Interview
Minì explains how he has been preparing for his rookie season with PREMA Racing
PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì admits that he has been working hard to adjust his driving style and to add more muscle ahead of his rookie Formula 2 season, also talking through his 2025 expectations.
The Italian driver steps up to F2 following a strong 2024 Formula 3 campaign with the team where he finished second in the Drivers’ Championship – losing out on the title after Leonardo Fornaroli’s last corner overtake on Christian Mansell at Monza.
Minì then deputised for Oliver Bearman at PREMA for Round 12 of the 2024 season in Baku, achieving a podium on debut with a drive to P3 in the Sprint Race.
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After also taking part on all three days of post-season testing in Abu Dhabi with the team, Minì is now looking forward to the full campaign.
“It's a good feeling, especially to be able to step up after a good year in F3, again with PREMA,” said Minì on graduating to Formula 2. “I am feeling good, I’ve been working out through the winter, so can't wait.
“I had the opportunity to do the races in Baku which was very good and useful. After, of course, we had more time to actually test and work on my driving and everything else around it in Abu Dhabi.
“I'm feeling quite confident. I know I have to work on many things, because of course even through the year in F3, after two seasons, you still try to always improve. That's what I'm working on and I still feel quite confident for it.”
Asked what he has been working on particularly in regard to his driving, Minì explained: “The thing is that there's a completely different way of driving it, to be honest. I had to change and to work on my driving style quite a lot.
“Since it's a really heavy car, you cannot afford to be aggressive with any input, either throttle, steering or brake. So, it's something that you have to get used to, otherwise there is no lap time.
“In the races you're just going to have a lot of degradation and you're just not going to maximise the potential of the car. So, it's just about working on it. But I think we've done a pretty decent job till now, so we keep working on it.”
As well as that, Minì has spent the winter break working on the physical side of things. He revealed that he has put on more muscle to be able to contend with the bigger cars he will driving this year.
“I have had to work quite a lot on that,” said Minì on his physical preparation. “I mean it's the only thing you really can do because it's really limited the amount of testing you do. I have had quite a lot of time to work on myself.
“I actually gained around eight kilos, just of muscle weight, to be able to handle the extra weight of the car in the best way possible. So, this is pretty much all we've done and soon we are starting again with testing.”
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The preparation is almost done and Minì will be jumping back into the car soon in Barcelona for pre-season testing. Then he heads to Melbourne for Round one of 14, so, what is he targeting across the 28 races to come in 2025?
“I would be lying if I told you just to finish in the top five,” he said. “The goal is always to try and do the best job possible, so I am not looking into the Championship final position much.
“I just want to try and maximise what I have every round, and if we have the car to win the Championship, that's good, we will try to do that. But as I said, the important thing is always to maximise what you have. So, think about the test, and then day after day, lap after lap.”