Under funded and running underdeveloped cars, Minardi made its way into every F1 fan’s heart simply by its gutsy showing at every race. If Ferrari and McLaren were Goliaths, Minardi was almost David. The name is gone now, the team having been bought over by the insensitive Mr. Mateschitz of Red Bull who obviously doesn’t have a sense of history, unlike BMW – the Germans being sensitive enough to retain Peter Sauber’s surname for the Bavarian firms new team.

Forza Minardi, a book by Simon Vigar, gives you an insight into the goings-on at Minardi HQ, Faenza, through the years of struggle. Simon Vigar is a motorsport correspondent for LBC Radio in London. He’s been driven by Michael Schumacher in a F430 at Fiorano, taken on Nigel Mansell in a go-kart, and has a self-confessed soft spot for the erstwhile Italian minnows.

Forza Minardi tells you the Minardi story as relayed by those on the inside – including the team management and drivers who raced for Minardi starting from 1985. You know, of course, that Minardi contested 21 seasons in F1 without once getting on the podium. But did you know that Gian Carlo Minardi once subjected the non-smoking Enzo Ferrari to an entire packet’s worth of cigarette smoke for three hours while trying to get Enzo to support his team’s bid for the junior Formula Italia championship? Or that he regrets not punching Ron Dennis at Mugello in 1978, because he had not realised that Dennis was insulting him and Italy since he did not speak English? Or for that matter, did you know that, in 1990, one Ayrton Senna of Brazil actually contemplated joining Minardi?

1985 started badly though, with Alfa Romeo backing out of an agreement (not contract) to supply engines at the last minute. Engines and engine supply was always a problem for Minardi throughout its life in F1, and, lets face it, that’s like going into a battle with one hand tied behind your back.