MINARDI M188 Ford-Cosworth DFZ

   The Minardi team is preparing to face its fourth season in the top tier of motorsport with various changes. First and foremost, it abandons the heavy and underperforming V6 turbo engines from Carlo Chiti’s Motori Moderni and, like many smaller teams, adopts the more affordable and reliable naturally aspirated 3.5-liter Ford-Cosworth DFZ engine. The team's sporting management also changes, with Manca-Graziadei taking on the role of team manager, while the departure of the promising young Italian driver Alessandro Nannini, who moved to Benetton, is offset by the debut of Spanish driver Luis Pérez-Sala, who joins his compatriot Adriàn Campos.

 MINARDI M188, Pierluigi Martini
Paul Ricard, French GP 1988

   The engineer tasked with designing the new Minardi M188 is once again Giacomo Caliri, who produces an entirely new car, finally, one might say, given that in previous seasons the team had raced with the same chassis updated year by year. The M188 is meant to be a fresh start for the team, relying on a less powerful but more reliable engine and, most importantly, a new carbon fiber monocoque chassis with a very short wheelbase of 2670 mm. The suspension system is also revamped with the introduction of a new torsion bar setup, a solution that wouldn’t reappear in Formula 1 for another ten years.

 MINARDI M188, Adriàn Campos
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988

   The car's appearance changes radically as well, with a slimmer, pointier nose and smaller side pods, made possible by the compact radiators of the Ford V8. These taper off sharply at the rear to generate the necessary aerodynamic downforce. However, from the very first winter tests, the M188 proves to be underperforming, and difficulties in managing the new suspension system are especially evident on uneven road surfaces, which the car struggles with so much that it earns the nickname “the camel” due to its chronic instability.

MINARDI M188, Luis-Pérez Sala
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988

   Sala achieves decent results in qualifying and manages to finish three of the first five races, unlike Campos, who fails to qualify three times in a row and is subsequently dismissed and replaced by Pierluigi Martini. The Romagna-born driver returns to F1 after more than two years and immediately raises the team’s performance level. In his first race, he finishes sixth at the United States Grand Prix in Detroit, earning Minardi its first ever championship point. The result boosts morale within the team, but expectations are soon dashed as performances decline over the summer. The poor results trigger a technical shake-up, with Caliri being dismissed and replaced by a team of young engineers led by Aldo Costa, Gabriele Tredozi, Tommaso Carletti, and Vincenzo Emiliani. Emiliani is tasked with redesigning the suspension system, reverting to the more traditional coil springs which, thanks to their geometry, are more effectively hinged to the chassis, resulting in increased rigidity and improved vehicle behavior. The lengthening of the wheelbase further stabilizes the car, also enhancing the aerodynamic flow to the rear thanks to a new dynamic airbox that increases airflow to the engine.

MINARDI M188, Adriàn Campos
Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1988

   All these modifications lead to a clear improvement in performance, quantifiable at around 2 to 3 tenths per lap, and in the final part of the season, the team comes close to scoring points again, with an eighth-place finish for Sala and a seventh-place for Martini in Australia. The season concludes with Minardi placing tenth in the Constructors’ Championship out of 18 teams.