It's not every day you get to talk to one of the most accredited journalists in the Italian motoring scene. Talking to Mario Donnini is like reading his column Bastian Contrario su autosprint: it's simple, genuine, it makes you feel at ease and it feels like you have a friend you've known forever. Before reading the interview, it is right to understand the character and then fully enjoy our dialogue.
Mario Donnini was born in Gualdo Tadino, in the province of Perugia, on 30 March 1965. After graduating from scientific high school, he began writing for the weekly Diamond of Marcello Sabbatini (one of the founders of the Italian motoring press) and since 1994 he has been one of the pens of autosprint.
In addition to articles, his thirty-year career boasts several books, most of them racing-themed, but also on the city of Gualdo Tadino. Among the portraits of the drivers we remember Mario Andretti, Ayrton Senna, Tazio Nuvolari and Gilles Villeneuve. But let's go back to our chat now.
At the origins of Mario Donnini's passions: engines and writing
Hi Mario. First of all, how did your passion for motors begin?
“I saw that my father got very excited when he watched the Grands Prix in black and white. I thought that if a fairly cold person like him got so excited, it was worth stopping watching him and concentrating on what was happening on television. At first it seemed like an almost mediocre show, then I bought a 1976 Autosprint with all the history of Formula 1, I started studying it and I got excited".
And your passion for writing and journalism?
“I have always had the gift of writing without difficulty. I went to scientific high school out of laziness, since it was in front of the house while the classics was further away, but I understood that my path was that of writing and journalism. I remember that during the first two years of university I missed the Italian test, I missed writing, so I started writing articles".
“I was lucky because I entered a Turbot competition for aspiring journalists and came third out of several thousand entries. Then to the first article I sent to Cavicchi [Director of autosprint from 1984 to 1999, ed.] I was caught and here I am: thirty years at Autosprint and thirty books written".
A column or article by autosprint that is particularly close to your heart, written by you or by others?
“I love everything Cesare De Agostini wrote, articles but above all books. A great teacher and above all a great source of inspiration. As for things written by me, I'm not ashamed of "Ritorno ad Adenau", a fiction published on Autosprint in 2001.".
The Massa case: who deserved the 2008 World Cup?
Among the most recent articles, then, it stands out the interview with Felipe Massa. What is your opinion on the 2008 World Cup?
"IS one of the most serious things happened in the history of Formula 1 and sport in general, because there was a full-blown sporting fraud. What was even more serious was that this had no consequence whatsoever on the rankings. They took ad personam measures on those who had promoted it but without any impact on the ranking of what was probably the tightest world championship in history. It is not right that a bad race is considered very valid".
“For fifteen years we went on explaining that, having realized the fact the following year, it was now too late. When, however, last March Bernie Ecclestone spontaneously admits that everything was known in advance and the race was not canceled just to avoid a downturn in image, there is a confession which from a moral point of view gives the certainty that the law was not applied".
To add insult to injury for Massa...
"Certain. Felipe, therefore, began to get angry and assemble a puzzle of lawyers who decide to bite the bullet. Attention: Massa does not want economic recognition but sporting recognition. I have been a friend of his for over twenty years: I did a service by spending a day with him when he was racing in the Italian Formula 3000 with Adriano Morini's Draco. Evidently he trusts me and the very delicate interview was given precisely on the basis of this mutual trust of ours".
“I believe, then, that there is a way out of all this: to amend the mistake made and recognize that that world championship does not have one champion, but two. Because the position of Hamilton must also be protected, who ran the last race relying on the fact that the Singapore race had not been cancelled".
“The only way out to give back to one without taking away from the other is to award a world championship ex aequo. Because Massa lost the world championship unjustly, but attributing the title only to him would deprive Hamilton of a legitimately won world championship. I remember that in 1996 the IRL (Indy Racing League, today's IndyCar) found itself with Buzz Calkins and Scott Sharp on equal points, equal placings and equal results and awarded the title ex aequo. In an international professional league, therefore, there is already a precedent".
Returning to the present day: an opinion on the disqualification of Hamilton and Leclerc in Texas? The regulation was applied correctly, but having checked four cars and found two irregular ones, shouldn't the FIA have extended the check to other cars?
“Spot checking is peacefully accepted by everyone and checking twenty cars each time would result in the final ranking being announced the following day, while the spectator has the right to know who won at the end of the race. I believe this is one of the few right things done by the FIA in recent times. The rule has been in place since mid-1994 and has never been contested by anyone.".
“Unfortunately it happened to Ferrari and Hamilton, the two most loved entities in Formula 1, so everyone is sorry, but whoever has it doesn't get upset, as they say in these cases. They are not at fault, they probably hit a bump, given the roughness of the circuit, and paid dearly for it, but this is the law".
Obviously, then, the sprint weekend and the little free practice time available didn't help in the choice of set-ups...
“In this regard: since the park has been closed since Friday, why not disqualify them from the sprint too? How do you prove that the cars were legal on Saturday? The set-up remained the same on both days".
Verstappen the unstoppable
Coming to the Mexican GP and the remaining events: can anyone stop Verstappen?
“Mexico is a place that Max really likes. Having said that, I see McLaren and Mercedes getting closer and closer, but not in front if Max doesn't have problems. In Qatar, Piastri won the sprint, which lasted 19 laps. In the following Grand Prix, Norris led in the first twenty laps. If Verstappen has some inconvenience and the race is short enough (see Qatar) he loses it, otherwise he recovers.
This year Perez won two because Verstappen he had problems, Sainz won one because the team went to shit, Piastri won half because Verstappen didn't have time to catch him. The moral of the whole year is that, despite problems, Verstappen wins them all.
When will someone be able to beat Verstappen in the world championship?
“It just depends on the car. If a team builds a car that goes as well as Red Bull or more than Red Bull, Verstappen goes back to being very beatable, more nervous and also less perfect and less robotic. If no one succeeds, however, we will be here thirty years to see Verstappen win. Now in Formula 1 he counts the car and the car that goes the fastest wins.".
And where do you put it in an all-time ranking?
"IS someone like Schumacher and Hamilton. Then whether he wins 6 or wins 8 depends on how fed up Newey gets. As a 26-year-old, he is the most successful of the three. At 26, only Vettel had won 4 titles. But he is already well ahead of Schumacher, Senna, Prost.".
With even cars, who would win the title today?
“Verstappen, Hamilton second, Leclerc third”.
Norris and Alonso, instead? For me they would be the two riders who complete the top 5.
“Norris and Alonso wouldn't win the world championship but they would win several races, especially Alonso. I see Fernando as wonderful on some days, less wonderful on others. In my opinion he is still one step away from the top but not always".
“Norris is very good, he is an eternal runner-up, but he doesn't yet have the drive, the wickedness or even the luck to win a race. È arrived second eight times, twelve times on the podium; he needs the lucky day. He is starting to be afraid of winning and will suffer a lot to win a race, unless McLaren continues to grow and therefore becomes natural ”.
“Forgetting about arithmetic, let's remember that between 0 and 1 there is an infinitely greater distance than that between 1 and 2. If you manage to win one Grand Prix you can win 100, but the difficult thing is winning the first ”.
“I remember talking to Chris Amon, who is considered one of the best and unluckiest drivers in all of history (96 Grands Prix, 0 victories, leading 12 times) and the greatest test driver of all time according to Forghieri. He told me: 'I had been trying to win a race for 6 years, I took the lead and then broke; I've never made a mistake. The last two years, when I was in the lead I told myself not to worry, something would break anyway. I had become the worst moral bettor against myself.' Lando must be careful not to fall into a mechanism similar to this".
Mario Donnini's favorites: drivers and circuits between past and present
Staying within the rankings: who is your favorite driver of all time?
“In heroic motor racing, definitely Nuvolari. In post-heroic, but still quite heroic, motorsport, I say Mario Andretti. I like his story better, a movie story, beyond the beautiful personal relationship".
And on the current grid? Or in the hybrid era anyway?
“In the turbo-hybrid I would say Verstappen. I consider myself a Verstappenian, I think he is the best. Then if you tell me the nicest one, the matter changes. I loved Jenson Button to death, I really like Alonso and Norris too.".
Very underrated button. Let's remember that he is the only one who beat Hamilton as a teammate without reliability problems like in 2016 or experiments on the car like in 2022.
"Certain. She took it and beat it. Even if no one noticed because it wasn't a fight for the world championship but a simple internal confrontation. And in any case in all the Grands Prix where there was mixed conditions or poor adhesion asphalt, Button was always first".
Many remember him for the year at Brawn, but he also had excellent years elsewhere, see McLaren and Honda.
“He had his best years at McLaren. Then with Honda it is no coincidence that he won in Hungary in 2006 when it was raining, as well as in 2011 with McLaren also in Hungary. He did a lot, he was recognized little, but I liked him because he was a nice person, an intelligent guy.".
“When Honda went slowly in 2008 and was always in the last row, it drove well without causing any controversy. A gentleman. Then a few months later he won the world championship”.
You can say it paid off.
"I'd say. The year of Brawn GP it is the most cinematically tellable story in all of Formula 1. It's no coincidence that they're making a series about it".
Do you have a favorite Formula 1 era?
“I tell you two dates and I tell you the same circuit. 1935, Grand Prix era, the golden era. At the Nurburgring Nuvolari beats Auto Union and Mercedes. And 1976, the fire of Lauda and Merzario who saves him. I bring together the old Nurburgring under the banner of different eras".
About Nurburgring. Is there a circuit that you would like to return to Formula 1?
“Obviously I would love the old Nurburgring. But I realize that with the trams running now it's impossible. I would like to see cars studied that can race there. I would like a circuit like Brands Hatch, I would like Watkins Glen, Mosport, Mugello".
Mugello was very beautiful. The only year they raced there.
“COVID was the salvation of Formula 1. It brought back Imola, we raced at Mugello, we discovered Portimao, which in my opinion is a beautiful circuit”.
And he took out Vietnam, which we never saw in action but I doubt it would have been an interesting lead. In this regard, which circuits would you remove from the current calendar?
“All the Arab ones. The Arabs made one circuit worse than the other. Evidently ill-advised, because most of them are located in semi-desert areas, not in the middle of cities apart from Jeddah. They could also have done the old Nurburgring but in the desert, thus avoiding the problem of guardrails and trees and having a circuit as God intended. But no. The problem is not the governments at the head of the states, those are more complicated issues. The problem is that they make circuits that are on average horrendous.".
The point on Ferrari's season
Changing the subject a bit, what do you think of Ferrari's season? Can it finish second by the end of the year or will it fall behind Mercedes?
“He may get there but presumably he will fall behind. The nice thing is that I see it better than last year. Vasseur has the great merit of having calmed the environment compared to Binotto. He re-established political liveability between the pilots, without humiliating either of them. But he doesn't make machines, he creates opportunities. The engineers make the car. So if a Ferrari doesn't arrive at the level of Red Bull they will never win.".
“The current machine is that of the last Binotto and it is a wrong machine, even if it has improved as a result of correcting it during the year. But it remains a car that is not kind to the tyres, and in modern Formula 1 if you eat the tires too much you'll get nowhere.".
One last question before saying goodbye: of the other motorsports besides Formula 1, which do you follow and which are you most passionate about?
“I tend to follow everything, I don't avoid anyone in particular. I really like IndyCar, I confirm my interest in the WEC hypercar category. At the same time I tell you that next year I will also be watching Formula 2 with great interest, because Antonelli against Bearman and Martins it will be a wonderful year".
