THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi "An emotional weekend"

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Another season is filed away and above all a weekend in which I personally experienced a number of emotional moments, beginning with the party for Fernando Alonso on Saturday evening with two world champions of the calibre of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel who “escorted” Fernando Alonso. Independently of the number of titles, Nando was a great champion.

The extraordinary image contains all the beauty of this sport that continues to surprise and give me unique emotions. Despite the duels on the track between these young men and great champions there is great respect. Fernando Alonso experienced a weekend he will never forget, praised by all. It is a pity that nobody wanted to give him a car for 2019. It am sure today was not goodbye but a see you later.

The season went into the record books with Lewis Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ latest titles that show that once again they have no rivals. Bottas was subdued, finishing the season just behind Kimi Raikkonen on the driver’s ladder (third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel).

Next year Ferrari will be called upon to take another step in its development to oppose Mercedes’ domination as happened in the first half of the season in which it even took the lead in the World Championship. Sadly, it paid the price of a negative second half in which Kimi Raikkonen was not missing but Sebastian Vettel.

With the first day of collective tests on Tuesday the curtain will rise on the 2019 season which will give us a starting grid with many changes, one of which is Leclerc in red, hoping that he will be the right partner to give Vettel a boost.

A positive season also closes for the colours of the ACI Team Italia. The flagbearers Puccini, Fuoco and Ghiotto put themselves on display at Abu Dhabi in GP3 and Formula 2 respectively. These results must be a source of pride.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Mexico, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “This result must make Ferrari think”

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Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton who won his fifth World Championship in Mexico. The extraordinary result came in Mercedes’ hardest weekend that saw a perfect Max Verstappen win in front of the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikonnen (a pity about Daniel Ricciardo). It was a decidedly important result for the “red cars” that let it keep the Constructors’ title open, even if personally I think that the comeback is very complicated, if not impossible.

The race, tight and not easy as can be seen by the gap between the drivers in which the tyres were once again the protagonists, must make the men from Maranello think, especially about the too many errors made during the season, which is coming to an end with a few too many regrets. Well done Vettel who, after the race, praised his rival on a Sunday in which he managed to interrupt his negative period.

Amongst the second rank teams Renault consolidated fourth place, an important result in light of the future, and with Sauber that leaped over Toro Rosso to take eighth place thanks to the seventh and ninth places claimed by Leclerc and Ericsson. The duel will continue in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp United States, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Unacceptable mistakes by Vettel. Verstappen the next World Champion”

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At Austin we witnessed another excellent grand prix, ruined by the latest mistake (the second of the weekend) by Sebastian Vettel. Nine mistakes in eighteen grands prix is an unacceptable average for a driver that wants to win his fifth world championship.

Ferrari’s German driver was certainly the great absentee in a great fight for final victory between three drivers belonging to three different teams that saw Kimi Raikonnen return to success.

The Finn was very good and built this success right from qualifying, without making the slightest error, as has been happening to him for a number of races in this part. Anyway, Ferrari won an important result, placing its cars between the two Mercedes and showing important competitiveness that should make Vettel think even more.

It was a stupendous race by Max Verstappen, a future world champion, who kept at bay the five times world champion who did not hold anything back to try and close the game in Texas with a double cross on Red Bull’s Dutch driver who defended second place superlatively.

In a week’s time we will be back on track in Mexico and there is little time to recharge the batteries, above all for a team (Ferrari) that must again find calm and trust in its lead driver, who is surely not achieving the results expected of him.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Japan, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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This was another favourable weekend for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton who is heading towards his fifth world championship. The weekend was unfavourable for Ferrari (that finished behind Red Bull) from which emerged the nervousness of the drivers, as well as from within the team. I certainly cannot share the Team principal’s declarations.

It was a race conditioned by two minor collisions with Verstappen in which both Raikonnen and Vettel suffered some damage but I would not use this as an excuse for justifying a lacklustre performance since in any case Vettel managed to set the grand prix’s the fastest time on the very last lap.

Once again there was no uniformity in penalties since I do not consider the episode between the German and the Dutch drivers as a simple minor race collision. The Ferrari driver was already inside by more than a car’s length and Verstappen could easily have widened out after what happened with Raikonnen (once again not incisive) for which he had already received a 5” penalty (maybe too few as well). More uniformity is needed, regardless of the driver’s name.

Mercedes put away Suzuka with another one-two finish. It again showed that it can manage every situation in the best way possible and to be able to dictate the race. There are four more races until the end and only the mathematics does not allow the team to celebrate yet another triumphant season.

Red Bull lost an opportunity, especially after the very good performance in qualifying that was annulled by a mistake in race strategy. The duel with Sauber for eighth place is still alive, while Haas and Racing Point Force India have made up points respectively on Renault (only one point with Sainz) and McLaren.

The GP’s best driver? Surely Lewis Hamilton who was perfect in every occasion.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP Russia, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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It was a very tight grand prix when Mercedes had to resort to all the possible strategies in order to beat a good Ferrari which can only regret giving 2-3 tenths of a second to its direct rivals. Once again Bottas sacrificed himself for his team mate (but I do not condemn the act) even though we saw the essence of the weekend in the fifteenth lap when Hamilton overtook Vettel.

Toto Wolff’s team found once more found the policy of the best times and Ferrari must regret its mistakes (in strategy and drivers) when the circumstances favourable.

Bottas was the weekend’s best driver and was perfect in both qualifying and the race when he managed to keep Hamilton’s rhythm. It was the perfect race for young Leclerc who finished in seventh place with the Sauber, just behind the two Red Bull drivers and so gave the team important points in the direct duel with Toro Rosso. The driver from Monaco set fantastic times, especial between the 34th and 42nd laps. Max Verstappen was very good in taking full advantage of his tyres by covering more than 40 laps. Pirelli should give us some explanations since these tyres are performing very differently from the expectations and the technical desires at the start of the season.

In a week’s time we will be back for a new duel between Vettel and Hamilton on the track of a circuit with a historic flavour like Suzuka.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Italy THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Hamilton extraordinary. Ferrari, how many mistakes”

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In the light of the results in free practice and especially in qualifying the result of the race clearly disadvantages Ferrari that leaves Monza only with second place.

Unfortunately we saw the Festival of mistakes: Sebastian Vettel stumbled with the fifth mistake in the season barely thirty seconds after the green light, the people on the wall called Raikonnen into the pits too early and gave Hamilton the chance to run eight more laps, but I believe something was not working perfectly in the Finn’s car and he paid for this with excessive blistering of the right rear wheel, possibly due to an imperfect mix of the set or by a set up that was not the best.

We are witnessing an exciting struggle between two great constructors that is very tight even in the verbal exchanges and the strategies. Bottas’ message was clear when he slowed Raikonnen to favour Hamilton’s come back. Games are part of F1 and they show how important it is to have two drivers in play. This must give Ferrari something to think about for the near future.

Monza gave us a tight grand prix run on the edge of hundredths of a second where Hamilton did not make the slightest mistake. He came close bringing home the maximum result. He was perfect in every circumstance: at the start, when he overtook Vettel and in the final charge on the Finn. We waited an instant before lunging on Raikonnen which was backed up by his team’s strategy as well. Faced with such a driver it will be very hard for Vettel to close the gap with only seven grands prix still to be run.

The Grand Prix’s best driver? Surely Hamilton. He did not make the slightest mistake and always raced on the attack, keeping his rival under pressure. Bottas’ small assist is something that happens.

I must congratulate all the public because it answered in the best way possible and by filling the terraces showed how important this round is for Italians. These were three exciting days. We will now wait and see what will happen in Singapore.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Spa-Francorchamps, Ferrari wins with Vettel. THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Now everybody at Monza”

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A perfect Ferrari won at Spa-Francorchamps. At this time the car is achieving positive results and has shown that in dry conditions it is superior compared to Mercedes as we saw right from the start when Vettel masterfully overtook Hamilton. The situation is reversed on a wet track when car and driver are inferior to pairing of Hamilton-Mercedes.

It was without a shadow of doubt a great, very tight grand prix run at heart pounding pace on the edge of tenths of seconds, as we saw above all between the 15th and 20th laps between the two pretenders to the throne.

It was a pity about Kimi Raikonnen who was cut off by a contact at the first curve. He too would probably have fought for a place on the podium. The result was a morale boost for all the team and brings a breath of fresh air in view of the last part of the season and the arrival of the Circus at Monza. Vettel nibbled away seven precious points from Hamilton. After the gifts in the previous grands prix (see Germany) he must continuously finish in front of his British rival.

It was an excellent race by Max Verstappen which excited the public and many of his fans came to support him. I would like to see this scenario at Monza as well. All the fans are needed to help Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel in this pursuit. Sadly the lack of an Italian driver on the starting grid is felt but at this time the market has been unleashed and the next few days will be crucial. There are still many unknown factors, above all in the second division teams, where I hope Mercedes will find a place for Ocon after the arrival of the new owner who gave life back to Racing Point Force India. We still need to understand what will happen in Williams to Stroll and McLaren (Vandoorne) and Sauber. In short there are still many pieces to be placed, as well as deciding Raikonnen’s future. Sincerely in Ferrari I would choose a younger line to place to support Vettel. We will wait and see.

Meanwhile I am very happy for Racing Point Force India that began its adventure with fifth and sixth place with Perez and Ocon behind Bottas. On the other hand there was an important mistake by Nico Hulkenberg who set off the pile-up at the start. He came decidedly long into the first chicane (he had two gears more than the other drivers who were ahead of him). Luckily the new safety systems avoided the worst but we must stop and think for a minute that at Monza the first chicane is after a kilometre from the start and they get there at very much higher speeds.

I look forward to seeing many of you at Monza.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Hungary, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “Ferrari must regret two mistakes”

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Lewis Hamilton closed the tour-de-force of 4 grands prix in five weeks with another very important win that brings his advantage over his direct rival Sebastian Vettel to 24 points. Hamilton is the driver in the best shape at the wheel of the best car supported also by the most valid squire, Valtteri Bottas who was certainly the protagonist of a great race when he thrashed Vettel, even if he then ruined everything in the final laps when he touched the Ferrari driver and then also Ricciardo. Bottas clearly had problems with his tyres and now we will wait and see what the marshals decide.

Ferrari says goodbye to Budapest with second and third place and more points than expected, even if they must regret the two mistakes in the pit stops that cost Vettel and Raikonnen precious seconds that would surely have allowed them to come back onto the track in front of Mercedes’ Finn driver.

It was a great race by Ricciardo. On this occasion Red Bull did not live up to expectations and also suffered problems of reliability that forces Verstappen to retire. The Australian was very good as he managed in any case to finish at the foot of the podium after the order to Bottas gave him back the position.

It was a very good result also for Toro Rosso reaching sixth place with Gasly and for McLaren that finished in eighth place with Fernando Alonso. I am sorry to see Force India in difficulty as the team had achieved incredible results in the last two years.

Now we have to wait three weeks for the world championship to start once more at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. However, this Mercedes is now scary, especially in view of two such very fast tracks.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Germany, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “A very serious mistake by Vettel”

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A few laps from the finishing line Sebastian Vettel threw away a win and a very important result in light of the world championship. In 11 grands prix this is already the fourth mistake made by the German and this must give Ferrari something to think about. They must be proud of the work in the factory but they have to ponder on how their drivers work. Compared to Mercedes Ferrari came out defeated.
The race confirmed that this is a season in which mistakes will play a crucial role and, once again, the the leadership changed with Hamilton taking the lead with a gap of 17 points from Vettel. He took off from fourteenth place and played the leading role with a sensational comeback that ended with a win in front of his team mate and also after setting the fastest lap time during the final stage. It was an impressive show of force by Mercedes with Toto Wolff taking back the reins of the team.
All weekend Ferrari showed that it has a truly great car but it was not enough. In seven days we will be back on the track in Budapest which will conclude the tour-de-force and usher in the summer break. It will be a good opportunity for Vettel to be on the prowl for redemption and we hope that this episode will not have repercussions on the rest of the season. On this occasion I wish Sergio Marchionne all the best for a quick recovery and to the new president John Elkann.
It was certainly a race that became exciting only with the arrival of the rain with some teams that tried to make a master stroke with strategies that did not pay off such as Red Bull and Sauber. It was choice that cost important points, especially for Sauber’s Leclerc. We anxiously await the race in Hungary.
Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp Great Britain, Ferrari wins with Vettel. THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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Ferrari that wins so well on a track such as that of Silverstone, which on paper should have been unfavourable, says a lot about the path to the world championship and can only be a good sign in view of the next two rounds in Germany and Hungary.

We saw an absolutely fantastic weekend and race that was run to the sound of battle until the last lap. Ferrari showed that it is decidedly worthy of the situation with excellent work by the drivers, mechanics and the people at the wall. Qualifying was also stupendous with records and a minimal gap (44 thousandths of a second) between two world champions who shared the front row.

Lewis Hamilton will surely be very angry even though he made a great climb back to second place in any case, limiting the damage. I surely do not share his behaviour because a World Champion such as he must respect the rules and must know how to deal with any negative situation even from the media point of view.

Kimi Raikonnen took all the blame for colliding with the British driver even if I do not share this manner of assigning penalties with decisions far removed between one episode and another and too subjective. The Finnish driver made a mistake and he was rightly penalized but in other occasions the penalties were much lighter. Excluding the mistake in the first lap the Finn became a leading player with a solid race that finished in third place ahead of Bottas.

Ferrari leaves Silverstone after having consolidated its leadership in both ladders, with the twenty point advantage over Mercedes in the Constructors’ championship and with Vettel holding scoring an eight point lead over Hamilton.

We prepare for the second part of the tour-de-force in two weeks time with another two grands prix (Germany and Hungary) in successive weeks before the summer break.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 |Gp Austria, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi “It was the weekend of mistakes”

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The weekend in Austria was the festival of mistakes by the teams. It began Saturday with Ferrari’s people at the wall who did not advise their driver that Sainz was arriving and today with Mercedes that did not call Hamilton into the pits under the VSC after Bottas’ retirement.

I think the marshals used a heavy hand with Vettel since Sainz had in any case reached Q3 but in all probability they did not want to set a precedent. Hamilton’s retirement at the 54th lap patched up the strategy. Despite an important technical advantage Mercedes confirmed the reliability problems of its gearbox. It was a race full of retirements caused by the very tight rhythm. We have come into a very heated month of July which from now until the end will give us another three grands prix. It will be interesting to see who will be the best at managing this tour-de-force.

Formula 1 is once more going back to the maximum competition with a large gap between the three top teams and the rest of the group. We witnessed an order of arrival that rewarded the teams in pairs with 2 Ferraris, 2 Haas, 2 Force Indias and two Saubers with the only exceptions the winner Max Verstappen with the sole Red Bull and Fernando Alonso who finished in eight place after starting in pit lane.

It was a result that surely rewarded Ferrari with an outcome that was almost unexpected. Kimi Raikonnen deserved to finish in second place having tried until the end to attack the Dutch driver, by setting fast lap times and therefore it was correct for the people at the barrier to maintain the positions of the two drivers. For the third time in as many grands prix the head of the ladder changed with Vettel in command once more.

In seven days we will be back on the track for the tenth round of the world championship at the British circuit of Silverstone which, on paper, will favour Mercedes, even if Vettel and Ferrari will come to the appointment with its morale high.

We are waiting to see what will happen.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Gp France, THE POINT by Gian Carlo Minardi

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With Hamilton’s win and Vettel’s fourth place there is once more the 14 point gap between the two drivers that existed before the Canadian Grand Prix. In France the situation was turned upside down once more, this time in favour of the British driver. This is the confirmation that we are faced with a championship that will be uncertain until the end and where mistakes will make the difference. This time it was the Ferrari driver’s turn to make one.

Vettel started very well trying to attack Bottas immediately at the first curve, however they collided. It is not a matter of being caught up in the heat, above all when you run on a track where, as we saw, it is possible to overtake. It was a grand prix with a number of overtaking manoeuvres and between the number two drivers Kimi Raikonnen was not caught unprepared. In addition to overtaking a number of cars he also gained a good podium in front of Red Bull which, with Verstappen, was the protagonist of a great grand prix close behind the winner.

On paper the Paul Ricard was a race in favour of Mercedes and Hamilton’s times confirmed this, especially in light of the times set from the 23rd to the 26th laps.

It was once again a decidedly positive weekend for Leclerc who “gave” Alfa Romeo Sauber a vital point on the occasion of the Milanese carmaker’s 108th anniversary, showing that he is now ready to make a leap in quality. The moods are decidedly different at Williams and McLaren that are paying a heavy price of assessment and organization. Williams’ situation is inexplicable as, despite counting upon a fantastic Mercedes motor, it is not going through the development and growth that had been hinted at in recent years. It is surely not being helped by its two drivers. It is certainly clear that McLaren’s problems are to be found within and the prediction made by Alonso lets us understand that they are well aware of their limits. They are two of the most famous teams in the history of F1 and it is very sad to witness this involution.

We now start a very intense and hot month of July with four appointments (Austria, England, Germany and Hungary) within five weeks in which there will be no time to breathe and at its end we will have a very significant picture.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | Canadian Gp, THE POINT of Gian Carlo Minardi

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Ferrari gained its third win for the season and regained command of the world championship ladder with Sebastian Vettel who made the best of the whole weekend by setting pole position and the win. Ferrari did not start in the best of fashions but it managed to overturn the situation between Friday and Saturday with a lot of hard work by the German, as well as by his technicians. Kimi Raikonnen disappointed by finishing the race behind both the Mercedes and both the Red Bulls.

Lewis Hamilton was also off his game after having suffered, particularly in qualifying and, subsequently also in the race by finishing only in fifth place. On the other hand the race was positive for Valtteri Bottas’ and Red Bull’s two drivers. Despite running the race in defence, Daniel Riccardo finished in fourth place just behind a strong Verstappen. They will be the deciding factors in a very balanced struggle between Mercedes and Ferrari.

As happened in recent races, Pirelli too did not meet expectations since the mixes did not show the differences in performance that were expected. A number of different strategies were expected but they did not then occur. In two weeks F1 will be back in France at the Paul Ricard Circuit and Pirelli will bring the mixes with the tread reduced by 0.4mm which made their debut in Spain.

Fernando Alonso “celebrated” his 300th grand prix with a retirement, even though he will be able to make a quick come back in a week’s time at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The Spaniard’s future is drawing further away from F1 and could go the way of endurance or Indy races. Le Mans is a very coveted objective for all drivers who boast one or more world championships and for Alonso it would be another good objective, even if this year’s edition is poorer due to the loss of a number of top players. In any case, I wish him the best of luck and I will surely follow him in this new challenge.

We file away a grand prix that was poor in emotions, even if it is a normal enough situation when we witness a technical levelling such as we have this year with Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull very close to each other. On the other hand, just behind them there is no lack of competition as today’s ladder shows with Hulkenberg and Sainz’s Renaults, Ocon’s Force India and Leclerc’s Sauber just behind Ferrari’s Finnish driver.

The next appointment will be in France in two weeks.

Gian Carlo Minardi