An Interview
with Mr Gian Carlo Minardi
by Salvo Toscano
Gian
Carlo Minardi is a lively man, like his land, Romagna. When he
speaks, his accent brings to mind racing cars and Fellini
movies. The warrior resists and is about to begin his 21st
season in F1. “If we are still here,
it is because we are important,” he
says with pride, as we sit in his office in Faenza.
In an
exclusive interview with the Minardi Club of San Francisco, the
“Great Man”, as his loyal fans call him, remembers his 20 years
in F1, reveals details about his relationship with his former
drivers and says that for 2005, the man he would love to have in
a Minardi with Albers is a driver
who raced for the team last year.
MCSF:
You finished your 20th season in
F1 in 2004. Looking at the past, which were the best and which
were the hardest moments?
GCM:
They all were hard. A small team must start again, every
year. The nicest memories? Well, there are many. The first Grand
Prix, 1985 in Brazil, when we touched the dream with our hands,
was a wonderful moment, as was the first time we finished in the
points, the races in which we came very close to the podium, and
signing the contract for Ferrari engines.
MCSF:
But have you ever had the feeling that it was over?
GCM: The hardest moment
came in 2000. Gabriele Rumi was ill, there were financial
problems, and we gave our shares to Paul Stoddart for free, in
order that the team could survive.
MCSF:
In 20 years, there have been many
drivers at Faenza. Are you still in touch with them?
GCM:
Yes, sometimes we meet, or we talk on the phone. I’m
interested in their public and private lives, and I can say,
with pride, that all of them were important to the team. I feel
them all to be “sons” of the Minardi Team.
MCSF:
Are there any with whom you
have a particularly close relationship?
GCM: I have good
relationships with all of them, even those with whom we split up
in perhaps not a particularly happy way – ultimately, it was
only a moment, and then we worked things out. Of course, for
geographical reasons, I have a special relationship with
Pierluigi Martini, because he is “Romagnolo”, like me.
Sometimes, in our spare time, we meet at the seaside. He was
with us for 103 races, so we spent lots of time together and
became firm friends.
MCSF:
Don’t you think Martini to be a
driver who achieved less than what he deserved?
GCM: Yes, for sure. And
maybe it was because he was “married” to Minardi for too long.
If he had he moved from Romagna, I am certain he would have
reached great results.
MCSF:
Well, even so, he got close to
achieving some outstanding results for Minardi. For instance,
how did it feel to see him first for one lap in Portugal?
GCM:
Well, we knew it was only the game of the pit stops, but it
was nice to feel that we were competitive. That year, we
achieved important results, and in 1990, we began the season on
the first row, with Martini’s second place in qualifying. At
that time, a small team with a good car, a good engine and
competitive tires could achieve those results. That success is
not repeatable in today’s F1, and in truth, I feel some sorrow
comparing those days to the present.
MCSF:
And in the future, there will be
room for smaller teams in F1?
GCM: Yes. If we are still
here, it is because we are important. We made it with many
sacrifices and by doing the impossible, but today we’re still
here.
MCSF:
In 2005, the budget will increase?
GCM: Last year we were at
the minimum . . . .
MCSF:
How much was your budget?
GCM: I
don’t even want to say, as it will just make you laugh. This
year, we have a new car, a new engine, and the goal is to raise
40 million euros (more than 50 millions dollars) of commercial
support. We’re getting closer to that. Albers brings with him
some important sponsors, and as was the case when
Verstappen came to Minardi, we made some
good commercial partnerships with companies from the Netherlands.
MCSF:
But are you going to have a main
sponsor, not linked to the drivers?
GCM:
There’s a contact we must close before the end of January.
The next few days will be decisive.
MCSF:
Could you tell us, at least, where
the company is from?
GCM:
It doesn’t matter at the moment, as the important thing is to
make the deal.
MCSF:
You went to South America in the
past months. Did anything useful arise from that trip?
GCM: We’ll see. Minardi
has good contacts and a strong tradition in those countries, and
sometimes you go there in order to renew acquaintances.
MCSF:
What do you think about Albers?
GCM: He’s a very fast
driver over a single lap and has achieved positive results in
F3, F3000 and DTM. Now he has to adapt to F1. In Misano
recently, he was quite good, but there is still work to do – and
he knows it.
MCSF:
Who’s going to be the second driver?
GCM: It depends on Paul
Stoddart. I am trying to delay this decision, in order to have
an Italian driver. We had an Italian last year, Bruni, and I
think it’s fair to give him another chance. The difficulty is
you need sponsors, and the Italian ones are like animals getting
close to extinction. In the meantime, we’ll test next week in
Misano only with Albers. Let’s wait and hope we can help Gimmi.
MCSF:
In your opinion, then, Bruni
deserves another chance, but how do you judge his 2004 season?
GCM: There is that Italian
song, which says, “You can give more. You can always get
better.” Last year, we had an old car, an old engine, and Gimmi
was a rookie. It was a hard season, but I definitely still
believe in him.
MCSF:
And Baumgartner? Last year, in the
second half of the season, his times and Bruni’s were roughly
the same, and yet the Hungarian driver is not noted for being
that fast.
GCM: Baumgartner is faster
than people think. He’s a serious and focused young man, and he
improved during the season. You must not undervalue him, or the
battle between him and Bruni – a battle, it has to be said, that
Gianmaria won most of the time.
MCSF:
You want to take time, but when
are you going to announce the name of the second driver?
GCM: There is time until
the Thursday before Melbourne.
MCSF:
What can you tell us about the new car?
GCM: It will be ready for
Imola. We hope to finish a little earlier, and then to have the
chance to test it.
MCSF:
And the engine?
GCM: It’s the Cosworth TJ,
the same engine that will be used this coming season by Red Bull
Racing, and the one used previously by Jaguar. It is a good
engine, created for a modern F1 car, and gives us a significant
power increase.
MCSF:
How much of an improvement per lap can the new car achieve with
this engine?
GCM: That is difficult to
say. Maybe 7 or 8 tenths of a second, which might even be a
little bit more if the engine installation is optimised. We are
working on the new car, which incorporates a lower centre of
gravity for the new engine.
MCSF:
Will you test with the old car next week in Misano?
GCM: Yes, last year’s car,
with last year’s engine. We will stay like this until Imola, at
which time we will switch to the new car and engine package. We
cannot use the new engine in the old car.
MCSF:
Who took John Walton’s place?
GCM: Massimo Rivola, who
grew up in the Team. San Francisco fans know him well.
MCSF:
How did it feel for a sporting man
like you at the time of the “John Boy” issue last season, when
the team split with its title sponsor?
GCM: This sort of thing
has nothing to do with sport. In my opinion, that was only an
excuse, but people can, and will, come to their own conclusions.
MCSF:
Can you tell us something about
your role in the team and your relationship with Paul Stoddart?
GCM: In
the team, there is a president who, as is normal, is a padre
padrone (literally, “father
and master”, an Italian expression meaning that someone holds
the power completely) and makes the decisions. I work
with the sponsors, I have my niche with young drivers and I give
advice to those who ask me.
MCSF:
And does Paul Stoddart ask your advice?
GCM: He does sometimes,
but much more important for me is that the team carries on.
There are more than one hundred people who work here, and many
others who work with the team as sub-contractors and suppliers.
We are important for Faenza.
MCSF:
Do you think the other Italian F1 team could have helped Minardi
more, given that it is much stronger?
GCM:
They are two different things. Ferrari
is Ferrari and Minardi is Minardi, and
it is not useful or productive to worry about “what might have
happened if . . . .” You don’t make history with “ifs” and
“maybes”. Ferrari has followed its own path, a winning one, and
we should not be so mean-spirited as to criticise them for that.
We carry on, in our own individual way.
MCSF:
Straight on, struggling?
GCM: Sure. You never give
up the fight.
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