The big and the small italian F1 team.

Does Ferrari do anything to help Minardi in a way or the other? It would be cool if the big italian team threw some technology and advice at the small italian team, especially that Minardi has a very hard time staying on the surface despite their long history with F1. And Minardi started with Ferrari engines way back then, but they couldn't afford that in the long run.

As a hungarian, I'd also love to see Zsolt get another point chance without retiring every single driver in front of him. If I understand correctly, Minardi cars don't even have the power-assisted steering? Most likely they would be happy if Ferrari let them comb the S.F. junkyard. Am I dreaming?

 

Back in the early 90s Minardi has a customer engine deal with Ferrari, and they actually did pretty well, regularly scoring points.

I don't know of much connection these day, except both being Bridgestone teams I think they might test together from time to time.

Minardi seems like a joke, but they definitely deserve credit for sticking it out and showing up week in and week out. The other thing is they could be in excellent position to team up with any remaining big manufactorers who want to get into F1 without paying Bernie Ecclestone's massive start up fees. GM and VW are both conspicously absent from F1, either could easily buy into Minardi and turn them into a powerhouse if a few years time. Minardi-Lamborghini... how cool would that be!!

 

That's been done. It was a miserable failure, but maybe the Audi budget will allow for a better outcome this time.

 

The other thing that Minardi does is bring young drivers into F1. Alonso and Webber come to mind.

 

According to the current F1 Concorde agreement, that binds the F1 teams and the sport untill 2007 - 2008, there have to be a minimum of 20 cars entered into each race. That works out perfectly with 10 teams and 2 cars per team. Minardi are present in F1 simply to make the number work. They provide experience to engineers, mechanics, and your drivers. If they mange to pick up a point or two in the entire season it is an added bonus.

I am afraid that there is no current relationsip between Ferrari and Minardi. Paul Stoddart, Minardi team principal, the Australian who bought Minardi just before the 2001 season began is self made millionaire that made his money from the aviation industry. It would be an understatement to say that is not too keen on any Ferrari involvement with Minardi and tries to distance himself as much as he can from Scuderia Ferrari.

At the end of the day, Paul Stoddart is a business man. He is not making a complete loss with Minardi. He has gained quite a bit of prestige for his other operations by being part of F1. On the whole F1 is like a little bit of fun for him that he takes seriously and F1 is fulfilling his overall organizational objective.

The only problem with Minardi and Paul Stoddart is the constant cribbing and whinning about F1 rules and regulations. They want equal TV time even though they are puttering around 3 to 4 laps down at the end of every race even if they finish the race. As I said they are there to make up the numbers, a point here or there is a big bonus.

 

What about Sauber? I know Ferrari and Sauber have close ties, but where is Sauber based?

 

Peter Sauber is Swiss

 

Sauber buys Ferrari engines and gearboxes from last season.

 

Actually, the engines and gearboxes are the same model of 10-cylinder engines used by Ferrari in the current F1 season. Sauber used to have Ferrari engines based on prior-year model units. But that changed this year. Now Ferrari have been given the order for the preparation of approximately 35 new engines at Maranello during the course of the 2004 season. These engines are now of the same model of 10-cylinder engines used by Ferrari in their current cars.

 

Minardi is the underdog, they do it for the love of the sport. It's nice to see teams that are not as big as Mclaren or Ferrari, or have the big budget as Toyota battling it out. It's true what you all have said about Minardi, they provide a stepping stone for bigger F1 teams. F1 needs small teams like Minardi as it needs big teams. teams like Mclaren constantly develops technology, while minardi develops future mechanics. Maybe im wrong but once thing is for sure, I love it when Minardi does well on sunday .

those are my thoughs....

 

I'd say Jordan qualifies as underdog too... They're almost as bad.

 

Well not for long. Jordan F1 team is in talks to be sold to the Royal family of Dubai. Dubai is a city in the United Arab Emirates. The crowned prince of Dubai is a very rich man and wants to relocate the Jordan team to Dubai. This will give the cash strapped outfit tons of money to compete with. I am sure they will be very competitive in a couple of years if this deal goes through.

 

Bernie Ecclestone is a significant shareholder in Minardi, for the only reason that makes sense - he needs to have the 10th team be somewhat viable and able to make every race. Other thatn that he really doesn't give a rat's arse whether Minardi is competitive or not. It's the same reason that the 107% rule went away.

 

I found an article about a visit to Faenza, which claimed:

- In 2003 Minardi had to borrow tires from Ferrari for pre-season F1 testing, because they did not have the hard cash required to buy their own sets in time. Finally they got their own sets and realized that the "Minardi-grade" tires were 1,5 seconds slower then the apparently same, but "Ferrari-graded" sets from the very same manufacturer!

So yes, Ferrari does help Minardi somewhat.

- In 2004 Minardi static-tested its F1 car with a faux engine, which was cast or 3D-printed from Cosworth's CAD file, because lack of cash delayed their engine order too long. BTW, their engine is openly declared to be an "economy-class" Cosworth.

- Minardi had to get permission to use a sub-scale car for F1 crash tests (all other teams use 1:1 mock-ups).

I am afraid they either find a new sponsor to fill the Wilux gap or some team migrating up from F-3000 will replace them in 2005.

 

I beg to differ. I believe all teams are created equal.
You see, just some teams have more "EQUALITY" than others.

Minardi are a necessary evil. The Concorde agrement that governs Formula 1 recquires 20 races cars to start per race. So they are there to make the numbers work. Wilux did not provide as much money to Minardi as Marlboro do to Ferrari. Also Paul Stoddart the team principal is a wealthy man. He can more than provide for the revenue they lost from Wilux.

It would be too hard for a team from F3000 to make the jump to F1 because they would need the resources to build their own chassis. Also, finding an engine partner is not an easy job. F3000 is simpler because Lola cars produce all chassis for all the teams.

 

I've heard that the times set by Minardi at either Silverstone or Hockenheim this year would have given them pole in 2002 or 2003 (can't remember exactly which year). The point was that they are not a bunch of amatuers and do develop, but that the competition in F1 is fierce.

At the moment I'm reading the book about the Testa Rossa by Joel Finn and at the time the problems were similar: only a few marques competed in Sportscar racing and it wasn't even sure if there were enough races in one season to count for a championship! Today there are more than enough countries and racetracks willing to host a grand prix but indeed Minardi makes up the numbers (we've seen the number of teams diminish over the last 10 to 15 years with all the small teams evaporating). How long will Minardi last? How long will F1 last?

 

I have a weak spot for Minardi. I've been their guest on the Canadian GP and really enjoyed it. They had the best food, since all the other teams came and eat there.

I was struck by the closeness of the different teams. A few seconds on a couple of miles is in reality not that much. Minardi will outrun any other racing series (Cart, IRL etc.). The stuff they develop with a limited budget is just incredible.

I often compare our own firm with Minardi. Maybe we are not one of the most famous architecture firms, but I'm happy to be able to play in the big leagues. I prefer to be a small fish in a big pond rather than a big fish in a small pond.

 

Talk about bad luck.

Few days before the Hungarian GP, two railway carts used in the reconstruction of the municipal railway that leads to the Hungaroring site accidentally became loose, ran away, derailed and demolished one of the car saloons belonging to Baumgartner's father. See:

http://kepek.origo.hu/galleriesdisplay/galleriesupload//0408/Aut_s200481217346/img/014.jpg

 

Juts caught a bit of an article in "Player" magazine this month, which was comparing NASCAR to Formula 1. Anyways, they talked about how much the teams spent each year. Minardi was at the very bottom, with a budget of around $ 25,000,000 (If I remember correctly), while Ferrari was at the top with an anual budget of $ 450,000,000. Kind of interesting.

 

Ouch!!! I hope no one was hurt.

As long as no one was hurt, it is all good. More insurance money so rich dad can buy the rich son another year in F1.

 

It happened shortly after midnight, work was going on every night to be ready in time for F1 GP. One worker managed to jump off the tender cars before it accelerated to 60km/h in a few seconds. Two other workers got trapped as stacked rails fell and pinned their limbs. The train accelerated under gravity and reached 170km/h in some parts of the 20 minute journey. There were several unsuccessful attempts to stop the wagons with wedges, meanwhile policecars raced through the night to evacuate the crossings. The place with the car saloon is behind a small radius track arc and the wagons couldn't take it at 50 km/h. One worker lost a leg, the other lost several fingers and the building will probably need to be rebuilt from the ground up (the destruction is more severe when viewed from behind the building). Luckily it didn't happen during the rush hour.

 

That is sad to hear! Hopefully the injured will be compensated and will recover soon.

 

Just for the record, Minardi never ran Lamborghini (Chrysler) engines. Larousse and Lotus did, both were indeed miserable failures. The Minardi-Ferrari set-up actually did pretty well as I recall, with PL Martini scoring points on a regular basis, Pirelli tires too IIRC.

Either way, I still think it would be a good move for VW-- they could use Audi, Lambo, or Bugatti nameplates. (Audi would make the most sense, to compete with Mercedes, BMW and Jag)

PS- that Chrysler-Lamborghini v-12 was and still is one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard, far better then today's screeching motors IMHO