Posts

F1 | GP HUNGARY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “40 FORTY YEARS FROM THE FIRST EDITION AND THE MINARDI TEAM’S DEBUT IN F1”

/in , , /by

For the fourteenth round of the World Championship, Formula 1 arrives at the Hungaroring in Budapest to cross the line of the 40th edition – just like the years since the Minardi Team’s debut in the F1 World Championship – with eleven rounds still to go.

The Hungaroring will be the last round before the (well-deserved) summer break and will most likely be the watershed moment for many realities, in particular, the smaller teams which will then have to make the important decision of whether to continue focussing on the season or to channel all their efforts towards 2026.

In particular, I refer to those teams occupying the second half of the ladder, led by Sauber with 43 points, followed by Racing Bulls (41), Aston Martin (36), Haas (35, and finally Alpine bringing up the rear with 20 points.  The gaps are very small and all it takes is a positive result (see Sauber’s podium in Silverstone with Hulkenberg) to turn the situation around. At the moment, Aston Martin is focussed on internal reorganization and 2026, with repercussions on the results on the track.

They take to a track that is practically a wide kart circuit where qualifying plays a crucial role. The weather could also be an unknown factor that should not be underestimated with highly variable temperatures throughout the weekend (expected to drop from about 30 degrees on the Friday to the 25° forecast for Sunday) with the possibility of rain as well. These changes could also have repercussions on the tyres, with Pirelli bringing the C3, C4 and C5. Usually, the evolution of performances during the weekend is very marked on this track, especially during the first two days. Graining could appear during Friday’s free practice and then gradually decrease as the cars rubberize the asphalt. High thermal wear is a factor that the drivers will have to deal with even in the qualifying lap, with the Soft tyre that – if not managed adequately – could put them in difficulty in the last two bends of the track, just as the supplier points out.

The Hungaroring will not be the stage of the last days of Formula 1 activity before the summer break. In fact, a session of tests for the developments of the tyres for 2026 will also be held at the circuit, scheduled for Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 August with the collaboration of Ferrari (one day), Racing Bulls (one day), McLaren (one day) and Alpine (two days). The tests will be used to decide on the designs for next year.

On the track front, it will be interesting to follow the internal battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with the Australian winning in Belgium, extending his lead over his teammate. Positive signs came from Ferrari with Leclerc’s third place and Hamilton’s partial comeback, thus reinforcing their second place in the constructors’ championship.

Gian Carlo Minardi

F1 | GP AUSTRALIA, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “A BREATH OF FRESH AIR”

/in , , , /by

The first win of the season and the first double for Ferrari that took advantage of Max Verstappen’s retirement in the best of ways. It was a breath of fresh air for Ferrari (and F1) that said goodbye to Melbourne with a number of positive signs dictated by a competitive car which in the end also set the fastest lap with Leclerc.

The first sign of fragility in the Red Bull came a few laps after the start, even if the problems of Verstappen’s car emerged right from the first bends, probably due to an imperfect assembly. This “fall” does not cancel the excellent start of the RB 20 and the Dutchman who remains the point of reference, but the 56” gap from the leader Sainz suffered by Sergio Perez could represent a further alarming sign.

We saw a tight grand prix for all 58 laps with a nice sequence of laps by the Ferrari and McLaren drivers. Norris made his best performance in the 50th lap, then definitively bettered by Leclerc in the 57th.

Reliability problems also for Mercedes with the retirement of both drivers. I believe the exit from the track in the end was the result of a technical problem because the rear the “bucked” on him.

And taking advantage of the situation were the two Haas which took the points zone with Nico Hulkenberg (9th) and Keving Magnussen (P10). It was an excellent race also by Fernando Alonso ahead of his teammate Stroll. First points for Tsunoda with the RB (8th).

It was also a positive weekend for our young men involved in F2 and F3. Andrea Kimi Antonelli taking fourth place brilliantly making up for Saturday’s mistake. I believe the team still has a good margin for improvement because they were struggling in the straight despite the DRS. Second and third place for Formaroli and Mini respectively. Certainly, a good sign for the future.

Gian Carlo Minardi

[UPDATE] With the 20″ penalty imposed on Fernando Alonso, considered responsible for triggering George Russell’s accident on the last lap, the Spaniard slips to 8th place with Tsunoda 7th and Stroll in 6th

MINARDI M192 | GIAN CARLO MINARDI’S DEBUT IN “HIS” IMOLA

/in , /by

Sunday May 7, 2017, Imola’s Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit. This was certainly another important date in the history of the Minardi Team and especially for Gian Carlo Minardi.

Since we began this trip amongst the cars from Faenza many of you fans have asked us to tell the story of the Lamborghini powered Minardi M192 but we deliberately waited.

As we said, May 7, 2017. Why this date rather than go back to May 17, 1992, the day of the M 192’s debut in the Formula 1 World Championship at the San Marino Grand Prix (the 5th Grand Prix)?

We are again at the Santerno circuit but the occasion was the second edition of the Historic Minardi Day, the event created by Gian Carlo Minardi together with his brothers and brought to the track alongside Formula Imola.

Collector and driver Fritz van Eerd made available to Gian Carlo Minardi the M192-Lamborghini (ex Fittipaldi. Zanardi and Morbidelli) who thus made his absolute debut at the wheel of one of his cars. In fact, we discovered that before then Gian Carlo had never wanted to try one of his cars.

The circuit’s pit lane and terrace were full of fans and the Gian Carlo’s exit from the pit was accompanied by a roar and applause.

“It was a magic moment and I must thank my friend Frits van Eerd. This event will stay in the history of the Historic Minardi Day, also because I’m sure I set the slowest ever lap at the wheel of a racing car,” remembered a smiling Gian Carlo.

The racing car designed by Aldo Costa mounted a Lamborghini engine-gearbox group and is characterized by a highly visible front wing inspired by the Jordan (which proved to be rather unstable).

This solution was the main cause of the performance problems of the car as it was extremely hard to find a good compromise between slow and fast, while on some circuits such as Hungaroring and Spa it was downright undriveable.

At high speed the front wing loaded too much forcing penalizing choices on the set up to avoid under steer at speed. In view of the Italian GP in Monza the team decided to take a step back and returned to the design of the M191 and the balance of the car changed radically.

Not coincidentally, on that weekend Morbidelli took 10th place on the starting grid while in Japan Fittipaldi took a deserved 6th place.

It was a car with major potential, unfortunately created badly, but it is still in the hearts of many fans. Since May 7, 2017 there is also another reason.