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The fourth round of the Italian Championship F.4 powered by Abarth – held at the Magione Circuit, in Umbria – is over: for Joao Vieira it has not been a very positive weekend. The 10 points scored, thanks to the fifth place in Race-1, are a less rewarding result comparing to the expectations for this race, for the 16-year-old Brazilian driver.

Race-2 has in fact been compromised by a mistake and by the contact at the first corner, which put an end to the race.

In Race-3 the driver of Antonelli Motorsport had to settle for a thirteenth place, for a mistake at the first corner too. Therefore, the loss of more than ten positions at the first corner has inevitably affected the final result.

“It has been a weekend in which I have not achieved much in terms of results and points and I regret that, but it has been very important in terms of the experience I have gained”, Joao Vieira comments.

“It was an intense weekend, concentrated in just two days of competition and characterized by some inexperience mistakes which affected all three races. I am sure that Joao will build on this experience and the summer break will be useful to recharge our batteries, giving us the strength to finish the season improving our performance, in a finale that promises to be intense”, the Manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

After the summer break, the second part of the season will start on the demanding track “Piero Taruffi” in Vallelunga, on the weekend of September 13^th and 14^th, 2014.

We saw another dazzling GP with many variables and masterfully conducted by extremely deserving pilots; therefore, grading these protagonists is going to be pretty easy.

Ricciardo – 10 For the aggressive race’s behavior and the overtakings on Alonso and Hamilton, made three laps from the end.

Alonso – 10 Perfect race, always on the attack, as if every lap will be Qualifying. He was very smart, taking advantage of the Soft tyres for 31 laps; without a sensational Ricciardo, he would have certainly won this GP

Hamilton – 9 He recovered from the bottom of the starting row and, with an offensive race, he conquered an important podium for the Championship

Rosberg – 8 After an extraordinary Qualifying during the race, he didn’t emerged as in other occasions, but strategy didn’t certainly helped him. Perhaps, if he had changed the Soft tyres two laps before, he could get another result.

Vergne – 8 He struggled in second position, especially in the early laps, and he finally took points to Toro Rosso

Raikkonen – 7 Perhaps, he did the best race of 2014, hoping for gaining some serious points for the Constructors’ Championship

Mass and Bottas – 7 They could not do better, even if they had cars with high-performances, thanks to the stategies’ choices of William – in my opinion, a bit weird

Button – 6 He brought home a point with a car which was in a difficult situation, with a very questionable strategy too

Bianchi – 6 A mark of encouragement, according to the Qualifying in Q1, when he eliminated Raikkonen with a perfect lap

Vettel – 5 Bad start, nervousness and a mistake that could cost him a lot. After a good Qualifying like an ex World Champion, he suffered Ricciardo during the race

Formula 1 is ready to be back on track, entering into the second half of the season. There are still nine events, one of which Hungary, that is before the long-awaited summer-break during which the teams will be able to recharge their batteries, after a really intense start of the season.

We arrive on a particular circuit, not really different from a Go-Kart track and just 4 kilometers long, where overtaking is very difficult. Therefore, it will be difficult to see again what happened in England and Germany, with amazing overtakings and battles. We are speaking, however, of a track in which it is dangerous to get out of the trajectories and the tyres, given the hot weather, could play an important role. For the occasion, Pirelli will bring the Soft Yellow and White Medium compounds, that have similar performances, with which the teams will play on two stops.

I expect the usual family duel between Mercedes drivers, Nico and Lewis, with Williams ready to consolidate the second place, especially if bad luck will finally abandon Felipe Massa. The track takes some time to rubber-in and placements will be unclear on Friday, since they’re going to improve steadily until Saturday afternoon. Due to the circuit’s layout, Qualifying will play an important role, as starting from the front rows means staying away from any possible contact, mainly in the first two corners.

At the moment, the forces in play seem consolidated with Mercedes, Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari. Then, depending on the track, there can be outsiders in the top ten, such as Force India and Toro Rosso. Maranello will have to slog and Raikkonen will have to pull out the nails to get into the score-zone and help the team.

In 2003, the Minardi F1 Team celebrated, together with some of its pilots, its first 300 races in Formula 1.

In our official FaceBook page you can find a Gallery with pictures of our GPs of Hungary.

With the memory of the podium at Mugello very much alive, Joao Vieira is ready to return to the wheel of his Tatuus #28 for two days of tests on the tracks of Vallelunga (Tuesday, July 22^nd) and Magione (Wednesday, July 23^rd).

For the 16-year-old Brazilian driver of Antonelli Motorsport, it will be the first time both at the “Piero Taruffi” and “Autodromo dell’Umbria” Circuits, that will be the theatre of the next two (out of seven) appointments of the Italian F.4 Championship powered by Abarth, now entering into the “hot” part of the season.

Joao is ready for the second part of the season, continuing the hard work at the Driver Program Center of Forlì and galvanized by the important result achieved in Tuscany, crowned by the podium finish in Race-3 that launched him in the Top Eight of the overall standings, with the same points of his team-mate and friend Matteo Cairoli.

“Thanks to these days of tests I will have the chance to discover the next two circuits of race, Vallelunga and Magione. For me, every track is a discovery and challenge. Thanks to the simulator of the Driver Program Center, I had the chance to try the layout of the ‘Piero Taruffi’ and the first impressions are really good, similarly to what happened with Mugello. It would be great to repeat the result, with another podium. At each session, I take more and more confidence with the car and this helps me to get closer to the limit”, the pilot of Minardi Management says.

“After the good work at Mugello, it’s now time to get to know two other circuits in the Championship calendar. For Joao, these will be two days of apprenticeship ahead of the weekend of race, since he doesn’t know the tracks. I hope he will like them as much as Mugello, as the results have demonstrated”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

The selective circuit of Mugello (Tuscany, Italy) has highlighted all the technical qualities of Joao Vieira who, at the third round of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth, won his first podium.

The third place is the icing on the cake of a good weekend which has blown away the disappointment of fifteen days ago at Imola, scoring an excellent hat-trick with three finishes in the points-zone in as many races, for a total of 32 points.

After conquering the third row in the two rounds of Qualifying on Saturday morning, respectively with the fifth and sixth fastest time, the 16-year-old Brazilian driver from Gurupi scored points in the first two races, thanks to an excellent fifth place in Race-1 and a seventh place in the sprint race. The greatest satisfaction came right at the last race with an attacking attitude, that from the fourteenth position led him to conquer the third step of the podium (which means also the first podium of the season). “I’m really happy both for the first podium and for the weekend. Since the first times on the track, in the tests of the past weeks, I’ve liked it very much, because it’s very fast and technical. Therefore very suitable to my style of driving. I must also thank all the staff of Antonelli Motorsport – they are really very good – as well as the trainers of the Driver Program Center. This podium has to be just the beginning”, Joao Vieira comments.

“I’m really satisfied. During the test, I was immediately impressed and this podium is the confirmation of the good technical and speed qualities of Joao. The Mugello is a challenging track and he was very good at not making any mistakes. In Race-3, despite a non-perfect start, he recovered several positions until he conquered of the podium. A result that boosts the morale for the second half of the season”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.

Thanks to these precious results, Joao incredibly improves his position in the overall ranking, entering fiercely into the Top-Eight with 33 points.

Formula 1 is back in the circuit that wrote the history of motorsport, on a track with a “choreography” and a sports culture that is difficult to find elsewhere. We arrive at Silverstone at a particular time of the season, with an exciting duel going on between Nico and Lewis at Mercedes’.

Rosberg will try to defend himself from a good driver that has always been strong and that can count on the support of his home crowd. We expect again a direct fight, important in the view of the World Championship, with very fast actors, such as Williams and the other cars pushed by the German PU, which will certainly not stand and watch. On the other hand, it’s a difficult moment for Ferrari and Renault, which is experiencing hard days, as we can read also in the various specialized weekly magazines. As we already mentioned in the recent weeks, problems and discussions are on the agenda and something might happen.

The extra variable can be represented, as often happens, by the weather that has historically influenced the final result. On the front of tyres, Pirelli leaves momentarily aside the Soft and Supersoft, relying on Medium and Hard that could change the values hitherto expressed. There might be a return of McLaren, which has always been at ease with Hard. In the last races they have shown signs of awakening with Magnussen, while Button is “entered in the viewfinder” and could be “sacrificed” in view of 2015.

It promises to be a hot summer on the front of riders. At Red Bull’s we have a Sebastian Vettel ready to be dumped, also because of the many young drivers who push to have a chance, such as Kvyat and Sainz J. For a company that lives on marketing, the passing of the baton it’s understandable. Vettel has given all he could give, making his team walking on clouds. We might expect movements at Mercedes’ too, where Hamilton is not happy with his situation. Moreover, we must not forget that Toto Wolf is a shareholder of Williams and manager of Bottas. Therefore, I would not wonder about a possible pair Bottas-Rosberg. The Finnish driver is proving good speed and technical characteristics. As said at McLaren’s, Honda wants a top driver alongside Magnussen. Therefore Button-Vettel-Hamilton-Bottas could really “fire” the market. We expect several “games” between motor homes.

For the Minardi Team, Silverstone is an historical circuit that evokes wonderful memories such as the 5th and 6th are scored by Martini-Sala. Thanks to that fantastic result, we were able to re-enter into the Constructors’ top ten. In those years, being in the top-six was like entering today among the top three of the ranking. An unforgettable result in the history and life of Minardi.

In a few days we’ll be in England, on the Silverstone track, which represents the history of this sport.