Minardi: Just an illusory silence

The countdown has begun. There are less than twenty days before the official event of 2015 Formula 1 World Championship with the four days of Jerez. Everything seems apparently calm and silent, but within the various Racing Departments a real race against time is taking place, to assemble all the components and pass the crash tests. The last team, in chronological order, that has announced the overcoming of the dreaded exam, has been Toro Rosso, which posted on his Twitter profile a small detail.

We heard Gian Carlo Minardi, who has experienced this wait with his Minardi Team for 21 years: “We are in a time of the season where everything seems still and calm, but actually teams are doing their best on all fronts.

The part of design and construction is involved in testing and passing crash tests, that are needed to get on track, according to new regulations”, said the manager from Faenza on www.minardi.it. “In a little less than twenty days, the war will start. Days are really hectic. The “carrier pigeons” - or pickup trucks – are constantly on the road, to bring all new components into the department.

The birth of a child...

All team departments work 24H and there is the feeling of not succeeding until the day before launch. Then, in the last hour, like a puzzle, the car takes shape. I experienced this feeling for 21 years, but when you see it complete and all coloured, satisfaction is great. It is something incredible.

For me, it is like the birth of a child. Every year, it is your creature, the result of a job that starts in April / May and ends the next January. Everything starts from notes on sheets of paper, passing to the hectic work on computers, tests in the wind tunnel, simulator…. and, day after day, you see the car growing. You work in view of Melbourne and plan the job for the first evolutionary step in Europe and all subsequent ones”.

Action is also taken on the entire organization, to refine production processes, in order to improve performance without incurring unexpected.

Moving containers...

“Logistical outsourcing” is crucial. Arranging material’s transfer, assembling the hospitality, managing hundreds of guests and the overnight from 80 to 150 people per team are very complex things. “Organizing all transfers and overnight stays is up to logistical department”. The way to move materials has changed in recent years. “With the rise of air transport’s prices per kg, teams opted to ship containers by ship.

Nowadays, every team has about five / six containers to move during the season and where the heavier materials are loaded, such as lifters, jacks, spanners trolleys and box”. Teams in first 10 positions are awarded a bonus for two cars and 10,000 kg of material. “All the extra is charged to the teams, which ship on average from 25,000 to 40,000 kg of material”.

For all fans, the first appointment is the launch. “With the arrival of Internet and social networks, we have passed from shows to virtual launches. It is definitely the best way to involve all fans, all over the world and real-time, while in the past it was almost an exclusive event for press and insiders”.

Minardi