Archive for category: News

One month ahead of the first Australian GP and after the first pre-season test at Jerez, we’re witnessing many changes of technicians and teams, who, concerned about the engine issues occurred during the first session, are taking their first measures for the 2015 season. These changes are very similar to the ones occurring in football, where, during the pre-season phase, it can happen that some football coaches are relieved and some teams have to resort to the football market to replace some vacancies.

Despite Renault, Red Bull and Toro Rosso are putting a lot of effort into injecting calm and tranquillity to the audience by issuing comforting press releases and giving reassuring interviews, the situation seems to be more complicated than expected and it’s not easy to solve it. It is rumoured that Red Bull are thinking about changing their engine supplier in 2015 and Toro Rosso changed their Technical Director for the sixth/seventh time in their history. As far as engine is concerned, according to some information coming from abroad, Renault is trying to hire technicians beyond the transalpine borders (without success). This has never happened before, as the French company has always tried to protect its technology. News like that fuel some doubts about possible engine structural issues, which seem to be not so easy to solve over the short term. Some manufacturers, who are currently not engaged in the F1 Championship, have a personal unit already made and are taking into account the possibility to join the top series, even if they’re having some troubles finding an important partner to go into partnership with, unless they are capable to exploit Renault’s current failure. Obviously I hope to be belied in few weeks, during the second pre-season test session in Bahrain, where teams and engine manufactures will bring their technical amendments.

This is a very messy moment for Formula 1.

These days we’re hearing more and more about the Salary Cap, whose amount was set to 200 million dollars. Currently, only three or four teams exceed this cap, whilst all other teams’ financial situation is so far from that figure and all the troubles they have to deal with are plain for all to see. Maybe these topics are discussed to divert people’s attention from Formula 1 real problems. As we pointed out in the past (and it’s now also confirmed by some eminent people acting in the top series), F.1 has to be revised in all its aspects. It’s not acceptable to see some F1 teams having three Team Principals instead of a single General Director; furthermore cars don’t have a single “reputed father” who handles the whole project. Currently, each team has a person in charge of mounting the engine, another one who is responsible for aerodynamics, a production manager, a person responsible for track management, an electronic area manager, etc…This way, it’s impossible to have a complete view of the project and, costs increase so much and resources are not well exploited, furthermore, the number of people employed exponentially increase. No doubt this decision is a consequence of a sector which is more and more developed from a technologic point of view, but maybe this is not the right way to follow. Before talking about Salary Cap, it is necessary to take a few steps backwards.

In the past days I wanted to draw attention on the on-track safety aspect and FIA’s technical system. I was very pleased to see that this problem was discussed by professionals who underlined crucial matters. FIA has not yet drawn up some guidelines regarding the behaviour to take in case of car recovery. Confirmation came from Mrs. Rossella Amadesi, the CEA Responsible for the racing team division. The Lions of the CEA racing team division are the best in the world, so this assures the Italian GP maker an added value and a high level of on-track safety, however I think it’s simply absurd that by mid-February, all the necessary information to guarantee on-track safety haven’t been communicated, yet.  Measures to guarantee safety could presuppose further costs arising from the need to provide circuits with new safety equipment to be used throughout the 2014 season, in addition to training classes.

All the above-mentioned was already stated by me when I raised some objections with respect to FIA’s new regulations. Those objections were taken up by the Engineer Mr. Cadringher– the FIA responsible for regulations in the ‘80s – on a renowed Italian motorsport review (Autosprint), where he agreed that the people in charge of drawing up regulations don’t have a global vision of the situation. That being said, we’re ready to move to Bahrain and see if those teams who had some technical issues at Jerez, will demonstrate to have taken measures to solve them. We’ll also see if Mercedes will confirm the same reliability and competitiveness showcased at Jerez and if Ferrari, whose performance level was considered by the Maranello-based team as good as expected, will give positive sign for the forthcoming season.

After running a successful 2013 season behind the wheel of the Ferrari Italia 458 GT in the Blancpain Endurance Series Championship, International GT Open and FIA WEC and taking part in the rookie testing at the wheel of the F138 at Silverstone, Davide Rigon has seen his professional relationship with the Scuderia Ferrari being extended.

The Italian driver will be at the squad’s disposal also for the 2014 and 2015 season, continuing to cooperate with the Scuderia as a test driver. His cooperation started in 2011. Apart from carrying out an intensive programme at the F1 simulator, Davide will also take part in the single-seater development testing sessions. Simultaneously to the contract renewal with the Scuderia Ferrari, he will also take part in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Italian driver, who is managed by the Giovanni Minardi’s Minardi Management, will drive the three-world title winner Ferrari Italia 458 GT, alongside the Amato Ferrari AF Corse. His goal is to be confirmed as a top driver at a worldwide level.

After winning in Shanghai, finishing second in Bahrein and Sao Paulo and finishing fourth in Fuji, this year Davide Rigon will make his debut in the Endurance racing’ s most renowned race: the 24 hours of Le Mans, which is scheduled for the week end of June 14^th-15^th.

In the 2014 season Rigon will race at eight of the motorsport’ s most renowned venues. The first race is scheduled for April 20^th at the historical track of Silverstone and it will be followed by the 24 hours to be raced at the spectacular Spa-Francorchamps circuit (May 3^rd). On September 20^th the Championship will move to America and afterwards to Japan (October 12^th), China (November 2^nd), Bahrein (November 15^th) and Interlagos, Brazil (November 30^th), where the final race will be run.

On January 25^th/26^th Davide opened his racing season by taking part in the 24 hours of Daytona, driving the Ferrari 458 GT.

“My dream is coming true day by day. The Scuderia Ferrari is my second family and it’s a great satisfaction to have the opportunity to cooperate with the world’s most important and famous team. We carried out a well-defined programme over the last seasons, so, having the opportunity to follow up on that, it’s really exciting. New technological challenges are expected for the future and we’re ready to face them with determination. I am grateful to the President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, to the Team Principal Stefano Domenicali and to the Minardi Management’s staff, who has been by my side for 10 years”, says an excited Davide Rigon on the website www.minardi.it.

“As far as GT racing is concerned, I can’t wait to compete in the first race. To have the opportunity to compete in the FIA WEC World Championship is a great achievement and doing that behind the wheel of the reigning champion Ferrari 458 is even a more special experience. The 24 hours of Le Mans will be the cherry on top”, says also the Italian driver, “Daytona was a great experience. Thanks to Ferrari, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about this kind of competitions”, ends Rigon, “I felt comfortable behind the wheel of the 458 and I’m satisfied with my stint. Although there were more than 60 cars on the track, I made no mistakes.”

“I want to praise Davide for the results he achieved last year, thanks to which he deserved to enjoy the loyalty of the Scuderia Ferrari again. As Minardi Management, we’ve consistently worked hard throughout the season in order to reach the goals for the 2014 season. I’m sure Davide and Ferrari can achieve important goals even in a challenging season such as the upcoming one. It will be a very demanding season for Davide , especially if we consider that F1 regulations were changed a lot and he is engaged in the GT Championship”, says the manager Giovanni Minardi, “now he’s going to compete in the FIA WEC Championship. This year he will take part in the Championship from the very first event. Our goal was to make him shift from GT3 to GT2 this season and, as Minardi Management, we’re very pleased to have achieved it. It will be amazing to take part in the 24 hours of Le Mans”, ends the manager from Faenza.

After closing a partnership agreement with Alberto Tonti to pursue the ambitious project to scout future champions starting from go-karting, which is the first step to climb the motorsport ladder, this morning, the manager Giovanni Minardi has visited the Birel factory, which is a leading company in the world of go-karting.

Minardi had the chance to see the 6000 metres squared Birel headquarter, together with the company founder Ronnie Sala. “I’m very pleased to have met Ronni and have had the chance to see the Birel world with my own eyes”, says Giovanni Minardi, “This trip has given me the opportunity to come into contact with the different features of the world of go-karting. The factory has cutting edge tools and machines for go-kart building and it’s a very well-organised company.”

 

Waiting for the new Red Bull, Mercedes, Marussia and Caterham to be officially launched and after the McLaren MP4-29, the new Ferrari F14-T, the Sauber C33-Ferrari, the Williams, the Force India and Lotus have been unveiled on the net, the first day of testing is about to start at Jerez.

Formula 1 is ready to write a brand new chapter of its history, not only from the point of view of technical changes, but also from the point of view of communication.

“We’re living a historic moment. Communication is quickly changing, thanks to Internet, but newspapers and reviews usually get left behind. On-line news released by social networks and websites, always get the jump on reviews and newspapers”, says Gian Carlo Minardi in his website  www.minardi.it. “The top series is trying to make the best use of the new means of communication, so media are challenging each other to be the first to reveal the new F1 cars. I get the feeling that everybody wants to claim the authorship of a technology solution.

It takes only a few seconds to spread news or a picture across the world, which was something unimaginable a few years ago, when the main means of communication to spread news were newspapers and cameras. I do think this is the best way to launch a new car as, in my opinion, there’s no point in spending money to make a spectacular launch which has nothing to do with technology”, continues the manager from Faenza, “There’s still much room to improve, but we have to try to attract more audience, above all in Europe. Investors coming from new markets are supporting F1, but  the top series lost its appeal in the old continent.”

These days Formula 1 was upset by the Lotus Team Principal Eric Bouiller’ s sudden abandon. In the first instance, Bouiller was supposed to replace the 55-year-old British team principal Whitmarsh who is ready to join the Enstone-based team “I consider Lopez’s decision to re-join the team as the team owner to be a very good thing. I’ve always disapproved the presence of managers in Formula 1. Now a manager is also the head of the squad, but he can quit at any time. In the past, the team principal was also the owner of the team”, says the founder of the F1 team of the same name.

The Drivers line-up has been replaced at Caterham. Pic and Van Der Garde have been replaced by Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson.

After spending a year as a GT driver for Ferrari, the former Japanese Sauber team driver re-joins the top series alongside the Tony Fernandez-owned F1 team. He will partner the 23-year-old Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson, who steps up to Grand Prix racing from GP2 and Formula 3.

With today’s announcement, the Formula 1 World Championship drivers line-up is completed. The Championship will start next week by a-three-day collective test session to take place at Jerez circuit.

After exiting from Caterham, Giedo Van Der Garde will join Sauber as a test and reserve driver and will theoretically partner Sergey Sirotkin.

This is a crucial week for Formula 1. Next Wednesday, all F.1 Team Principals will meet the President of the FIA Jean Todt to discuss future and present decisions. On the same day, some single-seaters will be virtually revealed, as well as the first session of collective testing scheduled at the Spanish circuit of Jerez starting from January 28^th.

The Salary Cap, which is expected to be introduced in 2015, is a fundamental subject for the survival of the circus, however, F1 current issues should be at the top of the meeting schedule, despite the statements made by the people concerned.

In this moment, several teams are dealing with the increase in costs, which is caused by the important technological upgrades which have been introduced this year and by the lack of sponsorship. Except for the two or three top teams, all other teams are in a quite bad situation. In the past, the ordinary matter was the survival or the closure of small teams such as the Minardi, while now we see Lotus, the fourth team in the standing, undergoing a financial crisis and McLaren failing FIA crash tests.

Formula 1 has always represented the highest expression in terms of technology and all the technological upgrades introduced for the 2014 season will be also applied to standard cars: energy recovery, restrictions on fuel and the introduction of turbos to replace aspirated engines. Only car racing can foster technological research, however I think that this is not the right moment to embark on such a demanding adventure. The worldwide financial crisis has not been seriously taken into account. We don’t have to forget that the Formula 1 Championship is the most followed media event after the Olympic Games and the World Cup, with the last two events being held every 4 years, while F1 GP are held every 15 days. Therefore the Circus can’t afford to take choices which are not sufficiently though out, such as points doubling, in order to make the Championship more attractive. In my opinion this is an illogic decision. In my opinion the current regulations is too severe. The number of engine units available per driver was significantly reduced as well as test days; I think this is a too radical reduction, especially if we consider that several changes have been introduced and teams have to deal with a larger number of issues. Delays on the schedule are clear and this will influence cars’ reliability, performance and safety.

The first half of January has passed and the first session of collective tests will be shortly held on the track of Jerez. Who will take part in that? What will be their technical features? How will they face up to the first race events? I get the impression that the World Championship won’t be won by those teams who will have the best technical features, but by those teams who will manage to cross the line. Reliability will be the winning feature. In a highly competitive and technological framework such as F1, economic issues have a deep influence not only on technological research, but also on the reliability of the different parts.

F1 is going through a critical moment and has to deal with the lack of a real leader. Mr. Ecclestone’s issues have repercussions on the F1 environment; despite he stated he can rely on the support of all teams.

I hope that F1 issues will be seriously considered with regards to the 2014 season, so that the highest level of competitiveness is ensured for this sport.