Giorgio Piola took stock of the Chinese GP during the broadcast dedicated to F1 on the OA Sport YouTube channel: “The surprise I saw was the enormous difference in the warmth of the audience compared to the past. Other years the stands were often empty and the atmosphere was cold, but this year there was a surprise. F1 was right to dedicate that space to home idol Zhou, who thanks to his skill was good at shining a light. The public paid homage to Hamilton, I had never seen a full grandstand. I had negative memories of China, with the huge paddock and where you never see the sun. It was a very pleasant surprise, F1 was right to return to China: an important market for motor racing and we have seen how much passion there is in this nation“.
The motoring expert also focused on the Prancing Horse: “More was expected from Ferrari, the Sprint Race seemed designed to put Red Bull in difficulty who often struggled in this format and instead they did very well. Ferrari missed expectations, they themselves had been positive about this track. The tragedy was when they fitted the hard tyres, the race pace was disastrous, while in the first races of the season there had been an opposite trend. The weather had an impact, but while the others took advantage of it like McLaren (Norris didn’t believe he was second) Ferrari couldn’t. There is a fourth surprise, namely the two seniors who on the first day demonstrated that talent is almost worth more than the car. Hamilton was great, Alonso was very good: in a track situation, where the car matters less, they proved that they are very good”
Giorgia Piola then continued, also talking about some news: “Only one team brought the technical innovations to China, the sprint race does not allow for the introduction of major innovations. Ferrari was perhaps afraid of getting burned and not understanding the value of the new features, they then shortened the time and thought of introducing part of the new features in Miami and then a large part in Imola, where Ferrari’s real response should arrive. We will see if the fund can make a decisive contribution and we hope that it can do better“.
A ride on Red Bull: “When Red Bull introduced an additional intake at the top it was said that the car would be more efficient. It was cold in China, yet we saw the reappearance of the four slits in the upper part of the bonnet which shouldn’t be fantastic for the efficiency of the car. Maybe Red Bull has a weak point on cooling, maybe it’s a small alarm bell in hot situations or when they can’t move forward, they usually travel in clean air“.
There was a contract between Leclerc and Sainz: “Maybe I think too much and am mischievous. It was something that had to happen sooner or later because this situation arose when Sainz was told that he wouldn’t be there next year. They are no longer teammates like in other teams. Because both drivers cannot be happy: Leclerc sees himself doing better than Sainz and he must prove that he is worthy of being on par with Hamilton, Sainz wants to prove that they were wrong to send him away. I’m not surprised that there are these sparks and Vasseur will have to be good at minimizing and bringing serenity between the riders, but it’s obvious that there is a greater rivalry than in other situations“.
It will soon be the thirtieth anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death: “Ayrton was not just a driver, he was magical in his character. From a human point of view he was great. When they ask me for the rankings of all-time drivers, which I find wrong, I say Hamilton who combined the qualities of Prost and Senna, and then immediately after I say Senna. I don’t want to discredit Michael Schumacher, but Senna was magical and he had that something extra. Everyone loved him, I think he’s the only pilot I’ve known for whom the nickname magical is fitting.“.
