Archive for category: The Point by Gian Carlo Minardi

Despite the three-week summer break, Red Bull and Max Verstappen confirmed they are unbeatable in every track condition. Once again Verstappen took home the win without making the slightest mistake, outclassing his team mate on whom questionable tactics were adopted.

The 5” penalty on the Mexican helped Gasly (third across the finish line), who was also penalized, but thanks to the many pitstops and the red flag waved at the end, he managed to recover.

We are certainly experiencing a new era of Formula 1. In the past this grand prix would never have restarted. Precisely for this reason I believe it is wrong to compare results and statistics.

It was also an excellent performance by Fernando Alonso who found himself in second place on the podium. At the restart he tried to worry the leader who, as always when needed, put on show his worth and that of his car. In any case, he can console himself with second place and the fastest lap of the race.

Without the Dutchman we would have witnessed a hard fought and extremely lively world championship with a lot of interchange. Behind him we saw once again Aston Martin after a less favourable period. Fifth place for Carlos Sainz who once again put in difficulty his teammate who was the protagonist of a mistake in free practice. The retirement cancelled the mistake in the pitstop.

There were also mistakes by McLaren, but both Norris and Piastri managed to recover to still finish in the points zone. There was also a nice comeback carried out by Lewis Hamilton, sixth behind the Ferrari driver.

In Holland the New Zealander Liam Lawson made his debut with Alpha Tauri, finishing a difficult race despite absolutely absurd rules which do not allow training. Tsunada’s performance was also positive. With regard to the team, I was particularly pleased with the combination of the name “Minardi” in anticipation of the next change. It will not happen, but it would have been nice. Adding together the 340 GPs run by Team Minardi to those of Scuderia Toto Rosso and Alpha Tauri, we are talking about a reality that ranks fourth overall. Staying in Faenza, I am very pleased with the arrival of Laurent Mekies. I hope this can be a good omen for leaving last place behind them.

Gian Carlo Minardi

We saw a good grand prix with a marvellous public, as usual under the banner of an unstoppable Max Verstappen who can afford to let his tyres skid at the start, losing first place in favour of a very good Lando Norris to then calmly recover in the space of four laps.

From what we saw yesterday in the first laps, in addition to legitimizing more and more Red Bull, this let us understand how much this young man has matured, only two years ago he would have made Norris run to retake the lead of the grand prix quickly. This time he kept his cool and recovered a bit at a time to overtake him four laps later.

Undoubtedly, we must also applaud McLaren and its flagbearers, Norris and Piastri. Coming onto the well-known tracks Oscar’s performances have grown considerably. At Silverstone he too could count on the important updates and only a touch of bad luck tied to the entry of the safety-car denied him the satisfaction of his first podium in Formula 1.

A podium that was occupied with great obstinacy by Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes who consolidated second place in the constructors’ ladder at the expense of Aston Martin that seems to have lost its initial shine. Probably the scheduled developments of the car are not enough to keep up with the direct rivals.

Certainly, McLaren’s result on a truly demanding track such as Silverstone can relaunch them in the second half of the championship.

It was instead a step backwards by Ferrari with Leclerc and Sainz who finished ninth and tenth respectively behind Albon’s Williams. In the warm track conditions (as already happened in other occasions, including in Austria during Saturday’s sprint race) the SF-23 shows all its difficulties passing from the highs to the lows.

Amongst other things, I believe the Ferrari Power-Unit is not up to the level of Mercedes and Honda and has some problems as Haas’s failures showed despite the not demanding air temperatures.

We just have to wait to see what will happen in Hungary in two weeks, a traditionally very hot track with a very slow layout.

Gian Carlo Minardi

In an anomalous track such as Montreal, a semi-street circuit characterized by long straights and major braking, we saw an intense grand prix with fourteen drivers at full throttle and only four who paid a gap of a lap. The positions from seventh to tenth place were decided in a sprint.

For the first time in the season the first five drivers were enclosed within little more than 21”. Sergio Perez could have been there too, but he decided to make a pit stop to take out the fastest lap (and the point).

If first place was certainly not a surprise, with Max Verstappen equalling Ayrton Senna on the number of wins (scoring his 41st win and “giving” the team its 100th victory), the positive note of the ninth round of the World Championship was the reawakening of Ferrari which put up its best race with Leclerc and Sainz in 4th and 5th place respectively.

Beyond the final positions, they were protagonists of an important stint, especially with the “mediums”, then passing onto the hard, completing the seventy laps with only one stop. Making them smile were also the excellent times recorded (the first five practically lapped almost identically), as was the 18” gap paid by Charles compared to Verstappen. Too bad for the mistakes in qualifying that forced the two drivers to start from the middle of the grid. Recovering in these conditions of high competitiveness is not easy.

It was a very nice tussle between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who were separated by a handful of seconds for all the grand prix. Nando’s overtaking the English driver was nice. A Mercedes that, since Monte Carlo, continues to improve and grow.

Montreal was not the best race on the part of Red Bull but, despite this, they won. This says a lot about the quality of the Dutchman who has decidedly has an edge over Perez. Without Verstappen they probably would not have won the last 3-4 races. He is certainly making the difference and he creates an unbeatable combination with the team.

It will be interesting verifying the competitiveness and compactness of the performances seen today in Montreal at the permanent circuits such as Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps which will close the first part of the season.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Max Verstappen and Red Bull also took out the Miami Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Starting from ninth place the Dutchman made himself the protagonist of a long run of 46 laps before his pit-stop and also taking out the fastest lap of the race, snatching it from Sergio Perez. Once he mounted the “yellow” tyres he immediately set about chasing his teammate taking out not only the win but also the extra point for the fastest lap.

It was an unconditional one-way domination. Verstappen showed that he is one with his car and all the team. Starting from pole position, accompanied with a pinch of luck, Perez was unable to counter the strength of the world champion.

Back on the podium was an excellent Fernando Alonso (the fourth in five races,) consolidating Aston Martin as the second force of the World Championship despite Lance Stroll going missing.

On the Ferrari front, right now the drivers must drive beyond the limits of the car to try and keep up with the rivals. The two mistakes made by Charles Leclerc are synonymous with the difficult moment. As happens in football, it is proper to support the team when it wins and fights for an important objective, but it is just as important to make the support heard also in the less happy moments when no titles are at stake.

In Imola, just like Mercedes, they will bring many new developments with the hope that this could be the start of the comeback. Leclerc will also want to make people forget the mistake he made precisely a year ago in Imola.

It was a discrete performance by Mercedes that took out fourth place with George Russell and sixth place with Lewis Hamilton who got the better of the driver from Monte Carlo at the end.

One final thought, Leclerc’s mistake in qualifying was sacrosanct but when much is said about safety and then we go racing on a circuit with completely paved escape routes (instead of sand or gravel) which did not help to slow down the cars before hitting with the barriers.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Imola in two weeks got the sixth round of the World Championship to support Ferrari and your favourites.

Gian Carlo Minardi

The spectacle was not lacking throughout the weekend, starting from free practice 3 with all the drivers within barely a second and a half. In Q3 the first ten were separated by just eight tenths of a second.

We noticed this compaction during the three days of testing and this was confirmed on Saturday, while the race gave us an absolutely incredible and uncatchable Red Bull that relegated the first of the rivals – Alonso in the Aston Martin – to more than 38 seconds that rose to 48 when compared to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

At the moment there is nothing for anybody. Despite already having a practically perfect car, Herman’s men managed to improve the vehicle by almost a second. The growth of the Aston Martin that went onto the podium with a great Fernando Alonso was also incredible.

Despite his 42 years of age – which are only a statistic – Nando made himself a protagonist with two incredible over takings against Russell and above all Hamilton. Despite an attacking race he got out of the car as fresh as Verstappen who managed the race from start to finish. A phenomenon was confirmed, and phenomena always have something more. At the present time his years do not show and he does not feel them. This is certainly a positive note for all of Formula 1. It unites three generations of drivers and creates good suspense. Watching him drive was fantastic.

Stroll’s great feat in racing in impaired physical conditions is also to be highlighted. He carried out an incredible tour de force and thanks to the sixth place Aston Martin is the second force of the constructors’ world championship.

On the Ferrari front, the signs that were expected did not come, quite the contrary. In addition to having gained little compared to last year on its direct rivals, it must face up to a not insignificant reliability problem. Without reliability it becomes hard to concentrate in the development of the car, which also wears out the tyres, but we are only at the first race and they need to stay calm.

As I said before, there has been a good compaction in the group and I am pleased to see Williams already taking a top ten place and the first point of the season for Albon. They are still in difficulty in qualifying but it defended itself in the race. They came from several difficult seasons but this is a point of encouragement and confidence.

Gian Carlo Minardi