Ferrari Archivi - Minardi

F1 | HONDA IS LEAVING, GIAN CARLO MINARDI “THEY CONFIRMED THE INITIAL PROGRAMME. MANY SCENARIOS ARE OPENING”

Redazione — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 10:00:46 +0000

The news came like a bolt out of the blue. The Japanese company announced its withdrawal at the end of next season, leaving both Red Bull racing and Alpha Tauri without a supplier.

“Certainly for those directly interested it was not unexpected news and they will already be moving on a number of fronts,” commented Gian Carlo Minardi reached by telephone at Mugello where he is involved in the ACI Sport Racing Weekend.

“Honda’s departure is the result of the new Concord Agreement which allows everyone to leave Formula 1 with only a year’s notice without having to pay a penalty. Honestly, it’s not a good sign for the paddock. This news has blown everyone away, even if it was part of the initial plan by the Japanese who had stated right from the start their stay was up to 2021,” continued the manager from Faenza.

Honda is ready to end a cycle that was certainly not easy, even if they had started to reap the rewards with Red Bull which must now knock on the doors of Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes. “This decision opens many scenarios, one of which is the change of strategy by Mercedes with a programme directed solely at supplying engines. Mercedes could sell its team.”

In addition to the supply by Mercedes, the other channel could be the return of the Renault Power-Unit which from next year will be in the World Championship with the Alpine brand. “The relations between Red Bull and Renault were not the happiest for which the collaboration had an abrupt ending but at this time anything is possible” Honda’s exit could also be read as the failure of the hybrid era “The reality is that in this moment there are no news constructors interested in entering the world championship and from 2021 we will have only three engine producers. Not the best for the image of F1,” concluded Gian Carlo Minardi.

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F1 | Tests, The analysis by Gian Carlo MINARDI. Red Bull is scary

Redazione — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 11:21:36 +0000

The lights have gone off on the second round of collective tests in Montmelò and it is certainly not easy to make an analysis, even if we ned to start from two fixed points:

– We are at the end of a technical cycle and on from the technical point of view these cars have reached their limit;

– The tyres are the same as last season.

The improvement in terms of timing, in the order of some tenths of a second compared to twelve months ago, are perfectly in line, just as it is much easier to gain half a second(if not a second) between one season and another and another with the inclusion of a new mix. Working only on the aerodynamics and the engine two-three years of development are needed to achieve the same objective.

What caught the eye was the gap of barely a second and a half between the first and the last (1’16”196 by Bottas and 1’17”803 by Albon). Honestly this gap is unrealistic and this must make us think but we will know the real forces at play in Melbourne.

What is scary is Red Bull. I have the impression it is one of the top teams, they have carried out the next major stage of development of the chassis and they had kept themselves hidden. In the latest attempt last Friday Verstappen clearly lifted his foot on T3 and his best time of 1’16”269 (a 71 thousandths from Bottas) could have been much lower.

Mercedes is illegible. They too have kept themselves under cover. Just like the satellite teams they encountered unexpected problems in reliability but they could have deliberately pushed their pieces to the limit to test their resistance.

Ferrari has grown compared to the first three days of tests, with different tests on the tyres even if they do not feel ready to fight for victory in the first part of the season.

Gian Carlo Minardi

Foto © Copyright: Moy / XPB Image

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MINARDI “DAS IS A DECOY. I WILL EXPLAIN WHY”

Redazione — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 08:58:19 +0000

The 2020 Formula 1 season started officially with the first three days of tests at Montmelò. Even if it is hard to guess the forces at play there was no lack of surprises and twists.

In particular the three days put into the spotlight two issues, one positive and spectacular – the Mercedes labelled Dual Axis Steering – and one negative dictated by clones that I want to deal with later.

Despite being at the end of a cycle – from 2021 the technical regulations will be turned upside down – Mercedes amazed everyone with a new development that had never been seen before in Motorsport, the innovated steering system named DAS that is already present in some high end production cars. This was unlike what we had been used to with production car technology passed on to Motorsport and not vice versa. This lets us understand how far Mercedes is technologically and I am sorry that BMW did not decide to enter the Circus because it would have the skill to oppose the domination.

This is a project that requires a development time of about 7-8 months and carried out in parallel with FIA which has already declared it legal but at the same time bans it from 2021. Once again the International Federation has shown all the limits to its administration and approval of the regulations. Such behaviour puts the credibility of Formula 1 into serious question. I do not want to believe that they will use the excuse of a matter of safety. Otherwise everything in F1 would become dangerous.

I will stop here for now but in the next few days I will talk to you about the matter of “clones”.

Gian Carlo Minardi

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F1 – GP Cina: Gian Carlo Minardi point

Redazione — Tue, 04 May 2010 07:30:25 +0000

Once again we have seen a fun race, thanks in part to adverse weather conditions. For the analysis of the Chinese race but we must make a distinction between the results of the qualification and the race.

On Saturday the Red Bull has confirmed his supremacy again winning the first row with his bishops Vettel-Webber, though, as many of their colleagues, both missed their strategy during the race. Certainly did very well for McLaren, who designed two different strategies for its pilots, something that has not happened again in Ferrari, where, do not help anyone have implemented the same tactics. Beyond the second error in four starts (that made the uphill race in the drive-through) Fernando Alonso could have won the race, even if Jenson Button was the author of a perfect race, led by world champion. These first two victories of English, I think, are even more important of the six obtained last season.

Staying at home of the Prancing Horse, the red should get something on lap compared to Red Bull, even if the Spaniard can compensate with his right foot, as demonstrated on Saturday, pulling the Brazilian two tenths. Now we see what happens in Spain, with the first European Grand Prix, which traditionally have all the teams on track with numerous aerodynamic and techniques. On the engines would not say that there are particular problems, although the two broken engine may create some problems in front of more strategies, since we are only at the beginning of the season. Unlike Red Bull, which also mounts the engine of Ferrari, Sauber continued to have problems in this respect, although as I understand it all stems from an incompatibility with electronics, which then affects the engine.

Still a good performance by Nico Rosberg continued to grow and mature, creating hardships on teammate who, along with Massa, has struggled in the final race in Q3. Renault can defend itself: perhaps during the winter testing was a bit ‘underestimated. Kubica and Petrov have brought home important points that throw them into fifth place in the constructors’ championship, behind the Mercedes GP. Continuing on this path is difficult to lose the fifth place, although the first four are still too far away. I think the couple Schumacher-Rosberg will take home more points than Kubica-Petrov. For the first time saw the Russian earned a seventh place finish, leaving behind names like Webber, Massa and Schumacher. In all four races had some great starts and both he and his partner have optimized the potential of the car.

At this point I want to open a parenthesis on two episodes that have occurred in the pit lane: Hamilton-Vettel and Alonso-Massa, although very different from each other. At the end of pit stops in English is attached to the German, following the race in the lane dedicated to employees of work. Although it was a little behind, should give way to Sebastian. I do not understand why the Commissioners have decided not to fine. The situation is different between two Ferrari drivers, where Fernando had to take risks to avoid reliving the incident in Malaysia. Even then, however, the Ferrari driver to overtake his companion, passed with at least two wheels over the white line. Until a few years ago an incident like this would have been penalized. The direction of travel should be more careful in certain episodes, so that we can repeat. A situation like this could become dangerous.

With the arrival of the circus in Europe teams begin to define the first guides and the Michael Schumacher, if he does not wake up in the next races, it could risk being cut off from the fight for the title. The new scoring system, which rewards the victory, leads the championship is more fun and open up the top six, although with the passing Kubica races will come off from the rest of the group. Compared to the previous race, we had a sudden reversals of ranking with the world champion who conquered the summit.
Gian Carlo Minardi

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