Hot on the heels of the Spark release of the Mercedes W10, or the Mercedes AMG Petronas W10 EQ Power+ to give it's full title, Minichamps have released their model. It's not a resin model, so it won't be as detailed as their resin cars, but let's delve into the review.
Minichamps 410190077
Spark S6072
Now to compare it to the Spark model, and I think the difference in the finish on the silver in particular is better on the Minichamps car. The blend from silver to black on the engine cover is quite different, I think Minichamps have a better blend and better shaped blend, but there is a bit too much black in my opinion. I complained a bit about the length of the nose on the Spark car, whereas Minichamps have produced a car of similar length, but the endplate on the front wing is a little larger, and for me that looks better proportionally.
It's hard to spot any real differences between the two models, I think Spark have a better treatment of the pitot tube, but that is clutching at straws. The bargeboard area I can't see well enough in these shots to have a proper opinion, but I do have the Minichamps car on order. It appears Spark has more refined detail on the floor, but then I do prefer the Minichamps helmets. The rear wing on the Minichamps car has some very dark edges, I think that's a bit over emphasised, and I prefer Spark's more subtle approach. I like how both models include the sensor that hangs on the inner edge of the front wing endplates.
Both rear wing endplates look almost identical, but the Spark does include the little opening just behind the halo, whilst the Minichamps have nice grills. This is an area that changes from race to race so I'll give both model makers the benefit of the doubt.
Without looking at the metal Minichamps car in detail, it's hard to find much difference between this and the Spark model, so I will have to give it the same score. Score: 8/10
Race Specific Editions
Minichamps 417191844
Minichamps have released a US GP version of the same model, commemorating when Lewis drove into a painted spot at the end of the GP reserved for the 2019 World Champion. This means the car is facing the other way in the box.
Minichamps 417191877
Bottas also gets a model from the US GP as he took victory in the W10.
Minichamps 413190244
This is the Bahrain GP version, which only has a 219pcs limited edition run.
Minichamps 417190344
This is the Chinese GP, an early season win for Lewis at the so called 1000th GP. You can see the early season version of the front and rear endplates as well as the bargeboards area.
Minichamps 417190644
Minichamps 447190644
Lewis sported a Lauda red helmet, and the halo was coloured red, in tribute to the late Niki Lauda who was known to wear a red cap. Hamilton won ahead of Vettel who was also wearing a special Lauda helmet. There's a limited 500pcs tall box edition available.
Minichamps 417191044
Lewis won again at his home race and waved the Union Flag on the cooling down lap. The flag handily rests on top of the t-cam for additional support.
Minichamps 417191144
It's rare to speak of a Mercedes flop, but with cars decked in a heritage livery, as well as team personnel in classic clothes, the race was a disaster, with Hamilton feeling under the weather too. To compound things, the Netflix documentary crew were there to film it all. Despite all that, this model looks great.
Minichamps 410191746
Just as a bonus, we have a Mercedes W08 in the 2019 livery (which I think is my favourite livery of all this era of Mercedes), with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi sampling the car in a 'ride-swap' with Hamilton.
Having watched some of the onboard action again, I was quite impressed again by the speed of these cars and the control of the drivers in difficult conditions (during the safety car periods when people stopped tyre saving). Some of the midfield battles were the highlights of the race for me with some great car control. There were some mistakes and wheel banging and broken front wings and wheels along the way, showing that this isn't as easy as it looks. It's a shame the race up front wasn't the most exciting, and it's a shame that running slowly on the tyres to eek it out to a one-stop race was the order of the day, meant a bit of the excitement for drivers and viewers alike were taken away, but it certainly wasn't an easy day at the office.
Stars of the race
I want to praise the Ferrari team, including both drivers in this blog. Ferrari brought some much needed upgrades at a tight and twisty track that they were expected to struggle at. They honed their car for qualifying, knowing passing was going to be near impossible if the front running cars were on the same one-stop strategy. And it worked a treat. Leclerc was mega in qualifying, sliding around on his final lap and clinching pole position from Hamilton. And then Vettel used the undercut and put in a super quick out lap (if you compare the his rival's outlap times to his, you can see he aced it), was the most efficient on his way back through the pack and was a master at safety car restarts, which resulted in his first victory this season. Leclerc understandably felt robbed of his hat-trick of victories, but in all honesty, Vettel needed it more. He still needs to prove he can cut out his mistakes, but momentum and morale are key factors.
By the summer break, I'd wonder if I'd ever include Gasly in the positive part of my reports, but the switch to Toro Rosso has gone well so far, and he really delivered with a strong 8th placed finish in Singapore. He was running behind Giovinazzi when he was leading the pack, but finished ahead of him, in part due to luck with the safety car.
Lando Norris finished best of the rest, staying out of trouble, managing his pace, and keeping some cars with better tyres behind at the end all capped off a good weekend for the young Brit, somewhat making up for the disappointment of Belgium. He did have Sainz and Hulkenberg to thank for that though.
Honorable nods to Kubica for just getting through the race. I know he shouldn't be given special treatment, but considering his limitations from his past injuries, it was a tough race. He made a great start, kept his head and made it to the end.
Magnussen had probably the one of the slowest cars out there, but was unlucky with the timing of the safety cars and had a bag stuck on his front wing. He was running in the points for much of the race but came away with none.
Albon is new to the car, new to the track, and though convincingly defeated by Verstappen, still clung to the tail of Bottas all race, with the midfield no threat to him. It's nothing to write home about, but it wasn't bad considering the circumstances and what Gasly was doing in that car earlier in the season.
Strugglers
Strugglers include for the first time this year, Russell in the Williams. Contact at the start could hardly have been his fault, but he seemed to rather over drive the car this weekend, and though I think Grosjean should have backed out, Russell could have given him a bit more space. This is the first Williams non-finish all season.
On a weekend when Grosjean was announced for 2020, a shock for many, he got knocked out of Q1 and then was involved in the collision above.
Kvyat seemed to be in the wars, torpedoing Kimi Raikkonen and sending him out of the race.
Kimi struggled this weekend too, not being on top of the car, Giovinazzi out qualifying him, and he was going backwards on his strategy.
Mercedes came into the season thinking they were underdogs, but dominated by taking victories in the first eight races of the season. At one stage we were thinking they could finish first and second all season, and then maybe they could win them all. As the season progressed, there was no chance for Ferrari to catch up, and Bottas also faded away in his chase of the Drivers' title.
But in Austria, they couldn't get their tyres working properly, the first chink in the armour of a team operating at the top of their game this season. Then in Germany, an ill Hamilton made numerous mistakes and ended and Bottas crashing out the Grand Prix. After the summer break in Belgium and Italy, Ferrari made the most of their high speed power unit and low downforce car to narrowly take victory from the Mercedes who had better race pace and tyre management, but Ferrari shocked the world in Singapore by winning on a tight and twisty track, where they were so poor in Hungary. The title hasn't been won yet at the time of writing, and the season has produced some cracking races in the middle part of the season, we hope the more competitive 2nd half of the year.
Spark have released their Mercedes models, with both Bottas model based on the Australian GP which he won, and Hamilton who won the so-called 1000th race at the Chinese Grand Prix, the model featuring the winning trophy.
Spark S6072
Spark S6071
With Ferrari and Red Bull having gone down the matte paint route to save weight, it's interesting that Mercedes have reduced their blue swoop to a single line for a similar reason. The addition of the transition from silver to black with the tiny Mercedes logos is something I really like, and it's recreated nicely on this model. For me the nose is just a little too long. The front wing on the real car also sits quite a way forward from the front wheel, but I think Spark have exaggerated the gap a little too much.
So far in 2019, I've been impressed by Spark's latest generation of cars and the comparisons with Minichamps have been pretty on-par, the differences being on the colour of the paint or the quality of the decals. There's also a difference in the driver model and helmet too. The front wing is really nicely done, good definition to each element of the front wing and the simplified endplates for the 2019 rules also features their curved slot gap on the top trailing edge. Mercedes have tweaked their cape for this season, and how it integrates with the tip of the nose and is nicely modelled on this Spark model. There's good definition on the sidepods, with that aggressive triangular shape forcing the air down towards the floor. The floor has good details on it, include the little EQ Power decal, with nice slot gaps, turning vanes and contours.
From other angles you can see the high mounted front suspension that Mercedes have been perfecting the last few years, including the deliberately off-centre mounting points that mechanically lower the front of the car on turn in. The bargeboards are also nicely modelled, as is the rear end, they've done a good job on that rear endplate. The halo also includes the additional fin along the top, and the opening at the rear of it along with the grills, all good details. There's also some nice detail on the rims of the car.
This is a good solid model from Spark of the Mercedes. I was going to drop it down a mark because of the length of the nose, but there are other redeeming features on the rest of the car for me to give this car a higher score of 8. Score: 8/10
Spark S6087
Spark have released the Monaco GP version with a tribute to Niki Lauda with the red halo and updated front wing endplates.
Spark S6089
We also get a British GP victory of Hamilton's car, which features his arm raised and holding a rather twisted Union Flag.
Spark S6092
The German GP livery looked fantastic, even though the Grand Prix for the team was a disaster. The front end of the car is white, as the Mercedes cars were pre-war years, and even the team dressed up in novelty pre-war costumes. Still a great model, and yes, I love a bit of wet tyre.
Spark S6099
This is Spark's US GP version where Lewis clinched the Championship. Like the Minichamps base, it has the words written in the pitlane where Hamilton parked his car. It also comes with various pitboards and trophies in Spark's large box.
Ferrari came into 2019 as hot favourites after testing in Barcelona suggested that they had an advantage. However, Mercedes dominantly took the first 8 victories of the season. New recruit, Leclerc looked set to win in Bahrain, but a late problem with the car caused him to fall back. In Azerbaijan, Leclerc looked on form to get pole position but clumsily crashed in qualifying. In Canada, Vettel was leading the race albeit with Hamilton's Mercedes right behind, but a mistake sent Vettel wide, and on rejoining squeezed Hamilton towards the barrier. Vettel received a 5 second penalty dropping him back to second. Leclerc was leading the Austrian Grand Prix, but was overtaken by Verstappen in a forceful move near the end of the race. But it wasn't until the Belgian Grand Prix, that Ferrari took their first victory of the season, with Leclerc earning his first Grand Prix win. He took another impressive victory in Monza, fighting with all he had to keep the lead. But in Singapore, Vettel on a favourable strategy leapfrogged Leclerc and Hamilton to win his first race this season, his first victory in over a year, and Ferrari look to be competiting for victories for the remainder of the year.
Vettel has had a disappointing year so far, he's made many mistakes, spinning when being overtaken by Hamilton in Bahrain, running wide at Canada, crashing into the back of Verstappen in Britain, spinning out in Italy and then tagging Stroll when rejoining the track. Some pretty fundamental mistakes from a four-time World Champion. But the more alarming problem will be the speed of his new team-mate, as Leclerc has got up to speed, he's been out-qualifying his experienced team-mate consistently, and it's been Leclerc and not Vettel who has been in contention for victories more often. The low-downforce car philsophy hasn't really suited Vettel to be fair, and his management of tyres has generally been better than Leclerc's too, so it's not right to write Vettel off on the basis of one-year.
Leclerc has also had his fair share of mistakes, including crashing out in Germany having gone wide at the drag strip a few times previously, and crashing in qualifying in Hungary, yet luckily having the car repaired and out-qualifying Vettel. But the potential and the show of speed is clear to be seen, with the media very keen on the young Monegasque being seen as the de facto number 1 driver at the Scuderia.
For a few years now, we have seen budget Ferrari models from Bburago, and higher budget models from Looksmart and BBR. The first we have seen released have been from BBR with Vettel and Leclerc models based on the Australian Grand Prix (not including the empty box from the Canadian GP)
BBR BBRC225B
BBR BBRC225A
For me, BBR cars are often made with high quality, sometimes the models are top quality, other times the proportions can be quite off. For me, this 2019 Ferrari looks fantastic, nothing immediately jumps out at me as particularly wrong, quite the opposite, lots of lovely details on the car to look at and admire how well the model replicates the real car. The team switched between the Mission Winnow logos (controversial for their links and similar imagery to the tobacco side of their title sponsor) and running a 90 years of Ferrari tribute, which is why the car is called the SF90.
The car has fantastic definition on the front wing, with the limit of 5 elements new to this year's rules, you can see how well modelled they are against the carbon coloured endplates. The suspension area is intricately done with the turning vanes on the underside of the monocoque nicely made. Moving onto the bargeboards, it's hard to tell from the photos the details that are there, but they've done a good job in getting the bargeboards, the turning vanes and the mirror all integrated together, with all the tiny slots. No driver figure with the BBR models as usual, but the cockpit features good detail, though the halo does somewhat get in the way of seeing it. The engine cover it nicely done, I do like the new livery for 2019 with the subtle italian flag on the trailing edge. Again, Ferrari's sleek sidepods are nicely modelled too, there's no aggressive shaping like you see on the Mercedes or Williams cars.
There is good detail on the floor as well. With the sidepods no longer using the full width available in the rules, much more of the floor is seen these days and there are lots of gradients and slots on it. The rear of the car is also very nice, the diffuser is well done, the rear wing endplates has good slots and good detail on it, the exhaust and rear suspension are also nicely done too.
All in all, a top model from BBR. I'm not 100% convinced on the colour of the red they chose and how the matte effect works in different lights from the photos, so I'll reserve judgement on that. Score: 9/10
Other Versions
BBR BBRC231A
This is the Belgian GP version. It includes the tribute to Anthione Hubert. The Belgian GP was Ferrari's first win of the year, in the hands of Leclerc.
BBR BBRC234A
BBR BBRC234B
The Italian GP version where Leclerc took his second victory, whilst Vettel spun and rejoined the track in a dubious way forcing Stroll off the track.
Having had the quickest car in the field since the middle of 2009, the RB8 did not start the season as the quickest, being hurt by rule changes that banned exhaust blown diffusers of which the previous cars were heavily designed around. Vettel still won at Bahrain and scored strong points finishes as seven different winners won the first seven races.
In Valencia, Red Bull brought an upgrade package that saw him dominate only for an alternator failure to occur just after a safety car period causing him to retire from the lead. It wouldn't be until Singapore that Vettel would have the strongest car again, when designer Adrian Newey and his team perfeced the Coanda effect, which used exhaust gases to gain more downforce. Vettel delivered four wins in a row, reminiscent of the previous season.
Vettel had the lead of the championship going into the season finale at Brazil. With changeable conditions, he was caught out with a crash with Bruno Senna's Williams, and the RB8 was lucky to continue, so the race swung to Alonso's favour and then Vettel's and so swung between the two as the laps went on. But despite Alonso finishing second, Vettel did just enough to clinch the championship by 3 points. It is his third championship in a row, becoming the youngest triple World Champion, and demonstrated once more what a great racing driver he is.
For 2012, there were not a huge amount of track specific RB8's to choose from, the above being the standard model, and below the Brazilian GP version. The standard car is based on the early season, with the stepped nose and the early version of the coanda effect exhaust. Again, another nice metal model from Minichamps.
Minichamps 410120101
The Brazilian car features all the up to date specification changes to the car, with nose cameras on the tip of the nose, a slightly different front wing, new rear wing endplates and updated exhausts. But the best thing about the car, besides the intermediate tyres, is the damage to the floor near the exhaust area, with a big chunk of the floor missing and some bodywork damage exposing the metallic exhaust.
Minichamps 413120201
There is this limited edition tall box version of the Japanese GP and features the late season changes to the shape as discussed on the Brazilian GP version, but obviously without the damage. Score: 8/10
This is the early season Bahrain GP version from the beginning of the season. Another fantastic shape from Tameo, a lovely sheek shape, lovely detail on the rear endplate with the slot gaps. Fantastic work again from Tameo.
Tameo TMK 408
This is the Monaco GP version, which is very similar to the Bahrain car.
Tameo TMB011/TMK411
And finally we have the Brazilian GP version, though there's no attempt at the damage incurred on lap 1, but again we get the car updates from the early season car.
Today, I release just
the shape with the wireframe and zmodeler file ready for someone to paint. Once
painted, I can create the second car ready for its proper release. The mapping
of the first texture is loosely based around the textures of McKey and Oggo’s
early season MP4/9.
As with the 1995 Ferrari released yesterday, please report any bugs, and car 2 will be mapped after painting.
Enjoy painting this car.
EDIT: Eventually, I found some time to finish this car and it's available here
I have finished shaping the car and I have mapped the car ready for painting. Though I enjoyed painting the Ferrari 412T1B, I have to admit it's not my forte, and I simply don't have the time. So I release the car with the wireframe included as an EPS file for the community to paint.
Please report any bugs, usually there are some.
I know the mirrors don't work in-game properly
I know that the second car needs mapping
and it's missing seatbelts.
I hope you enjoy this car and I look forward to seeing your textures.
This website is a fantastic source for detailed pictures gurneyflap.com
EDIT: Thanks to David Marques for picking up the painting duties and adding his own details and the car is available here:
One of the things that gripped me about F1 when I was starting out was a Ferrari victory at Monza was something special to behold.
In 1994, the Ferrari's had their strong V12 engine in the back of the 412T1B, and with Schumacher banned in the Benetton, it was an opportunity for victory with Alesi taking pole position, but Hill took a much needed win to close on the championship battle as Berger came home in second.
In 1995, the race Coulthard span out on the warm up lap from pole position, but a red flag on the first lap gave him another opportunity, but a wheel bearing failure meant he retired early on. Hill, in the other Williams, took out Schumacher in the Benetton and that meant the main front runners were out of the race, with Alesi and Berger leading the race comfortably. But it was all too brief, as Alesi's camera fell off his car, and in the process damaged Berger's suspension and he had to retire. With 7 laps to go, Alesi's car also had wheel bearing issues, with flames visible in the wheel at one stage.
In 1996, Hill crashed out early from the lead, hitting the clumsy tyre wall on the side curb. Villeneuve's Williams was somewhat off the pace, and Schumacher, in his debut Ferrari year, led Alesi's Benetton home to a popular victory for Ferrari in Monza, and the celebration was awesome. For me, I got caught up with the emotions and that victory lives long in my memory.
So for Ferrari fans who have not witnessed a Ferrari victory at Monza since 2010, it has been long overdue, it introduced newer fans to one of the best things about F1 that comes by all too rarely.
Qualifying was amusing to watch, it was always going to happen, with such a premium placed on slip-streaming, that the majority of cars would run out of time to begin their timed lapped. We don't want this to become a common occurrence on the fast tracks, but it was amusing that for all the money and effort and time and thousands of employees to put the best drivers in the world on the track for qualifying and the majority don't make it around on time to get a lap in. There's a brilliant comparison video on the F1 Youtube channel with the benefits of the slip-stream clear to see. In the end, Leclerc got pole by the slimmest of margins, and had Raikkonen not gone off at the last corner, it might have been a Mercedes one-two.
There was an overwhelming will for Leclerc to win in Belgium, because of the tragedy of the day before, but I think there were still quite a majority that willed Leclerc to do it again, in a Ferrari, at the Italian Grand Prix, and to witness that joys of the emotional, fanatical and passionate Tifosi. We know the Ferrari is harder on its tyres, but at the same time, they had such an advantage on the straights, but the Mercedes were always going to be a threat.
Hamilton'sMercedes chased Leclerc through the first stint and into the second stint. Leclerc wasn't faultless, on lap 23, Hamilton was alongside into the second chicane, but Leclerc came across and edged Hamilton off the track. Leclerc was given a 'yellow card' warning, a 'do not do that again' message that was new for this race. It seems to me that you're allowed to push the boundaries once and get a warning i.e. absolutely no consequence at all.
On lap 36, Leclerc locks up into the first chicane, and around Curva Grande pretty much weaved in front of Hamilton, blocking any further attempts into the second chicane. We got nothing from the stewards on that. Hamilton has used up his tyres by lap 42, and locked up into turn 1, giving Bottas the chance to chase Leclerc. But, honestly, if Hamilton couldn't do it, what is Bottas going to do? Run deep into turn 1 and have no meaningful attempt at getting alongside Leclerc. So Leclerc won with a fiesty drive, and deservedly so. He took the good-will of the questionable consistency of the stewards, and became a Ferrari hero (if he wasn't one already!).
However, on the other side of the Ferrari garage, Vettel had another one of those days. He was hard done by in qualifying, that's probably fair to say, being caught up in the traffic on his turn to get a tow. But he's in charge of his own car at the end of the day, and it's your own fault for not getting to the line in time, whatever the agreement is in place. And then in the race, he lost it... again! How many times are we going to say that. Since France 2018, he has lost the car, on average, once every three races. His recovery was just plain dangerous, but understandably sitting still was also dangerous. I don't know why the radio or the marshalls weren't more reactive in telling him when it was clear to go. He clumsily hit Stroll as he went past, and in turn Stroll did the same to Gasly (though Stroll was sitting on the track whereas Vettel was mostly on the grass). I felt the penalty was fair, understanding that all this safety around the cockpit is really hampering safety due to lack of visibility. But once again, it all happened fundamentally because Vettel lost the car. He's now three points away from a ban in three races. Ferrari have got to get a reserve driver ready. I respect Vettel, and it's a tricky car, so perhaps next year's car might be more suited to him, but on the evidence of his driving for over a year now, does he really deserve that top drive? He's had the benefit of doubt a fair too many times now.
Both Renaults had a good weekend, but Daniel Ricciardo in particular was super fast. He claimed Renault's best result for years, having dropped behind Hulkenberg at the start, but passed him by lap 7. They finished fourth and fifth, good work for this weekend, closing in on McLaren, but I suspect fortunes will reverse when we get to Singapore.
Kvyat and Sainz were both having good drives until various issues outside of their control retired their cars.
Perez had another strong run in the Racing Point. Gasly had a good day too, though he punted Grosjean off in turn 1, and was unlucky to be forced off by a rejoining Stroll and lost time when Grosjean had his spin on lap 7, he was running ahead of Perez at that stage and could have finished strongly in the points. Gasly has had two strong runs now, a completely different situation from his Red Bull days.
It's difficult to judge Giovinazzi's performance when Raikkonen had probably the worst weekend of his career (off in FP1, Q3 and 10 second stop-go penalty in the race), but at least the Italian finished in the points at his home race.
Formula 1 is on a wave of good races, and with Red Bull and Ferrari looking strong on various tracks coming up, we should see some more fantastic racing as Hamilton continues to swan towards his inevitable sixth Championship.
The Minichamps models for 2019 are starting to flow in, and we have our second Minichamps/Spark crossover. To read my review of the Spark version, click here. So whilst this is a review of the Minichamps car, it's more of a comparison with the Spark version.
Minichamps 537194304
Minichamps 537194355
Spark S6081
Minichamps have released both Sainz and Norris models, with no specific GP named, but it is clearly the early season car, around Australia and Bahrain. The immediate thing that jumps out to me (like the Toro Rosso comparison) is the vibrancy of Minichamps colours, they are just superb, and on another level compared to Spark's models, and I prefer it. McLaren have tweaked their papaya orange livery over the last couple of years, and to be honest, I've not liked them, but this car is the right level of orange being the predominant colour, bright and easily distinguishable on a busy grid, but yet nicely mixed with more black and blue. The shape from the side is spot on with very little distinction between the two models, as you'd expect from two highly experienced and competent model makers.
Looking at a bit of more detail, the front wings are very similar in quality though Spark have a few more of the silver holding clips. The unique nose of the McLaren if also similarly modelled, though the Spark car I think is marginally too flat, or shallow, the Minichamps just hints at more of a curve in the cross-section of the nose which I think is more accurate. Both have modelled the front suspension well, with it's high mounting points next to the front wheels. Again the bargeboards are nicely done on both models, as are the cockpits, with the differences in the helmet and driver body from the two brands being the biggest difference. Spark have correctly put a black trim around the airbox, something that Minichamps have missed out alltogether.
One of the advantages of the Spark packaging is that you can easily view the car 360 degrees around, and though you get a nice presentation with the Minichamps box, especially tall box editions, it's difficult to see the right side of the car. Anyway, the sidepods, the floor all have similar amounts of detail, the engine covers also look very similar. The rear wings have the saw tooth vanes, as well as nicely modeled DRS devices. One other distinction between the two models is the rear crash structure, the top part of the rear light is silver on the Minichamps car, but plain black on the Spark, the silver representing a heat shield where the exhaust gases flow.
Both models I'm impressed with and would be happy with either one, both scoring the same score from me. If I were to choose one, I'm won over by the colours on the Minichamps car and that's what edges it for me, but I wouldn't feel at all disappointed with the Spark version. Score: 8/10
Minichamps 537194314
Minichamps have released a test version of the car driven by Fernando Alonso in Bahrain. It has non marked tyres.
Haas have been riding high after a successful 2018 campaign and there were signs of genuine pace that could have seen them be contenders for fourth place. With the F1 Netflix documentary, Haas were as popular as ever. However the team announced a deal with Rich Energy as the team's lead sponsors, which was met with more than a raised eyebrow of suspicion, lost a court case over copying another company's stag log and culminated in a social media mess around the time of the British Grand Prix, saying they would stop their sponsorship on account of the team's poor performance that lead to William Storey leaving the company he founded and an apparent rebrand. Yesterday it was announced they have finally gone their separate ways, good news for Haas. On the track, the team managed some strong qualifying performances, but their race pace was nothing short of a disaster, with the cars often slipping backwards as they struggle to switch the tyres on. The team currently lie in 9th place, just ahead of strugglers, Williams. Whilst Magnussen has been solid enough, but the team-mates had a spate of on-track battles that more resembled dodgems. Grosjean also insisted the upgrade packages made the car worse, with him running a few races with the Melbourne spec car mid-season. All in all, it's been a year to forget for the team, which is a shame, because there is potential for much more for this small team.
Minichamps 417190008
Minichamps 417190020
I was a bit disappointed with the Haas livery when it first came out at the launch, looking like a knock off Lotus from the 80's and early 2010's. However, the livery was tweaked, and before Rich Energy lost the rights to the logo, it looked pretty cool on the engine cover fin. I much prefer it to the greys of the previous years. Around the black cockpit, you can actually see flashes of the driver's helmets, if only they more distinguishing colours. I'm a little impartial to black cars, they have a certain simplicity mixed with elegance about them, but I suppose it hides the parts you don't like, like the thumb nose, the overly complicated bargeboards and the halo.
Anyway, the model is another beauty from Minichamps, this one in resin. There's lovely detail on the bargeboards, and on the rear of the engine cover and the rear wing attachments, and the cockpit is nicely done with the wide positioned mirrors. Even the front wheel rims are beautifully recreated in such lovely detail, the pitot tube has received effort in detailing and it's just a lovely model.
It's always difficult to see the rear end of the car, the diffuser and rear suspension, but these are all accurately modelled by Minichamps. Minichamps continue to push the detail in their modelling and their models are getting better and better, as things do with competition from Spark. Sadly it means a rise in prices, to a level where I'm struggling to collect all the cars from a season. However, these 2019 models are awesome. Score:8/10
Race Specific Editions
Minichamps 417190608
I've written a seperate review for this model here
Sebastien Vettel in the Adrian Newey designed Red Bull RB7 with exhaust blown diffuser powered him to a dominant second consecutive World Drivers' Championship and Constructors' Title for the team. He scored podium finishes in 17 of the 19 races, winning 11 of them. Mastering the best out of the new Pirelli tyres, he took 15 Pole Positions, led from the start and controlled the race to victory. This is the second of his four consecutive titles to date.
The standard model is of your usual Minichamps standard, although it has a slightly ill-fitting engine cover (prevalent on all models). Judging by the helmet, this is based on the Turkish GP, though I can't discernibly see any other difference. I like the tyre shape, with a slight change from the Bridgestones that we have been so accustomed to seeing. There's a nice amount of effort putting the exhaust on the floor of the car.
Minichamps 410110101
The Malaysian GP model, of what I can see, has a different helmet decal in a time when Vettel ran different helmets almost every race, and almost a different helmet for each session. We'd already witnessed a pole to lights victory in Australia, and this was yet another repeat of the same formula in Malaysia.
Minichamps 410110201
This is the Turkish GP version, the fourth race of the year and, you've guessed it, pole position, good start and the inevitable victory extending his lead in the Championship.
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The last of the standard Minichamps models and it's from the end of season Japanese GP where Vettel clinched the Championship with four races to spare. His only mathematical rival, Button in the McLaren, started alongside pole-sitter Vettel, and Jenson managed to win the Grand Prix, with Alonso second, but Vettel only needed one more point to secure the Championship and hence we have a Japanese GP version. The car has updated rear wing endplates, new front rims and the Seven-Eleven logos added.
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There was also a Monaco GP car in a standard tall box, where predictably Vettel had pole and won the race.
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There is another Monaco GP version in an alternative tall box.
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And finally there was a small run of Spanish GP with a standing figure exclusive to some German modelshops. Score: 7/10
The RB7 is still frequently used as the team's show car, and Verstappen used it in a snow run demonstration, and there were a couple of versions of the model available, the one pictured coming in a large presenation box as part of the Max Verstappen Collection. I love the steel chains around the wet tyres, incredible detail, and the one-off decals on the sidepod look great, advertising the Red Bull owned Austrian GP.
Potamo is a new model kit brand to me, but this model is beautifully made. The selection of blue is a bit disappointing and the decals look like they've gone through the wash, a little bit faded. But the shape is fantastic, lovely fine details throughout the car. Score: 8/10
Charles Leclerc won his first Grand Prix at the Belgian Grand Prix, and although the F1 Youtube channel has already done a list, we have a good selection of 1/43 models commemorating these first victories.
Kimi Raikkonen came into F1 with Sauber with very little car racing experience, but he soon impressed enough to replace Hakkinen in McLaren for 2002 earning a couple of podium finishes. It wasn't until the send race of 2003 in Malaysia would Kimi earn his first victory having started in seventh place. Though this would be his only victory that year, he would earn 7 second place finishes and challenge Schumacher for the championship, finishing just 2 points behind the German's Ferrari.
I can't remember exactly, but I think this was the first Minichamps models with a standing driver figure in the cockpit and the steering wheel on top of the cockpit. For me, this was an elegant looking car, and the livery just suited it so well.
It's somewhat unheard of today to have a rookie debut in a Championship contending car. In reality, the spotlight was meant to be on double-world champion Alonso leading the team, giving Hamilton time to find his feet, and after comfortably shadowing his team-mate for the first few races, Hamilton began to beat this more experienced team-mate, winning impressively from pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix.
There's nothing particularly special about the model that htey produced, though it does have a low downforce rear wing set up which is nice, but there's no fist raised or anything.
In the aforementioned Canadian Grand Prix, Robert Kubica had a humongous crash, running onto the marbles, before being pitched into the air, smashing the barriers, his car being broken into hundreds of pieces and the monocoque barrel rolling several times. Everyone held their breath as an eerie silence fell around the circuit. Thankfully the Pole was OK, though he missed a race, and 2008 was Kubica's most competitive season to this day. There was a bit of chaos at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, a red light at the end of the pitlane catching out Hamilton and Rosberg, with Raikkonen the victim as these race-winning hopefuls retired. Kubica won the race and propelled himself into Championship contention, but the BMW team refused to develop the car in the second half of the year and his chances faded.
Again, we get quite a bog standard model to commemorate the victory, but we get a Canadian GP spec shape, most notably without those nose horns they ran for the majority of the year. 2008 was getting a bit out of hand with aero devices and BMW and McLaren were amongst the worst for adding flips and vanes and horns all over the car, but Minichamps have done a good job in representing all these intricate parts before the trend of resin models.
Vettel had already impressed in a BMW in the 2007 USA Grand Prix before finishing the season at Toro Rosso, but 2008 was his first full season. Back when Red Bull and Toro Rosso's essentially raced the same cars, the only difference being the power units, the Renault in the Red Bull and the Ferrari in the Toro Rosso. The Ferrari was the more competitive engine that year and it wasn't uncommon for Vettel to beat the senior team at a few races. At a damp Italian Grand Prix, Vettel sensationally took pole position on merit. Nobody really expected him to finish there in the race, but he did, and Vettel claimed Toro Rosso's only win to date. A promotion to the senior team followed in 2009.
The Minichamps model comes with wet tyres, it's got nice wheel rims and the decals look fantastic. This was one of my first models that I bought when I started my collection in earnest around 2009, and it was also around my most active time in GP4 too.
When Webber retired at the end of 2013, it was a bit of a surprise that Ricciardo was named as his replacement, but as it turned out, Ricciardo had the beating of four-time World Champion Vettel in the sister Red Bull, in an impressive break-out year. Ricciardo never seems to win straight forward races, but with both Mercedes struggling with brake temperatures, Ricciardo overtook Perez and then Rosberg to earn his first victory.
I did own the Spark alternative to this, but I preferred the Minichamps model overall, though the models were quite similar and had their own pros. For me, the paint finish and decal quality won me over to the Minichamps version. Again it would have been nice to have a fist raised or something to make this model stand out a bit more, but as a model, I have no real complaints.
Max Verstappen had already impressed people with his speed and maturity and Red Bull made a bold move in moving him into the Red Bull seat after just four races completed. At the next race in Spain, the two Mercedes collided and it was seemed as though Vettel and Ricciardo were left to battle for victory as Verstappen and Raikkonen battled a little behind them. But as it turned out, Verstappen and Raikkonen were on the better strategy and Max withheld pressure from Raikkonen all race to earn his first victory on his debut run in the Red Bull.
My problem was that there were so many Minichamps versions of this model. At the time, Verstappen models were trading at high prices, but if you produce too much, it really reduces the value of each model long term. Anyway, this model is how the car crossed the finish line, fist raisd, missing camera and white-walled tyres.
After the shocking retirement of Nico Rosberg, Mercedes quickly moved for Valterri Bottas to fill the second Mercedes seat. In just his fourth race for the team, he took victory at the Russian Grand Prix, withstanding pressure from Vettel.
I suppose in fitting with Bottas' non-flashy character, this model doesn't have a special cardboard overlay, nor any pictures of the Russian GP, it's just simple and understated. The only hint that this is a special model is on the description, 1st Win, Russian GP 2017.
