monza Archivi - Minardi

A fantastic weekend just finished at Monza on both the technical and sporting points of view with the new record set in qualifying by Max Verstappen, which he then converted into a stunning win with a lead of almost 20” over the two McLaren drivers, It will be interesting to see whether this trend, dictated by Laurent Mekies, will continue throughout the rest of the season.

It was a sensational weekend also on the side of the participation of the public with Monza, breaking all the attendance records, which demonstrated how much passion there is in Italy for Motorsport, with a spectacular invasion of the track.

Going back to the Grand Prix, I was left positively impressed with the sportiness, calmness and organization by McLaren when they asked Piastri, the current leader of the world championship, to give back to Norris the position he had lost due to a mistake by the team during the pit stop (a problem with the front left). Without wasting time, Oscar immediately let his teammate pass, who thanked him the gesture. I do not know how many other teams, and drivers, would have done the same thing. Amongst other things, McLaren wanted to give a strong message by setting the fastest lap of the race in the penultimate lap.

On the other hand, I did not like Toto Wolff’s comments after the race when he declared he was not satisfied with fifth and ninth places by Russell and Antonelli, highlighting that only one driver did well today, Max Verstappen. Such comments are not good for a team that is already experiencing a few problems. A TP should protect his team. I was surprised by the penalty for Antonelli which came on the last lap when the fact happened on the 46^th lap.

Fourth place overall for Ferrari that tried everything to exceed its potential by focussing on a low down-force setup. However, this result represents the maximum achievable with this car.

It was an excellent result for Albon, seventh with Williams, and then for Bortoleto just behind him with Sauber. Albon was able to overturn a qualifying session that ended only with fourteenth place, by fighting for the top positions by setting some very interesting times.

We await eight interesting rounds. In two weeks, at Baku, McLaren could confirm tits championship title. While the internal battle between its two drivers remains open. While we wait for the Azerbaijan GP, I look forwards to seeing many of you at Imola for the 9^th edition of the Historic Minardi Day, where I expect to find the same enthusiasm experienced over the last few days at Monza. It would be a nice gesture towards all the collectors who, with great dedication and passion, often working in the evenings to prepare their cars to come to have fun on the track and to entertain the fans. I am looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14.

Gian Carlo Minardi

With these values it truly takes very little to alter those results that seem already written and defined. It all began with two mistakes in the pits that brought Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen together at the first after the relative stops. Neither of the two wanted to lift his foot off the peddle and, as a spur of the moment comment, I would say that the blame is fifty-fifty. In the first lap they had already given each other a “small kiss”.

The tension between these two drivers is certainly very high and FIA should go into damage control to bring them back onto the right path. This tension then deprived us of the two main protagonists but at the same time gave us a wonderful and very tight grand prix with six drivers within the space of just eight seconds. There was no lack of penalties, as in the case of Perez who “gave” third place to an excellent Bottas who has started from the back of the grid. Full points for McLaren. With the double and the fastest lap by Daniel Ricciardo in the last lap the team strongly consolidated third place amongst the constructors, at Ferrari’s expense.

A wonderful weekend has ended with ACI that wanted the presence of the eighteen medals winners from Tokyo at Monza. The celebration Saturday morning with which the Parabolica curve was named after Michele Alboreto was moving and I had the great honour of being beside President Sticchi Damiani, Jean Todt, Matteo Binotto and Michele’s family.

There was a great friendship with Michele. He began and ended his career in open wheels with the Minardi Team, giving me the first and only win. He took the last point of his career at the Monaco Grand Prix at the wheel of the M194. We had been making many plans aimed at the growth of young drivers. We are carrying out this project with the school that bears his name, collecting important results with ACI Sport.

Once again Monza has given an important signal. This Grand Prix deserves continuity. And to conclude this extraordinary weekend, as of today the high chicane at Imola takes the name of the Fausto Gresini curve.

In two weeks the tussle will start up again with the Russian GP.

Gian Carlo Minardi