lose a fast driver like Leclerc (even if not absent from mistakes) in favour of a driver, even if a 7 times world champion, of a certain age who at this moment has the wages of Russell. On the other hand, I do not see why Leclerc would move to Mercedes, even if with some problems to resolve, and alongside the British driver.

I would leave everything as it is and concentrate the efforts on the car.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | IMOLA, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “FORMULA IMOLA’S TEAM WAS IMPECCABLE”

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As we know, due to the continuation of the weather emergency and the flood that hit the Emilia-Romagna region the “Qatar Airways: Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix” scheduled for May 19-21 was cancelled.

“Albeit with a heavy heart, it was an absolutely correct decision in full respect to the tragedy which struck all the population of the Emilia-Romagna region with repercussions also on the Marche region,” was the analysis of Gian Carlo Minardi when we contacted him by telephone while he was at Imola’s Circuit waiting for the meeting to verify the damages suffered.

“Excellent work had been done over the last seven months and the Formula Imola team, to which I extend public congratulations, was impeccable. Even the evacuation plan drawn up in the previous months worked perfectly despite an apocalyptic scenario that was not conceivable..

“On Thursday morning the paddock had already been cleaned and secured. Unfortunately, the situation surrounding the Circuit was, and still is, disastrous, completely under water and mud. All the security forces-doctors, paramedics, firemen and carabinieri- are involved 100% in rescuing people and it was unthinkable to take this human capital away to dedicate them to the Grand Prix.

“Today (Friday 19 May) we will start to count the damages that the Circuit suffered, even if they should luckily be very limited. As we have already announced yesterday, the mechanism for the refund of the tickets bought has already been activated via the TicketOne platform. As an alternative, people can convert tickets with tickets for the 2024 event,” continued the President of Formula Imola.

Given the current emergency in the region, the methods and times of refund will be announced with a subsequent notification which will be sent via email in the next few days by ACI Sport, a branch of the Automobile Club d’Italia, through the provider of the official ticket seller, TicketONe.it. Even Trenitalia through its portal has advised that it will be possible to request refund of the full ticket.

“Now we only have to roll up our sleeves and rebuild to start e programme for the future,” concluded Gian Carlo Minardi.

F1 | GP IMOLA, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “IMOLA READY TODAY 170,000 TICKETS SOLD” EVERYBODY CHASING AFTER VERSTAPPEN, WITH A SPECIAL EYE ON THE ROOKIES

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We are at the gates of the Qatar Airways Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix , the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship and the first round in Europe.
Up to now Red Bull has been the master: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have taken six doubles. Only Lewis Hamilton, at the Melbourne Grand Prix, managed to interrupt the streak by putting his Mercedes behind the reigning world champion and ahead of Fernando Alonso with Perez only fifth across the finish line.

One week before the GP we contacted Gian Carlo Minardi, President of Formula Imola, to understand what to expect at Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit: “Imola is not only the first round in Europe but it will also be the stage for the new system of qualifying which will see all the drivers race with the same compounds in the three sessions: Hard in Q1, Medium in Q2 and Soft in Q3. I don’t know exactly what to expect but it will be interesting to analyse this new development.

“On the race front Red Bull absolutely presents itself as the favourite but most of the teams – Mercedes and Ferrari first of all – will bring new innovations onto the track to try to reduce the gap and try to put some pressure on Verstappen and Perez. Also keep an eye out for Fernando Alonso, who comes from four podium finishes in five GPs

“In the circuit we are finalising the work to welcome the fans better. Compared to the last edition we have made many changes, starting with the new stands bringing the capacity to 89,000 places (compared to the 73,000 of 2022). We have already sold more than 170,000 tickets for the three days (30,000 more than 2022). There are still 10,00 tickets available for the Sunday and a few places for Friday which is traditionally the calmest day under this respect,” said Minardi, “We plan to grow even more also thanks to the opening of three on site sales points where it will be possible to buy tickets on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“We have also worked hard on the logistics front increasing the parking spaces. Furthermore, thanks to the agreement with Trenitalia it will be possible to reach Imola with the Frecciarossa, Intercity, Eurocity and regional trains and then walking the 1,200 metres through the historic city centre which separate the station from the circuit. There will be no shortage of entertainment off the track thanks to a rich Fan-zone which will be accessible with any kind of ticket.

The weekend’s intense programme will also see Formula 3, Formula 2 and the Porsche Cup on the track, “Also to be followed are the training championships which are part of FIA’s pyramid to reach F1. This is an opportunity to get to know and support the possible champions of the future. After the first two rounds in Formula 3 Gabriele Mini occupies fourth place and Leonardo Formaroli ninth place”.

In these weeks the news that Daniel Ricciardo is ready to replace Nyck de Vries after having his seat made at Alpha Tauri has been causing quite a stir. “Ricciardo is the third driver of both Red Bull and Alpha Tauri. Therefore, the seat had already been ready for some time. Unfortunately, Red Bull, and in particular Dr Helmut Marko, are known for pillorying young drivers even before giving them the opportunity to express their potential to the fullest.

“We are coming from a series of new circuits for the rookies. In Miami the drivers had only one session of free practice available before entering the heart of the weekend. I am certain that Nyck de Vries, just like Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri, hasn’t forgotten how to drive a car. With the arrival of Europe and on tracks that they know they will all have the chance to show their worth and the Imola round will be interesting from this point of view. For me Piastri is a pretender to becoming a major name in the next Formula 1,” concluded Minardi.

GIAN CARLO MINARDI CALLS ALL THE FANS TO IMOLA “WE’RE READY. A WONDERFUL WEEKEND AWAITS US”

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If, on the one hand the Azerbaijan GP gave us the usual unstoppable Red Bull which set the third double of the season (in the first four rounds), on the other hand Ferrari set its seal on the double pole position and on the two podiums with Charles Leclerc interrupting the positive streak of Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin (always on the podium since the start of the season).

“I was left positively impressed by the two times set by Leclerc in the final part of the GP with the fuel tank full and hard tyres. The driver from Monte Carlo lapped in the same times as Verstappen and Perez staying in the tussle for the fastest lap, together with Nando (which then went to George Russell after the pit-stop). It was exciting. A positive sign, above all connected to the wear of the tyres, one of the SF-23’s Achille’s heels,” commented the President of Formula Imola, Gian Carlo Minardi.

Leclerc crossed the finish line little more than 21 seconds from the winner Perez, paying a gap of 44 tenths of a second per lap. “A major step forward compared to the 7-8 tenths of a second at the start of the season. Ferrari managed to make the most of the month without races to make its car grow, also because now demanding tour-de-force awaits them with 5 GPs in six weeks”.

After Miami the world championship will come to Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit for the Qatar Airways Gran Prix of the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna from May 19 to 21. “At Imola I expect even smaller gaps. Ferrari and Aston Martin could start to interfere in Red Bull’s schedule. Amongst other things it will be the setting for a new form of qualifying: the drivers will face Q1 with the hard compound, Q2 with the medium and Q3 the soft. An unknown factor to keep us entertained and a major reason to support Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and all our favourites. I hope to see many fans also on the Friday and Saturday when there will also be support races”.

The President of Formula Imola called all the enthusiasts and fans together to experience the first European round with many new features, and an intense racing programme between Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3 e Porsche Supercup “If the teams have taken advantage of this month long gap to develop their racing cars, we have worked to make the Circuit as accessible and comfortable as possible. In order to satisfy the needs of the fans we have set up another six grandstands and other new developments will be announced soon. Furthermore, the weekend’s programme will be full of races, with many Italians already protagonists. Above all in Formula 3” Tickets are on sale on the Circuit’s website.