Minardi is one of the historical names in Formula 1, being that of a team that raced in the top motor racing category for twenty years. Its founder, Gian Carlo Minardi, has spent more than half his life around the world of Formula 1 and is now president of the company that manages the Imola Autodrome. GpBlog conducted a long interview with him, which will be published in several parts on this site, and among other things asked him for his opinion on the current Formula 1.

The 2023 season as seen by Minardi

The former owner of the Minardi team believes that it is not only Ferrari that is lagging behind. "But I would say that everyone is in trouble, except Red Bull and a little Aston Martin ," he began, continuing: "For the insiders it was presumable that there was still a Red Bull supremacy, even if perhaps not so pronounced, because you have to consider that compared to last year, where it dominated the last ten races, it gained 7-8 tenths of a lap time. This was obviously not predictable.

Minardi believes that any Red Bull domination for the rest of the season would be bad for the sport. "Let's hope that the development of these cars will be fruitful, because it would be bad for Formula 1 if there was a supremacy, " he says , "Because the public proves it, when there is a tussle they are more present, they are more active, there is more audience . For Gian Carlo Minardi, having an unbeatable Red Bull would also have repercussions for the Formula 1 following.

"It's easy to go from the stars to the stables".

"I am 75 years old, of those 75 almost 40 of them I have spent close to Formula 1. I have known all the ups and downs that Formula 1 has had over the years, maybe even on my skin,' says Minardi, who then continues: 'Right now Formula 1 is going through a moment of great splendour, but you have to be very careful because it is easy to go from the stars to the stables'. His is therefore a warning to the top management of Formula 1, even though he believes that changes must still be made.

"I think Formula 1 will have to revise something, my thought is to reduce to two days what is the show of Formula 1 concentrating on Saturday and Sunday what is the sporting and technical part and on Friday maybe what is the show that at this moment Liberty Media and Formula 1 are asking for. So in my opinion we need to work on that more than diminishing practice,' he says. The clear reference is to Domenicali's statements about the possible cancellation of free practice.

'Yes, it is true that as Domenicali has said on certain occasions [free practice] only favours the work of the engineers and not the spectacle, but it is also true that in my opinion it is a bit reductive that a world championship with 23 grands prix has three days of practice, so one and a half days per driver, at the start of the championship,' Minardi replies when asked about this, and then concludes: "The history of Formula 1 has been one of duels between drivers, of tussles between teams and manufacturers, and this for me has to remain superior to what can obviously be the spectacle, which can perhaps be concentrated around what is the event of Formula 1".