Bahrain GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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As I said in the last days, in the usual GP-Preview Analysis, there’s no point to cry wolf at this moment of the season, facing such an important technical change. We need to give time to this Formula 1 to grow from a technical perspective. In just one week we have shifted from a Formula-Boredom to a Formula-Show, with overtakings and duels.

Formula 1 is amazing because it involves a lot of elements: technique, sporting regulations and pilots. It’s hard to give judgements since the track, from one weekend to the following, can prove wrong everyone, particularly this year. Let’s just think to the situation during Bahrain tests: I expect forward changes in China, not to mention what might happen in Spain in one month. Today we have seen that the problem is certainly not the noise of the V6 Turbo: the main issues are cars’ competitiveness and the duels that pilots can perform during the race. We assisted to great fights, overtakings, strategies and crushes; safety-car, also, added something more to the last 8 laps.

No doubt, we have a Mercedes supremacy, both as a team and as power-unit: in the last laps, W05 realized an advantage of 24’’ on the third car at finishing. Rosberg and Hamilton are great champions, who will entertain us again and again. I had the impression that in the last laps they mainly wanted to play and please the public with a great show (also, to be spotted by cameras) given the unconvincing points where Nico tried the final attack on his teammate. Behind them, all the others, more or less close. In this moment the fight is for the third step of the podium. The final ranking sees two Mercedes, Force India, Red Bull, Force India, Red Bull, two Williams and two Ferrari. Which means: five Mercedes engines, two Renault and two Ferrari, with Ricciardo and Vettel between Perez and Hulkenberg, and Alonso and Raikkonen closing the Top 10. A praise goes to Aldo Costa: this success should make us think about the fact that Italian technologies and technicians are too often underestimated. We always think English are on a higher level, but the Made in Italy is still very successful. Costa is the head of a group that certainly follows him, since he certainly doesn’t design the car by himself. This gives food for thought to other teams, too.

Red Bull proves to be a car with a great chassis, only lacking those 40 hp that Horner would like to obtain from the Renault power-unit. Ricciardo performed an amazing race: despite an underserved 10-place grid penalty in qualifications – related to Malaysia, where he also was handed a stop&go of 10’’, not for his faults – he finished the race before his teammate. In one month they have been able to turn upside down a very difficult situation. Very good race for Sergio Perez and Force India. With Hulkenberg, in the previous GPs they proved to have a great car, which today stands in the second place of the World Championship, gaining approval and respect. The Mexican has come forward with great authority, showing he’s part of the games. With this podium he released himself from the negative echoes of last season, proving us that McLaren decisions were rushed. He fully deserved to be on the podium.

Let’s go to Ferrari. At present, they’re the fifth force of the Championship. I think the performance is rescued only by its two World Champions, Alonso and Raikkonen. Otherwise, I think they would have stayed out of the Top 10. The problem is not only the power-unit: competitiveness is lacking in several areas, as underlined by tyre skitting and pilots’ camera-car. I believe it’s important not to make up excuses or to accuse only one sector. They need to reflect with a cold mind, working at 360 degrees in all areas. Now it’s time for tests, before China GP. Excluding W05 of Nico and Lewis, all the others are close: therefore also Ferrari can compete for the third step of the podium and for the second place in World Championship.

Malaysia GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Second race of the season, second seal marked by Mercedes. After Rosberg, this was Hamilton’s turn to climb up the podium, getting on the top step. The result speaks for itself: a neat supremacy in all possible conditions. From free practice to the race, from dry to wet road. They are doing very well in scoring as many points as they can, in oder to manage them in a World Championship perspective. Seven Mercedes engines in the first ten positions: this is an outstanding achievement.

Ferrari’s performance slightly improved, with a gap of 35’’ from the winner, though 10’’ slower than Red Bull: Maranello has still a lot of work to do. Bad luck for Kimi: without the collision with Magnussen, he could have scored important points for the World Championship chart. Once again, Fernando was capable to get the maximum out of his Ferrari, performing very similar laps in all conditions: but F14-T is still in need of an important evolution, in order to step on the podium or fight for the first place.

Red Bull shows to be the car with the best chassis: this is particularly clear in corners, even though suffering the problems related to the Renault power-unit. They are certainly on the right path, but the gap with Mercedes – whose hidden resources are remarkable – is still wide. For the French motorist, it won’t be easy to solve his problems, but Red Bull could be advantaged on those tracks where the engine is less important. If we look back at pre-seasonal tests, they have achieved considerable improvements both in terms of performance and reliability, even though they now have to figure out what happened on Ricciardo’s car. Once more, all the misfortunes are hitting Red Bull-2.

Nico Hulkenberg proves himself to be a top team driver, even though Force India is showing a very good performance,  trying to achieve the fifth place in the World Championship: that’s an excellent result, obtained driving very well and with one less pit-stop. As it already happened in the last season, they have a car which is very “gentle” with Pirelli tyres: this is a further technical solution and a strength point. Good result also for Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso’s rookie, who scored one point. At present, it’s not simple to be in the first ten places with seven Mercedes engines at finish, considering that Kvyat’s engine is a Renault too.

In Malaysia, the new penalty of 5’’ has come into play: it was imposed by FIA representatives on Kevin Magnussen, after the collision with Kimi Raikkonen. I personally find this sanction too heavy, since in my opinion it was a normal race collision. This could become a problem as we proceed with the World Championship’s races, because it represents a too subjective decision. Today FIA representatives have decided it was an action to be penalized, but what will happen with another “board of judges”? I observed with great attention the execution of pit-stops with penalties and I noted that McLaren mechanics did very well and quickly. His previous pit-stops had been around 24’’7’-25’’5’, whereas, when the penalty was assigned, Kevin left the pit-lane in 30’’. This penalty has concealed the true value on this track of MP4-29, which did not experience a positive grand prix. Nonetheless, the two drivers have been able to bring home points.

We need to underline the weird team indications of Williams. I don’t believe Bottas had the strength to create problems to Button: I don’t see the point of creating tensions in the team at the second weekend of races. I can foresee a polemic debate coming up, even though Massa took the right decision, choosing to keep its place and not to be overtaken by his team-mate.

In seven days it will be time for Bahrain and we’ll see what happens, though we’ll hardy see a change of the situation already in place.

Australian GP – THE POINT… by Gian Carlo Minardi

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In Melbourne it happened just the opposite of what we could expect. In fifteen days, Formula 1 has been capable to overturn any kind of forecast.

We saw a podium made of three pilots belonging to as many teams: Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren. The only confirmation came just from Mercedes – as a team and engine manufacturer – which affirmed itself to the top.

The W05 of Hamilton and Rosberg confirmed the supremacy both in the single qualifying lap and in the long run, and – much to the benefit of the others – with some reliability lacks. Otherwise they would have scored a double-declutch.

Great comeback for Red Bull, which reveals as the car with the best aerodynamic downforce, even if it suffers the handicap related to the Renault power-unit. Jenson Button’s words during the first tests in Bahrain have been validated by facts. Once the engine issues are overcome, it will be hard to hold them back. On the other hand, the World Champion Sebastian Vettel was let down by that control unit that was able to make the difference just last year.

A rebirth for Mclaren, which perhaps has found in Kevin Magnussen the new Hamilton, with a podium on the day of his debut and a fourth place for Button. A hint of bad luck kept Williams away from a good result: at the green lights Felipe Massa was hit from Kobayashi, at his return in F1, whereas Bottas made a mistake probably caused by an excessive strength in transmitting the power to the road.

Toro Rosso deserves to be praised, as they were able to have both cars scoring points. A great result, if we consider that it sprang not from others’ faults but, on the contrary, has been well achieved on the race track.  Good performance also for Force India with Hulkenberg, a little worse with Perez: Nico is a great pilot, no doubt.

Now it can be useful to analyse the lap times to have a better understanding of the real gap separating the teams’ performance.  Rosberg’s Mercedes has been steadily around 1’32’’-1’33’’ low, whereas all other pilots drove around 1’34’’. Just towards the end Fernando Alonso (fifth at finish) drove around 1’32’’ low, getting close to the fastest race lap set by Rosberg (1’32’’478). Surely an encouraging result, even though a correct interpretation is not straightforward: we should know the data about fuel consumption and strategies too. In the current season the learning curve of teams will be very high: therefore, after each race, we can expect substantial evolutions and important adjustments.

Even Lotus, after closing the first race of the season with two retirements, has been able to gain an experience thanks to the number of driven kilometres during the whole week-end, gathering important data to investigate and find a solution to the problems annoying the transalpine power-unit and the E22.

Mercedes plays the fox of the race, while Ferrari, both as car and engine, is the second force. When RB fully exploits the Renault power, it will be hard to keep the pace. The season kick-start has proved how hard is the dialogue of the 15 control units, but the progresses of the teams with a Renault engine show that these operations can be done indoor as well.

The Gap can thus be reduced.

Important note: this analysis has been done straight after the finish of the race.

Bahrain 2 – THE POINT…BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI

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The last session of testing in Bahrain is over. The world Championship can start. The first event of the Championship will start in 15 days.

Formula 1 has never been as mist-shrouded as it is this year. That makes real values unclear to us, even though one thing is certain: there’s still a lot of work to do and reliability is the biggest unknown thing. Nobody is fully satisfied with the work done, neither Mercedes nor Caterham, so that makes us understand how unintelligent it was not to arrange more test sessions.

In the second session of Bahrain testing, teams ran many more km than in the first session (a total of 2314 laps in the first session and a total of 3280 laps in the second session) and they were much more performing. Day by day teams become more and more competitive, however we still don’t know anything about the first event of the Championship to take place in Melbourne. I think that for the first few events the motto will be “slow and steady wins the race”.

During the second session, time gap between teams became narrower and narrower. All cars managed to qualify within the 107% rule, but there’s still a huge time gap between Ferrari-Mercedes and the Renault-powered teams. Red Bull had more problems than Toro Rosso, Lotus and Caterham, even if the teams’ situation are different. Red Bull have to defend a world title, unlike the other Renault partners who have different goals. So, the exasperation of performance may have been different.

By Mercedes, the FW36 and the W05 almost set the same lap time; we also don’t have to forget McLaren, even though it is impossible to draw up a standing. Since Mercedes and their partner teams completed many more laps than Ferrari and their partners (1462 laps completed for the Mercedes four partners, in comparison with 948 laps completed by the “Ferrari club”), we can say that the German power unit is much more performing than the Italian one. If we compare the Scuderia to the Mercedes Team, we see that the Brackley-based squad outpaces the Maranello-based team, with the former completing 351 laps and the latter 337.

In two weeks the Circus will fly to the other side of the world, so, we’ll see what it’s going to happen.

May the show begin!

Bahrain test – THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The Bahrain test session can be considered as the first real test session, since at Jerez teams did only a shakedown test. Unfortunately, because of the new “off the wall” regulations, teams have only one more test session to be held in one week.

Therefore teams have to make a great effort to get their cars ready for the first three/four GP to be held on the other side of the world. As expected, teams had to deal with some reliability-related issues, which might also affect the first F.1 events.

Mercedes demonstrated to be more closely knitted to his partners than any other team. The Technical choices taken by the German supplier (more than 1140 laps), were rewarded by the laps gained by Mercedes (315 laps), McLaren (299 laps), Williams (318), Force India (212). Ferrari’s performance as a team was as good as the one displayed by the Mercedes’ duo Rosberg-Hamilton, whilst the Italian team’s performance as engine supplier was less brilliant. Sauber had some chassis-related problems, while Marussia lacked in reliability and managed to complete only 26 laps. The Maranello-based team left Sakhir with 552 laps under its belt.

Among the three constructors, Renault turned out to be hard put once again. Even though they managed to run more laps than at Jerez, Lotus was practically non-existent, just like Red Bull and Toro Rosso. Only Caterham managed to gain a good number of miles (250 laps) even though test times were not quick at all. In order to run the highest number of laps, the Renault-powered teams didn’t use KERS, which, in terms of lap time, means to be 5/6 sec. slower.

Among uncertainty, the only certain thing is that with these cars, it takes much more time to solve technical issues. This makes us understand how complicated the systems installed are.

We’re entering a very intensive week, during which the last testing session will take place. Then the true Championship will start.

Teams will have to work hard to get to Melbourne as much prepared as possible, trying to limit problems.

In this moment it is so difficult to make further analysis, as we don’t know which set up was used by teams to test and what it was tested. So, I stop here, for now

Jerez testing – THE POINT…by Gian Carlo Minardi

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The Jerez four-day-testing session officially inaugurated the Formula 1 new era. The Spanish session has provided Ferrari with a fairly satisfied starting point and with the awareness the Italian squad has to fight against Mercedes who have a slight lead over them. Alonso stated he shares telemetry with his teammate Kimi and, to be honest, I don’t find it hard to believe. Ferrari is the only squad to be able to manage two first drivers, providing both with the same technical material. When performance levels will be evaluated, a true feeling of competitiveness will arise, but only time trials will set the strategies.

It’s only the beginning, so it wouldn’t be fair to “deliver any ruling”. It will be interesting to see cars’ behaviour in Bahrein, where temperatures will be higher, even if I think that the Stuttgart based manufacturer worked side by side with his four partners. They gathered many data thanks to the miles Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Force India gained throughout the testing session.  The same was for the Maranello based squad, despite the problems Sauber and Marussia had.

Considering the close relationship between Renault and Lotus, the former would have missed the latter so much at Jerez. Starting from next session, there could be a better information exchange to go to the benefit of Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso, even if, according to White’s statement, there is quite a wide difference between indoor and on-track testing. The World Champion started on the wrong foot and now they have to give evidence proof of their strength. It’s in moments like this that a team should prove its virtue.

As far as engines are concerned, after Jerez testing session, some debriefs were held to discuss technical issues. Many car companies had the opportunity to attend the first session and evaluate a possible entry into the top tier Championship.

The Sakhir testing won’t give a clear idea on the whole situation, so evaluations can be made only after the first races. Now Formula 1 cars run more slowly than GP2, so only the most skilled teams in car handling and consumption will be successful. This has to make us think a lot, as this could be less attractive for race enthusiasts. We don’t have to forget that Formula 1 is the highest expression of motorsport.

I’m pleased to know that Williams will soon announce their partnership with one of the brands that has always made the history of motorsport. This partnership represents a great step forward not only for a team who had a troublesome 2013 season, but also for the whole F1 framework. In 1991, the year my M191 was powered by the Maranello-based company’s engine, me too I was very close to conclude an agreement with that company, but unfortunately we didn’t seal the deal.

The point about drivers' market

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After Sauber’ s announcement to retain Gutierrez to partner the new-entry Adrian Sutil, we can say that the puzzle for the 2014 drivers’ line-up is almost done. Only Marussia (who announced to retain Bianchi a long time ago) and Caterham still have to get their drivers’ line-up completed.

But, let’s take stock of the F1 drivers’ line-up before having a Christmas break:
RED BULL: Sebastian Vettel / Daniel Ricciardo
MERCEDES: Lewis Hamilton / Nico Rosberg
FERRARI: Fernando Alonso / Kimi Raikkonen
LOTUS: Romain Grosjean / Pastor Maldonado
MCLAREN: Jenson Button / Kevin Magnussen
FORCE INDIA: Nico Hulkenberg / Sergio Perez
SAUBER: Esteban Gutierrez / Adrian Sutil
TORO ROSSO: Jean – Eric Vergne / Daniil Kvyat
WILLIAMS: Valtteri Bottas / Felipe Massa
MARUSSIA: Jules Bianchi / ?
CATERHAM: ? / ?

So, many changes next season, only Mercedes has retained both its racing drivers. A brand new racing pair for Force India, instead. The Indian Team will take part in the 2014 F1 season with two very skilled young drivers such as Nico Hulkenberg (former Sauber team driver) and Sergio Perez (former McLaren team driver).

Two new drivers make their debut into F1: Kevin Magnussen, who will replace the Mexican driver at McLaren, and Daniil Kvyat who will replace the new Red Bull racing driver Daniel Racciardo at Toro Rosso. Kimi Raikkonen will re-join Ferrari to replace Massa who will join Williams to partner the twice – world Champion Alonso. Sauber hired a very experienced Sutil to partner the retained Gutierrez.

Double points and permanent race numbers in 2014

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FIA continues to announce new regulation changes for the 2014 F.1 season. After the several technical regulation changes that have been brought about are causing some troubles to teams and engine manufacturers, the F.1 Strategy Group – which is made up of FIA, FOM and six teams – together with the Formula one Commission, have approved to bring about other important changes to the regulation. Those changes will be effective immediately and they’ll be controversial, for sure.

Double drivers’ and constructors’ points will be awarded at the last race: the goal is to make the Championship less boring and predicted. Starting from next season, at the Abu Dhabi GP, the winner will be awarded 50 points. Other points: 36 points to the driver who finishes 2nd, 24 points to the fourth place, 20 to the fifth, 16 to the sixth, 12 to the seventh, 8 to the eighth, 4 points to the ninth, 2 to the tenth. “That way, it takes only one race to ruin all the work done throughout the season. Scoring zero points at Abu Dhabi would mean losing the Championship. I would simply consider it as a show where luck plays the main role, rather than a way to make the last event more engaging. Reliability, luck, mistakes…Too many factors can come into play to define a F.1 World Champion. We have to see this item also from the point of view of small teams. A double-point-finish for a team – maybe due to rivals’ misfortune rather than to the team’s merit – could ruin a rival’s whole season, during which several good positions were achieved.”

Permanent race numbers will be allocated to drivers: number 1 will be reserved for the current world champion, other drivers will be asked to choose their race number, between 2 and 99 “I like this decision. That way drivers can be identified not only with the helmet, but also with a race number.” What happen if a driver temporarily gets out of the Championship and gets back into it in late season?

A 5-sec. penalty: this 5-sec. penalty could be added to the final race time “Pay attention to who impose these penalties. If these penalties won’t be imposed by the same people, who always use the same parameters, these penalties could become very dangerous instruments to distort the final result. During the 2013 season, too strict penalties were imposed, that went to the detriment of a correct sense of competitiveness.”

The minimal weight doesn’t change: the request to boost the weight’s limit – car and driver – from 690 kilos to 700 kilos wasn’t approved: “I don’t understand why some teams didn’t allow that. That could discriminate some drivers. It seems to me we’re going back to the ‘80s and ’90s, when cars’ design was based on small and lightweight drivers. If we consider the large number of extra parts cars will be equipped with next season, that could be a right way to avoid to reduce the space available for the driver”.

Rumors has it that the Budgets Cup will be introduced in 2015, but this is another story….

F.1 is arranging the 2014 season…but there are still many unknown things (maybe too many)

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Despite three places were assigned – Maldonado joined Lotus Team alongside Grosjean and Hulkenberg joined Force India – the 2013-2014 drivers’ market still looks like a messy bundle. Nowadays there are still six places to be assigned: 1 Force India; 2 Marussia; 2 Caterham; 2 Sauber.

Some recent rumors about a possible merger between Marussia and Sauber, two teams which are currently navigating dangerous waters (like some other F.1 teams such as Lotus), make next season’s grid even more incomprehensible. Even if it’s not easy to achieve, the merger between the Banbury-based team and the Hinwil-based team is not impossible to be achieved, since both teams signed an agreement with Ferrari for what concerning the new 1.6 turbo engines’ supply for next season. In the case this merger is achieved, the drivers’ market will undergo a significant slowdown, as F.1 will lack two seats. If we consider that Jules Bianchi has already signed a contract with Marussia-Ferrari for the next season (the French driver whose manager is Nicholas Todt, is a member of the FDA), the seats available will drop to 4 and 2 of them are very attractive (Force India and Sauber). We don’t have to forget that Max Chilton, a driver who can bring the team a considerable financial support, would remain “unemployed”. Apart from him, another important driver such as Sergio Perez, who is supported by Slim – the world’s richest man – hasn’t signed any contract yet.

As we already know, we’ll see some new expansive changes next season, such as the new turbo engine and all the drawbacks that come with that. So, it is important to hire a gained-long-standing experience driver, who can give engineers the right technical instructions. All the above-mentioned, along with the fact that no testing sessions will be made, make it hard for new drivers to get into F.1. So, team managers will look for a right balance between technical skills and financial support. Hulkenberg is a classic example of a driver who doesn’t enjoy a great financial support, but, thanks to his several point finishes, he makes the team earn money coming from TV rights.

 As we said above, the 2014 will be the year zero for a F.1 which is experiencing a delicate moment. It will be the year zero because many changes will be introduced: brand new chassis, turbo engine, new KERS systems, a max.100 kilos-gas-load…….Everything will have to be put together and time is too short. I’ve heard that some teams haven’t received any instructions yet about the engine unit’s dimensions and the dimensions of external parts, so even the chassis is still to be defined.

Next season will be very nervous. The team who will start the season off on the right foot, will win the Championship. The Brawn GP Team set a trend.

Brazilian GP – THE POINT

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The end of the 2013 F.1 season is marked by FIA’s poor figure. I think the decision taken by FIA with regards to Felipe Massa is simply stupid and I also think that it’s time even for the Federation to take some measures to rejuvenate its board. An exciting and hard-fought GP, during which exciting passes were made, was ruined by some decisions taken by external people who change their way of judging each time, so they don’t ensure a homogeneous judge. Furthermore, I think that Hamilton was imposed a penalty to try to rebalance the forces deployed. It was a bad double mistake.

Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull who won everything. Seb set a new record, as he took 9 consecutive wins and 13 wins overall. He took as many wins as Michael Schumacher, even if the German driver reached this goal in a 16-event-Championship, not in a 19-event-Championship. Mercedes finished second in the constructors’ championship, ahead of Ferrari. It was a great result for the German team; this result make Alonso’s second place in the drivers’ championship even more important, if we consider the technical disparities between the two teams. The Spaniard confirmed to be the best driver ever. If Felipe hadn’t been imposed a penalty, the second place would have been within the Scuderia’s reach, however the Brazilian driver’s missed points throughout the season, weighted on the final result. Now it’s time to analyze problems and find a solution quickly, as time is really short, especially if we consider all the changes that will be introduced next year.

The end of the 2013 season marks also the end of the 8-cylinder-aspired engine and many drivers are about to move to other teams or to change their lives, just like Felipe Massa and Mark Webber. The Australian driver ended the season with the second place and the third overall, after making his debut in the F.1 Championship in 2002 alongside the Minardi Team. He scored two points on his debut race. Few drivers can boast this record. Mark leaves the World Championship as a protagonist. It’s really a pleasure for me to see that three drivers who started their F.1 career in Faenza, finished in the top 3, two of them, Fernando and Mark, made their debut in the Championship alongside the Minardi Team.

Mind is set on the 2014 season, during which some changes will be made with regards to regulations. Those changes could make some teams come up again and bring some new things relating to engine, we still don’t know about. The Renault engine failure with regards to Lotus has to make us think: if a team ends its season with an engine failure, having eight tested engines per driver at its disposal, I can’t imagine what will happen next season, when each team will have only five brand-new engine units per driver at its disposal.  I think that too rash steps were taken. Furthermore, if we consider that these changes will increase costs, we can say that the picture is complete. This is one of the reasons why some second-tier teams haven’t completed their line-up yet. Most of them are looking for the best technical and economic solution. It is true that FIA has to “live” side by side with car companies and the future of car racing will consist in the turbo engine, the kers and the hybrid, but we have also to consider that many teams are now undergoing a critical economic situation.

USA GP – THE POINT

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In the USA Grand Prix, which is the last but one F.1 event of the 2013 season, we saw a great fight between Webber, Hamilton and Alonso and, above all, we saw Lotus and Grosjean delivering an excellent race.

Except the two Red Bull, or, at least RB#1, which demonstrated to be very competitive, as usual, Romain also delivered a great race, demonstrating to be a very skilled driver, finishing only 6’’ behind the World Champion. He finished between the Championship’s two most competitive cars. He definitely deserves a score of 9/10 for taking an excellent start and handling a good race. He tried to “bother” Sebastian Vettel by setting the fastest lap during the race, but he was beaten by the German driver in the following lap. The French driver can be a guarantee for his team, which demonstrated to recover in this end to the season, despite the unlucky decision to replace Kimi with Kovalainen. Probably Valsecchi would have deserved an opportunity for the job he did inside the team. Worse than that…even if the Finnish driver was excused in the post-race because of some technical issues.

Lewis Hamilton did a great job. The Englishman put up a fight against Alonso, who, maybe, overexploited his tyres. Ferrari had a hard week end, but the Italian team got a good position thanks to the Spaniard’s 5th place finish.  Massa’s American week end was not so good. I hope that something didn’t work, even if the Brazilian driver suffered a lot throughout the week end. Despite Nando’s excellent race, during which he fought teeth and nail, a 29s gap from the race winner is too much. Fernando tried to “limit the damage” to Mercedes, which finished in the points zone with both is cars. The final challenge for the second place in the constructors championship will move to Brazil, to Felipe’s homeland, where the GP will be raced in one week. Given Lotus’s great condition, the Italian team cannot be quiet.

The dismissed Sergio Perez delivered a great race. His excellent performances demonstrated once again that he didn’t deserve to be dismissed. He’s only 22 and he’s developing. Maybe different choices would have been taken with a view to the 2015 season (McLaren-Honda). It seems to me that Jenson Button has passed his peak (he scored one point with difficulty).

Nico Hulkenberg and Sauber finished in the points zone again. Gutierrez would have deserved to finish in the points zone, too, but unfortunately he was imposed a penalty in qualifying. I was surprised by Bottas. Williams took some choices which date back to the 2012 season. Those choices paid off. Valtteri is proving to deserve to be a F.1 driver.

GP Abu Dhabi – THE POINT

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The supremacy showed by Red Bull in the GP of Abu Dhabi was once again disarming. A 32’’ gap between two teammates is something uncommon and incredible. Despite Mark Webber drove an excellent race, his teammate Sebastian Vettel had a half- a- minute advantage over the Australian. The German driver keeps on doing whatever he wants, he just has to stop for a coffe…..I think it’s the first time in the F.1 history that the time-gap between two chief drivers is so huge. In 2010 Mark Webber would have deserved to win the world title he lost in Abu Dhabi for the German benefit.

To be honest, I’m astonished by this supremacy which should be taken into great consideration also with regards to the 2014 season. If the other teams don’t manage to get a way out of that, they won’t close the gap with the Austrian team.

At the Yas Marina Circuit we saw brilliant strategies. Ferrari’s Alonso managed to get the most of his car’s potential. After a difficult Saturday, the Spaniard finished 5th, closing the gap with Massa, Hamilton and Di Resta. He constantly set the fastest lap throughout the last 8 laps. Massa also drove a very good race, but Mercedes was even more performing. The German team has now an 11-point lead over the Maranello-based team, thanks to Rosberg’s 3rd place and Hamilton’s 7th place. Once again Nico caused problems for his team mate. There are still 2 races on the calendar and many points are still up for grabs, so the fight to get the second place in the constructors’ championship is still open. Thanks to the last result, the Spaniard has almost secured the second place in the drivers’championship. He was helped by Kimi Raikkonen’s abandon. The Finn experienced a nervous week end, but, since he’s a professional, I expect him to complete the season. The team won’t sort out all the outstanding matter towards him, but it will try to find some other way out. So I think it will be difficult for Valsecchi to replace Raikkonen. Force India achieved an important result; the Indian team finished 6th between Ferrari and Mercedes. No doubt they deserve the position they hold in the championship and their drivers are very good at getting the most of tyres. Perez drove a good race; once again the Mexican driver finished ahead of Button. Is Alonso’s overtaking over Vergne under inquiry? I think that it’s very important to have the same driver among race commissioners, so that a unique way of thinking is ensured. This week end Martin Donnelly, a former driver who took part in the F.1 championship in 1989 and 1990, played the role of race commissioner. The world of car racing has changed so much over the last years, so I think a “fresh” driver is needed, a person who can understand the different situations. My philosophy is to let things go and be strict towards dangerous situations. Alonso’s overtaking was magnificent. Vergne didn’t expect the Spaniard to attack him on his way out of the pit lane. Huòkenberg’s episode is different. Because of an unsafe release, he had to serve a drive-through penalty.

I want to praise Sebastian Vettel again, not only for his victory, but also for the show he made in front of the audience. I hope he won’t get a penalty again.

In 15 days, at the Austin Circuit, we’ll see Ferrari and Mercedes fighting for the second place again.

Indian GP- THE POINT

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What else we can say…The supremacy displayed during the Indian GP is almost embarrassing and it’s even hard to comment. Once again Vettel was able to do what he wanted to. Now that the two world titles are appointed (drivers and constructors championship), Ferrari will have a thrilling end to the season. The Italian team will have to fight hard to try to get the second place. According to Rosberg and Hamilton’s performances the Italian team cannot sleep tight. The second place is within their reach, for sure, as three races are yet to be run (Abu Dhabi, Austin, Sao Paulo) and many scores are still up for grabs.

With regards to Webber and Alonso, we can say that misfortune sees very well. Once again the Red Bull’s Australian driver was forced to retire. The Australian could have fought to get high positions, while the Spaniard was involved in a car collision at the beginning, which dropped him to the 17th place. If we analyze times, we can notice that the Italian team lost a great chance to score points for the World Championship.

Except for the extra-terrestrial Seb., Grosjean’s performances were also noteworthy. The Frenchman managed tyres very well and Raikkonen did his utmost to try to turn the starting grid order upside down and managed to set the best lap time after pitting. McLaren finished fifth with Perez who finished ahead of Hamilton. It was a good racing week end for Felipe Massa who got the most of his F138, staying ahead of Lewis but he was overtaken by Nico. It’s a good omen to see Massa being so aggressive and lively despite the end of the relationship with the Maranello-based team. The Italian team will try to close the 4-point-gap with Mercedes. Toro Rosso managed to score only one point (thanks to Ricciardo’s tenth place). The Faenza-based team wasn’t able to take advantage of Sauber’s unfavorable week end.

It was further confirmed that most of the second-tier teams’ performance level is almost the same. The second-tier teams’ championship was good. That is alarming, especially if we consider that there is a short time between the Championship’s last event (November 24th) and the beginning of the next F.1 season. I think it’s such a short time to try to close such a huge gap. According to rumors, Newey seems to be ready to shake the cars building philosophy. Despite a radical technical upgrade, the Austrian team is still the one rivals will have to try to beat.

In six days drivers will be behind the wheel of their single-seaters again. Vettel is determined not to give rivals anything. The challenge for the second place will light up the F.1 championship again.