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F1 | GP AZERBAIJAN, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “51 HEARTSTOPPING LAPS. PIASTRI PHENOMENAL. PEREZ-SAINZ? THE MEXICAN WITH THE GREATEST FAULT

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These young men know how to entertain us. They gave us 51 heart stopping laps with as many as 4 drivers within little more than two seconds. Piastri, Leclerc and Perez within less than one and a half seconds.

It was a hard-fought grand prix, won by a very good Oscar Piastri, author of a wonderful overtaking move at Leclerc’s expense, but above all skilful in managing the not easy situation on a track as complicated as Baku. This is certainly not a surprise because Piastri is a young man with all the credentials to make people talk about him. Plus, he has a car that is a notch above all the others, that allows him to brake later than the others and with better DRS. This was particularly evident when he overtook the Ferrari driver. He was able to recover 5 tenths of a second, against the mere 2 tenths of Leclerc, the author of a magnificent pole position. This however should make the men in Maranello pause for thought.

It was a shame only about the finish. We could have had a race with no interruptions despite a very high pace.

Until that moment it was an incredible comeback by Carlos Sainz, after a sluggish first part of the race. It was an equally remarkable race by Sergio Perez, who always gives his best on these tracks. Right now, Red Bull’s difficulties seem to be punishing mostly Max Verstappen. It is not easy to analyse the Sainz-Perez collision. Speaking from the television images, it seems to me that the Mexican had a higher percentage of blame since the Spaniard was ahead of him. Plus, he did not have a favourable view of him. He had plenty of space to move, there was enough to the left, to avoid the fatal contact.

Sainz’s retirement cost Ferrari dearly in terms of points, with the gap from the lead growing to 54 points with another seven races still to go.

It was a double celebration for McLaren. In addition to the win, it also took home the leadership of the constructors’ ladder, climbing above Red Bull after 55 races. Lando Norris’s race was also to be applauded. Starting from fifteenth position, he finished fifth ahead of Verstappen, also taking the additional point for the fastest lap-

The double retirement favoured George Russell, who took an unhoped-for podium, as well as the 2 Williams drivers and Oliver Berman, protagonists of an excellent weekend and rewarded with important points. Positive results especially for the two young men (Colapinto and Berman). The Argentine, an excellent shield bearer in regard to Albon. In his second grand prix, Berman once more entered the points zone with two different teams. Certainly not a result to be taken for granted driving a Haas.

We are approaching the final rounds which we predict will be fiery I am looking forward to seeing what will happen in Singapore street circuit.

As for our flag bearers, important results came in, starting with Gabriele Mini’s podium in Formula 2 (on his debut). Followed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s third place despite a car damaged in a collision. In Japan, Davies Rigon drove the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 to the win in the FIA WEC World championship, and Raffaele Marcielllo took second place at the wheel of the BMW Hypercar. These results are all a source of great pride, as well as the fruit of the work carried out over all these years by the Federation and ACI Sport.

Gian Carlo Minardi

 

F1 | GP HUNGARY, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “RED BULL’S MORAL, SPORTING AND TECHNICAL SLAP”

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Hungary was the setting for the new qualifying format which saw the drivers face up to three sessions with the imposed compounds. A new experiment which requires further verdicts, but I find the signs decidedly positive. It can have a future. We saw a wonderful tussle on the edge of hundredths of a second. In Q2 sixteen cars were enclosed within a gap of barely 7 tenths of a second. In Q3 ten cars in little more than half a second with Hamilton, Verstappen, and Norris in 85 thousandths. It is easy to see surprises as happened with George Russell who went from the “rags” to “riches”. I am curious to see it repeated in Monza.

As far as the grand prix is concerned, what can I say? Max Verstappen was superlative, supported by a great Red Bull- They confirmed they are absolutely unbeatable. Verstappen crossed the finish line 33.7” ahead of Lando Norris, an excellent second place with McLaren, confirming the excellent evolutionary step already seen in Austria and England.

Oscar Piastri confirmed what I have been saying for some time, he is growing from race to race, above all since the World Championship has come to the tracks he already knew. More, now that he is also supported technically. He is possibly lightly punished by the strategies in favour of Norris, an English driver in an English car.

Too bad for Lewis Hamilton. With the imperfect start he denied himself the podium finding himself quickly behind not only Verstappen’s Red Bull, but also the two McLarens.

Sergio Perez completed his task, considering the car available to him. After a disastrous Saturday he recovered the podium, the minimum result. His teammates domination has probably demoralized him. Friday’s mistake was very serious, on the first lap on a wet track. A driver who aspires for the world championship cannot make these mistakes.

An equally serious mistake by Charles Leclerc in pit lane, even if it cost him little considering the 70” gap (which would have been 65 without the penalty) paid in regard to Verstappen. In any case, if you want to play for the world championship you cannot trip over such trivialities. A mistake also by the team, with the left rear. There is certainly great nervousness in Ferrari. The team cannot find a way out.

Today Red Bull also inflicted a lesson and moral, technical, and sporting slap to everyone with a pitstop that finished in 1.9” (Ferrari made 2.6”), to which must be added the best lap of the race by the Dutchman in 1:20.540. The only one to fall under the 1:21 barrier was Lewis Hamilton, the best of the others, who stopped at 1:21.601. Lando Norris 1:22.178. Charles Leclerc 1:22.469.

Now we only have to wait for Spa-Francorchamps before the summer break.

Gian Carlo Minardi

GIAN CARLO MINARDI CALLS ALL THE FANS TO IMOLA “WE’RE READY. A WONDERFUL WEEKEND AWAITS US”

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If, on the one hand the Azerbaijan GP gave us the usual unstoppable Red Bull which set the third double of the season (in the first four rounds), on the other hand Ferrari set its seal on the double pole position and on the two podiums with Charles Leclerc interrupting the positive streak of Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin (always on the podium since the start of the season).

“I was left positively impressed by the two times set by Leclerc in the final part of the GP with the fuel tank full and hard tyres. The driver from Monte Carlo lapped in the same times as Verstappen and Perez staying in the tussle for the fastest lap, together with Nando (which then went to George Russell after the pit-stop). It was exciting. A positive sign, above all connected to the wear of the tyres, one of the SF-23’s Achille’s heels,” commented the President of Formula Imola, Gian Carlo Minardi.

Leclerc crossed the finish line little more than 21 seconds from the winner Perez, paying a gap of 44 tenths of a second per lap. “A major step forward compared to the 7-8 tenths of a second at the start of the season. Ferrari managed to make the most of the month without races to make its car grow, also because now demanding tour-de-force awaits them with 5 GPs in six weeks”.

After Miami the world championship will come to Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit for the Qatar Airways Gran Prix of the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna from May 19 to 21. “At Imola I expect even smaller gaps. Ferrari and Aston Martin could start to interfere in Red Bull’s schedule. Amongst other things it will be the setting for a new form of qualifying: the drivers will face Q1 with the hard compound, Q2 with the medium and Q3 the soft. An unknown factor to keep us entertained and a major reason to support Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and all our favourites. I hope to see many fans also on the Friday and Saturday when there will also be support races”.

The President of Formula Imola called all the enthusiasts and fans together to experience the first European round with many new features, and an intense racing programme between Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3 e Porsche Supercup “If the teams have taken advantage of this month long gap to develop their racing cars, we have worked to make the Circuit as accessible and comfortable as possible. In order to satisfy the needs of the fans we have set up another six grandstands and other new developments will be announced soon. Furthermore, the weekend’s programme will be full of races, with many Italians already protagonists. Above all in Formula 3” Tickets are on sale on the Circuit’s website.

F1 – Spanish Grand Prix, race: Gian Carlo Minardi point

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red_bull.jpg'The end result of the Spanish Grand Prix accurately reflects the forces in the field this season, with a Red Bull unstoppable unless reliability problems, as we saw with the clear victory of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel accused by the problem on ‘ braking system
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