Martini (cars)

From WOI Encyclopedia Italia

Minardi
Base	Faenza, Italy
Principal	Paul Stoddart
Director	Gabriele Tredozi
Drivers	20. Christijan Albers 21. Robert Doornbos
Test drivers	Chanoch Nissany
Chassis	Minardi PS05
Engine	Cosworth TJ2005 Series 10
Tyres	Bridgestone
Debut	1985 Brazilian Grand Prix
Races	345
Cons champ	none
Drivers champ	none
Wins	none
Poles	none
Fastest laps	2
Last season	2005
Last position	10th (7 points)

Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a small but loyal following of fans. In 2001, Minardi sold his team to Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, who sold it to Red Bull in 2005. The team is now known as Scuderia Toro Rosso, Italian for Team Red Bull.

During its time in F1, the team scored a total of 45 championship points (although under the modern points system this number would almost quadruple). Just over half of these were taken by the team's first driver, Pierluigi Martini. Martini also recorded the team's only front row start and actually led a lap during a heroic performance in 1989. In spite of this, the team never achieved a podium finish in its history, only managing a best place of 4th three times: Martini twice in 1991 and Christian Fittipaldi in 1993.

1 Origins
2 Racing History
3 Red Bull purchase
4 Racing return for Minardi
5 Complete Formula One results
- 5.1 World Championship Results
6 External links

Origins

The Minardi family has a longstanding involvement in motorsport. The family has run a Fiat dealership since 1927. Giovanni Minardi competed in his own cars in the late 1940s and after his death his son Giancarlo took over the racing part of the family business. He ran customer cars in Formula Two under various names from 1972 to 1979 - even briefly running a customer Formula One Ferrari 312T as Scuderia Everest in 1976 - before gaining financial backing from well known Italian motor racing patron Piero Mancini in 1979 to set up the Minardi racing team as a constructor.

Racing History

Formula Two (1980 - 1984)

The Minardi team first competed under that name in the 1980 European Formula Two championship. Rather than using a customer chassis, the team commissioned a BMW powered design from Giacomo Caliri's FLY studios - previously responsible for the Fittipaldi Automotive team's F5A Formula One car. Giancarlo led the Minardi team to four moderately successful Formula Two seasons with a variety of young Italian and South American drivers, including Alessandro Nannini and Johnny Cecotto. The team's most notable result being a 1981 win at the Misano round by Michele Alboreto.

Minardi Formula One (1985 - 1993)

1985 vintage Minardi M185 driven by Roderigo Gallego at a Thoroughbred Grand Prix event at Brands Hatch in September 2005

There was little success initially competing with Motori Moderni until 1987 and then Cosworth engines. The team picked up in competitiveness and by 1989 had become top entrant for Pirelli's return to Formula One. The team were moderately successful in the midfield through the early 1990s, giving a succession of Italian drivers their first chance at the top level, including Alessandro Nannini, Pierluigi Martini and Gianni Morbidelli. Martini in particular was synonymous with the team, eventually having three spells with the team. He drove for them on their debut in 1985, scored their first point in the 1988 USA Grand Prix, took their only front-row start at 1990 USA Grand Prix (aided by special Pirelli tyres; several of their other drivers had surprise qualifying results that day), their only lap leading a race in the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix, and scored their joint-best F1 result of 4th.

Minardi, Scuderia Italia & Fondmetal (1994 - 2000)

Through the mid-1990s the team was the nucleus around which the community of Italian Formula One constructors collapsed. It was the first team in modern times to make use of engines from Ferrari in 1991 and later used Lamborghini V12s for a season. As the number of small teams shrank, Minardi slipped from the mid-field towards the back of the grid. Money woes hit and in 1994 Minardi joined his team with Scuderia Italia in an effort to survive. Giancarlo retained 14.5% with the remaining 15.5% distributed between the Scuderia Italia investors (Emilio Gnutti, Giuseppe Lucchini and Vittorio Palazzani) and Defendente Marniga. The Minardi team was then controlled by Flavio Briatore. In 1996 Italian businessman Gabriele Rumi, former owner of the Fondmetal team switched his sponsorship support from Tyrrell to Minardi. He would gradually increased his interest in the Faenza outfit, becoming co-owner and chairman. For the 2000 season the team were forced to use 1998-spec Ford Zetec-R V10 engines, which were rebadged as Fondmetal engines in deference to his financial input. However, Rumi had contracted cancer, and was forced to withdraw his backing in 2000.

European Minardi (2001 - 2005)

Zsolt Baumgartner driving for the Minardi Formula One team at the 2004 USGP

The team, near collapse, was purchased by Australian businessman Paul Stoddart in early 2001, merging it with his European Racing Formula 3000 team. During its final years, the Minardi team was almost as famous for its politics as its racing. Stoddart was described as the Formula One teams' unofficial shop steward. During his time as team principal, Stoddart campaigned for reduced costs in the sport. He appealed to the competing car manufacturers for an agreement where the independent (and, on the whole, financially weaker) teams in Formula One would get cheaper engine deals than at present. In return, the team principals who would benefit from this would support the works teams when it came to opposing new rule changes enforced by the FIA, such as the proposed ban on traction control.

Before the start of the 2004 season, he threatened to withdraw his support against the ban on traction control, but later withdrew this threat. Before the 2005 Australian Grand Prix Stoddart initially threatened to withdraw his cars if they were made to comply with the revised regulations for 2005. Stoddart claimed that Minardi could not afford to adapt their cars. Once again Stoddart ended up withdrawing his threat. Stoddart has also repeatedly called for the resignation of the FIA's President, Max Mosley, particularly in the aftermath of the 2005 United States Grand Prix.

One of Minardi's most famous performances came at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix. It was Australian driver Mark Webber's first Formula One race. At his and Stoddart's home grand prix he brought the car home in fifth place to score two World Championship points — a rare occurrence for Minardi.

Minardi was represented in 2004 by two rookies, Italian Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni and Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner. During the year, they celebrated their 20th season in F1. Baumgartner scored Minardi's first point in more than 2 years at the United States Grand Prix, finishing 8th (only 8 cars finished the 2004 USGP). Baumgartner was also the first Hungarian to score a point in a World Championship F1 race.

In 2005, Minardi's drivers were Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher. They amassed a comparatively astronomical total of 7 points following the debacle of the 2005 United States Grand Prix, in which they finished fifth and sixth (of six runners) respectively. After his sponsors stopped paying him before the 2005 German Grand Prix, Patrick Friesacher was to be replaced by Dutch Jordan test driver Robert Doornbos to create the first ever all-Dutch driver line-up in Formula One history.

Before Minardi's demise, they were a particularly well-liked team on the Formula One circuit for many reasons. In the paddock, they were noted for their friendliness, accessibility, and lack of corporate culture (they were universally regarded as having the best espresso in F1). On the track, their cars were regarded by many as well-designed for their tiny budget, their lowly position more a function of lack of funds (and engine power) rather than a necessarily poor car. They also resisted pay drivers better than most other financially strapped teams, producing an impressive alumni including Grand Prix winners Alessandro Nannini, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli and current World Champion Fernando Alonso. It has also provided drives for Indycar winners Christian Fittipaldi and Alex Zanardi.

Red Bull purchase

Paul Stoddart stated that he would sell Minardi if he could find the right buyer. Stoddart claimed that he had 41 approaches. His criteria for a sale was the ability of a buyer to move the team forward and leave the team based in Faenza. The drinks manufacturer Red Bull, which already owns another Formula One team, Red Bull Racing, decided to set up a second team to promote American drivers that have risen through its young driver programme, Red Bull Driver Search.

Ending several weeks of speculation on September 10 2005 Red Bull announced it would take control of Minardi in November and run it as their "rookie team" from 2006. Crucially for the future of Formula One after the current Concorde agreement expires, the purchase of Minardi by Dietrich Mateschitz gives another supporter for maintenance of the current series.

Minardi fans worldwide immediately started an online petition to save the Minardi team name and the team's 20-year heritage in F1 after the news broke. The petition was not successful and it was announced that Minardi would be re-named as the Squadra Toro Rosso team for 2006, later changing that further to become Scuderia Toro Rosso. This simply means Red Bull Team in Italian.

Racing return for Minardi

Two separate announcements offer the possibility of the Minardi name returning to racing. On March 28 2006, Paul Stoddart declared his intention to enter a Formula One team under the title 'European Minardi F1 team ltd' for the 2008 Formula One World Championship. His application was unsuccessful, as Minardi was beaten to the position by David Richards' Prodrive outfit.

On January 30 2006, Giancarlo Minardi announced that he had bought back the rights to use the Minardi name in racing from Paul Stoddart. He also announced a partnership in the junior Euro Formula 3000 series with established team GP Racing - to be entitled 'Minardi Team by GP racing'. The team have raced with moderate success to date, scoring a podium in each leg of the Spa round in June 2006.

Complete Formula One results

(Note: grands prix in bold denote Pole Positions.)

World Championship Results

Year	Main Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	Constructors
1985	Pierluigi Martini	BRA Ret	POR Ret	SMR Ret	MON DNQ	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	DEU 11	AUT Ret	DUT Ret	ITA Ret	BEL 12	EUR Ret	RSA Ret	AUS 8				0	NC
1986	Andrea de Cesaris	BRA Ret	ESP Ret	SMR Ret	MON DNQ	BEL Ret	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	MEX 8	AUS Ret				0	NC
1986	Alessandro Nannini	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	NC	14	Ret				0	NC
1987	Adrian Campos	BRA DSQ	SMR Ret	BEL Ret	MON DNS	USA Ret	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	AUT Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	ESP 14	MEX Ret	JPN Ret	AUS Ret				0	NC
1987	Alessandro Nannini	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	16	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret				0	NC
1988	Adrian Campos Pierluigi Martini	BRA Ret	SMR 16	MON DNQ	MEX DNQ	CAN DNQ	USA 6*	FRA 15*	GBR 15*	DEU DNQ*	HUN Ret*	BEL DNQ*	ITA Ret*	POR Ret*	ESP Ret*	JPN 13*	AUS 7*				1	10th
1988	Luis Perez-Sala	Ret	11	Ret	11	13	Ret	NC	Ret	DNQ	10	DNQ	Ret	8	12	15	Ret				1	10th
1989	Pierluigi Martini Paolo Barilla	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	MEX Ret	USA Ret	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 5	DEU 9	HUN Ret	BEL 9	ITA 7	POR 5	ESP Ret	JPN Ret*	AUS 6				6	11th
1989	Luis Perez-Sala	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	DNQ	6	DNQ	Ret	15	8	12	Ret	Ret	DNQ				6	11th
1990	Pierluigi Martini	USA 7	BRA 9	SMR DNS	MON Ret	CAN Ret	MEX 12	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 15	ITA Ret	POR 11	ESP Ret	JPN 8	AUS 9				0	NC
1990	Paolo Barilla Gianni Morbidelli	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	DNQ	14	DNQ	12	Ret	15	Ret	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	Ret*	Ret*				0	NC
1991	Pierluigi Martini	USA 9	BRA Ret	SMR 4	MON 12	CAN 7	MEX Ret	FRA 9	GBR 9	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 12	ITA Ret	POR 4	ESP 13	JPN Ret	AUS Ret				6	7th
1991	Gianni Morbidelli Roberto Moreno	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	11	Ret	13	Ret	9	9	14	Ret	16*				6	7th
1992	Christian Fittipaldi Alessandro Zanardi	RSA Ret	MEX Ret	BRA Ret	ESP 11	SMR Ret	MON 8	CAN 13	FRA DNQ	GBR DNQ*	DEU Ret*	HUN DNQ*	BEL DNQ	ITA DNQ	POR 12	JPN 6	AUS 9				1	12th
1992	Gianni Morbidelli	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	8	17	12	DNQ	16	Ret	14	14	10				1	12th
1993	Christian Fittipaldi Jean-Marc Gounon	RSA 4	BRA Ret	EUR 7	SMR Ret	ESP 8	MON 5	CAN 9	FRA 8	GBR 12	DEU 11	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 8	POR 9	JPN Ret*	AUS Ret*				7	8th
1993	Fabrizio Barbazza Pierluigi Martini	Ret	Ret	6	6	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	Ret*	14*	Ret*	Ret*	7*	8*	10*	Ret*				7	8th
1994	Pierluigi Martini	BRA 8	PAC Ret	SMR Ret	MON Ret	ESP 5	CAN 9	FRA 5	GBR 10	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	BEL 8	ITA Ret	POR 12	EUR 15	JPN Ret	AUS 9				5	10th
1994	Michele Alboreto	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	9	Ret	13	14	Ret	Ret				5	10th
1995	Pierluigi Martini Pedro Lamy	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	SMR 12	ESP 14	MON 7	CAN Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 7	DEU Ret	HUN 9*	BEL 10*	ITA Ret*	POR Ret*	EUR 9*	PAC 13*	JPN 11*	AUS 6*			1	10th
1995	Luca Badoer	Ret	DNS	14	Ret	Ret	8	13	10	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	14	11	15	9	Ret			1	10th
1996	Pedro Lamy	AUS Ret	BRA 10	ARG Ret	EUR 12	SMR 9	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN Ret	FRA 12	GBR Ret	DEU 12	HUN Ret	BEL 10	ITA Ret	POR 16	JPN 12				0	NC
1996	Giancarlo Fisichella Tarso Marques Giovanni Lavaggi	Ret	Ret*	Ret*	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	11	Ret*	10*	DNQ*	Ret*	15*	DNQ*				0	NC
1997	Jarno Trulli Tarso Marques	AUS 9	BRA 12	ARG 9	SMR DNS	MON Ret	ESP 15	CAN Ret	FRA Ret*	GBR 10*	DEU Ret*	HUN 12*	BEL Ret*	ITA 14*	AUT DNP*	LUX Ret*	JPN Ret*	EUR 15*			0	NC
1997	Ukyo Katayama	Ret	18	Ret	11	10	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	10	14	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	17			0	NC
1998	Shinji Nakano	AUS Ret	BRA Ret	ARG 13	SMR Ret	ESP 14	MON 9	CAN 7	FRA 17	GBR 8	AUT 11	DEU Ret	HUN 15	BEL 8	ITA Ret	LUX 15	JPN Ret				0	NC
1998	Esteban Tuero	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret				0	NC
1999	Luca Badoer Stephane Sarrazin	AUS Ret	BRA Ret*	SMR 8	MON Ret	ESP Ret	CAN 10	FRA 10	GBR Ret	AUT 13	DEU 10	HUN 14	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	EUR Ret	MYS Ret	JPN Ret				1	10th
1999	Marc Gene	Ret	9	9	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	15	11	9	17	16	Ret	6	9	Ret				1	10th
2000	Marc Gene	AUS 8	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	GBR 14	ESP 14	EUR Ret	MON Ret	CAN 16	FRA 15	AUT 8	DEU Ret	HUN 15	BEL 14	ITA 9	USA 12	JPN Ret	MYS Ret			0	NC
2000	Gaston Mazzacane	Ret	10	13	15	15	8	Ret	12	Ret	12	11	Ret	17	10	Ret	15	13			0	NC
2001	Tarso Marques Alex Yoong	AUS Ret	MYS 14	BRA 9	SMR Ret	ESP 16	AUT Ret	MON Ret	CAN 9	EUR Ret	FRA 15	GBR DNQ	DEU Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret*	USA Ret*	JPN 16*			0	NC
2001	Fernando Alonso	12	13	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	Ret	Ret	14	17	16	10	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	11			0	NC
2002	Alex Yoong Anthony Davidson	AUS 7	MYS Ret	BRA 13	SMR DNQ	ESP DNS	AUT Ret	MON Ret	CAN 14	EUR Ret	GBR DNQ	FRA 10	DEU DNQ	HUN Ret*	BEL Ret*	ITA 13	USA Ret	JPN Ret			2	9th
2002	Mark Webber	5	Ret	11	11	DNS	12	11	11	15	Ret	8	Ret	16	Ret	Ret	Ret	10			2	9th
2003	Justin Wilson Nicolas Kiesa	AUS Ret	MYS Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	ESP 11	AUT 13	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR 13	FRA 14	GBR 16	DEU 12*	HUN 13*	ITA 12*	USA 11*	JPN 16*				0	NC
2003	Jos Verstappen	11	13	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	9	14	16	15	Ret	12	Ret	10	15				0	NC
2004	Gianmaria Bruni	AUS Ret	MYS 14	BAH 17	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON Ret	EUR 14	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA 18	GBR 16	DEU 17	HUN 14	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	CHN Ret	JPN 16	BRA 17		1	10th
2004	Zsolt Baumgartner	Ret	16	Ret	15	Ret	9	15	10	8	Ret	Ret	16	15	Ret	15	16	Ret	16		1	10th
2005	Christijan Albers	AUS Ret	MYS 13	BAH 13	SMR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 14	EUR 17	CAN 11	USA 5	FRA Ret	GBR 18	DEU 13	HUN NC	TUR Ret	ITA 19	BEL 12	BRA 14	JPN 16	CHN 16	7	10th
2005	Patrick Friesacher Robert Doornbos	17	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	18	Ret	6	Ret	19	18*	Ret*	13*	18*	13*	Ret*	14*	14*	7	10th