Historic Minardi Day at Imola: from Alesi’s Ferrari to Hakkinen’s McLaren
This weekend Imola is hosting a nostalgic celebration of passion, marking 40 years since Minardi’s debut in Formula 1. More than 600 cars are on display and on track at the Santerno circuit, including F1, F2, prototypes and GTs, all paying tribute to the historic Faenza-based team that left its mark on Italian motorsport between 1985 and 2005.
The event has drawn huge crowds of enthusiasts, with the paddock and pit lane packed with fans eager to catch a closer glimpse of some of the legendary single-seaters. Some cars have even been perfectly replicated by the Argentinian builder Crespi, adding to the spectacle.
Special attention has naturally been reserved for Jean Alesi’s Ferrari 412 T1 from 1994, as well as Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren MP4-15, signed by the Finnish double world champion. Both cars thrilled the crowd during the morning, filling the circuit with the deafening roar of their V12 and V10 engines, accompanied by thunderous applause from the grandstands.
Plenty more will be on display through to Sunday afternoon. Among the standout machines are several Arrows, from the A1 of its 1978 debut to the A3 of 1980, up to the A20 from 1999, memorable for its striking half-black, half-orange Repsol livery. The lineup also includes the Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler from 1976–77, the Lotus 72E/5 (1974), 79 (1978) and Type 91 (1982), the Wolf WR1 (1977), the March Beta 761 (1976), and the two Williams FW33 cars from 2011 once driven by Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado.
No Historic Minardi Day could be complete without Gian Carlo Minardi himself, present alongside some of the unique cars that carried his name. Among them were the iconic M189 and the PS04/B from 2005, the very last Minardi before the team was sold to Red Bull, marking the end of an era.
Leave a Reply