GP3 2011

[Valker]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

What are the requirements for GP3 drivers?

International B license and lots of money.

[bella]

i don't know if they're too young and experienced - stockinger, yelolly and vainio have all been doing fr2.0 in 2010. perhaps yelolly and stockinger have been hurried on a little by atech crs from their fr2.0 team to make sure they had their gp3 obligations covered but is it more the case that caldao, nunes and bottas taken a massive step down? instead of sniffing around a gp2 drive they're in formula nissan micra....

[NaBUru38]

Thanks, Valker. I found this article and I pretty much agree with the answer given. Drivers should be encouraged to spend at least two years in each step of the ladder, and also forbid young drivers from jumping too fast.

14-17 years: F-Ford / F2000, F-Renault 1.6 / 2.0, F-Abarth, F-BMW
17-20 years: Formula 3 and copycats, Star Mazda
20-21 years: GP3, F-Renault 2.5, Auto GP, F-Nippon, Indy Lights
21-23 years: GP2
23- years: F1, IndyCar

[kipper]

Originally Posted by bella

the case that caldao, nunes and bottas taken a massive step down? instead of sniffing around a gp2 drive they're in formula nissan micra....

I've wondered the same; however, I suspect that it is sometimes difficult for rookies to secure front line GP2 seats (although Bianchi and Bird are two notable, recent exceptions to this). As such, running in the lower reaches of the GP2 top ten is unlikely to signficantly enhance reputations of such drivers. For the likes of Calado, remaining in F3 is perhaps less desirable as any success would probably result in people claiming it to be a result of circumstance as a result of his experience and probable seat. As such, a move to GP3 provides the opportunity to continue winning (and hopefully enhancing one's reputation) without the aforementioned negative comments.

[Peter Cammish]

In years past of course racing drivers were not considered old at 23, it perplexes me that a guy at 26 or 27 is considered too old to start in F1 but in the vastly more physical environment of Premier League Football , Rugby and even Boxing you would be considered still to be reaching your peak. Most of the top F1 drivers of the 80s were around 30 plus at peak and probably beyond in lots of cases, are we to believe that the young guys coming out of FR etc are more able than the drivers of this bygone and sadly missed age, I think not, the age driven agenda of Single Seaters is based on the economic drivers of modern single seater motorsport and not on any level of percieved performance. Interestingly I once read an interview with Eddie Irvine who said that the fitness levels of F1 drivers (at that time) was a little overdone and even Schumacher would not have the fitness of a top footballer, anybody got a different view,

[cleanup]

Originally Posted by bella

i don't know if they're too young and experienced - stockinger, yelolly and vainio have all been doing fr2.0 in 2010. perhaps yelolly and stockinger have been hurried on a little by atech crs from their fr2.0 team to make sure they had their gp3 obligations covered but is it more the case that caldao, nunes and bottas taken a massive step down? instead of sniffing around a gp2 drive they're in formula nissan micra....

Perhaps you should consider some drivers haven`t the choice. A shocking car for sure but like most junior formulae, GP3 is not that important until such time as GP2 in the frame. Lots of talk how rediculous GP2 budgets are so some sense in aclimatising to the GP2 circus in the Nissan (actually sounds better)and going for GP2 title on first attempt.

[FFfan]

Originally Posted by Peter Cammish

In years past of course racing drivers were not considered old at 23, it perplexes me that a guy at 26 or 27 is considered too old to start in F1 but in the vastly more physical environment of Premier League Football , Rugby and even Boxing you would be considered still to be reaching your peak. Most of the top F1 drivers of the 80s were around 30 plus at peak and probably beyond in lots of cases, are we to believe that the young guys coming out of FR etc are more able than the drivers of this bygone and sadly missed age, I think not, the age driven agenda of Single Seaters is based on the economic drivers of modern single seater motorsport and not on any level of percieved performance. Interestingly I once read an interview with Eddie Irvine who said that the fitness levels of F1 drivers (at that time) was a little overdone and even Schumacher would not have the fitness of a top footballer, anybody got a different view,

No I agree with all of it! I've been told by some that at 21 my son is too old for Formula Renault even though he has only raced for two seasons in FF1600 & then MSA FF Duratec and performed incredibly well. If the right opporunities were to come his way (unlikely) he could be ready for F1 at 25-26; how is that too old??? Damon Hill didn't start in Formula Ford until he was 23 and made it to F1 at a positively ancient 32 & became a champion at 36. Even the great Ayrton Senna was pushing mid 20's when he made F1 having jumped straight from F3. It's bloody ridiculous! Sometimes a slighty older head is wiser, thinks more, is a better strategist and makes fewer mistakes! Rant Over!!

[cleanup]

Originally Posted by Peter Cammish

In years past of course racing drivers were not considered old at 23, it perplexes me that a guy at 26 or 27 is considered too old to start in F1 but in the vastly more physical environment of Premier League Football , Rugby and even Boxing you would be considered still to be reaching your peak. Most of the top F1 drivers of the 80s were around 30 plus at peak and probably beyond in lots of cases, are we to believe that the young guys coming out of FR etc are more able than the drivers of this bygone and sadly missed age, I think not, the age driven agenda of Single Seaters is based on the economic drivers of modern single seater motorsport and not on any level of percieved performance. Interestingly I once read an interview with Eddie Irvine who said that the fitness levels of F1 drivers (at that time) was a little overdone and even Schumacher would not have the fitness of a top footballer, anybody got a different view,

Sort of agree on the age issue but not on fitness levels. Eddie Irvines success (lack of it) in racing may reflect his attitude to fitness, all I read of Schumacher is a complete contrast. Gone are the days of the Irvines , todays top drivers have to be athletes. A modern day race driver can kick a ball for 45 minutes at a time but no way could a footballer hang on to an F1 for 2 hours. Rooney in a Ferrari!!

[bella]

Originally Posted by cleanup

Perhaps you should consider some drivers haven`t the choice. A shocking car for sure but like most junior formulae, GP3 is not that important until such time as GP2 in the frame. Lots of talk how rediculous GP2 budgets are so some sense in aclimatising to the GP2 circus in the Nissan (actually sounds better)and going for GP2 title on first attempt.

i'm not calling the drivers out at all. in fact if you'll notice i'm one of the people who think a gp2 budget is unacheivable. i'm just commenting on the difference in experience in the field and the possible explanations for that, which was what the poster i quoted was commenting on too. how you decided that's calling drivers fools for choosing gp3 i don't know.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by FFfan

No I agree with all of it! I've been told by some that at 21 my son is too old for Formula Renault even though he has only raced for two seasons in FF1600 & then MSA FF Duratec and performed incredibly well. If the right opporunities were to come his way (unlikely) he could be ready for F1 at 25-26; how is that too old??? Damon Hill didn't start in Formula Ford until he was 23 and made it to F1 at a positively ancient 32 & became a champion at 36. Even the great Ayrton Senna was pushing mid 20's when he made F1 having jumped straight from F3. It's bloody ridiculous! Sometimes a slighty older head is wiser, thinks more, is a better strategist and makes fewer mistakes! Rant Over!!

Yeah but how good is he at selling fizzy drinks?

[Peter Cammish]

Originally Posted by cleanup

Sort of agree on the age issue but not on fitness levels. Eddie Irvines success (lack of it) in racing may reflect his attitude to fitness, all I read of Schumacher is a complete contrast. Gone are the days of the Irvines , todays top drivers have to be athletes. A modern day race driver can kick a ball for 45 minutes at a time but no way could a footballer hang on to an F1 for 2 hours. Rooney in a Ferrari!!

Button apart which F1 driver is an athlete?

Kubica!
Alonso!
Massa!

Dont look it to me, even Vettel looks what he his built for F1, the drivers are race hardened through mileage and good conditioning it is not Olympic Level, tell you what we need to re-commision the old BBC program the Superstars , Remember James Hunts heroic efforts!!! (showing my age).

Wayne Rooney would have enough of everything bar his neck muscles i agree to work a Ferrari for 2 hours however he would need 10 years of training to be able to drive the car fast enough to get a true sense of comparison , however good news for Wayne he will soon be able to buy the opportunity to try something the much missed Eddie didnt have to do as despite his lack of success (a Millionaire from his racing exploits in Japan before he hit F1), rose from an average family to become a Ferrari F1 driver, went on to become one of Irelands richest men (you know that sort of lack of success) and he wasnt that fit he said so. He also said Schumacher was more naturally talented than him, at the end of the day talent first and foremost is the key everything else you can build

[boyndie]

Originally Posted by Peter Cammish

at the end of the day talent first and foremost is the key everything else you can build

absolutely right.

[alias99]

Sims confirmed at Status

[bella]

also, i meant to post this before - gp3 seem to think they've got a provisional race at monaco. seems like a marketing ploy to me to try and lure some more drivers in. i can't quite see how they'd fit it on the schedule without either extending friday tracktime into the afternoon, or binning off another series... and i guess they'd have to fit them into either the porsche circus tent in fontvielle or into the multistorey with the gp2 teams because the fr3.5 paddock doesn't really fit anything other than their stuff - further away from the main road it's the width of a railway track and you couldn't get a 3 car awning and truck down there (fr3.5 has a confirmed date, incidentally).

worth mentioning that it's not on the fia calendar at this point.

http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=1539

[formula_fan]

Originally Posted by bella

also, i meant to post this before - gp3 seem to think they've got a provisional race at monaco. seems like a marketing ploy to me to try and lure some more drivers in. i can't quite see how they'd fit it on the schedule without either extending friday tracktime into the afternoon, or binning off another series... and i guess they'd have to fit them into either the porsche circus tent in fontvielle or into the multistorey with the gp2 teams because the fr3.5 paddock doesn't really fit anything other than their stuff - further away from the main road it's the width of a railway track and you couldn't get a 3 car awning and truck down there (fr3.5 has a confirmed date, incidentally).

worth mentioning that it's not on the fia calendar at this point.

http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=1539

I think you might be right Bella. The latest Autosport article states it is set for Monaco debut, but reading in deeper it merely states that it is to be confirmed on the calendar. Can't see it happening on an already tight schedule. It seems it is just a marketing ploy to attract more drivers as it seems to be struggling a bit this year compared to last.

Having said that, it is good to see Sims in it, I think the series needed a bit of a boost. Bit of a risk from him though as results in 2010 seemed to be fairly random compared to other series.

[bella]

i'd like to be proven wrong, it'd be good to see something else on the support package as well, but not at the expense of any other series already racing there. i think it's important to keep a diverse range of stuff at monaco, not just bernie's authorised gravy train.

[dave not neil]

I heard a while ago that FR3.5 wouldn't be going to Monaco this year...

[bella]

the person you heard it from had better tell the fia then

[WSR Fan]

If the Monaco date is officially confirmed then presumably there would be four non-qualifiers as I believe Monaco has a 26-car limit for races (they did for FR3.5 back in 2006 & 2007).

[bella]

what a surprise...

Originally Posted by gp3 press release

The 2011 GP3 Series calendar will unfortunately not comprise Monaco in 2011 due to a lack of space to fit the thirty-car paddock in an already crowded environment. The 2011 season will be now made of eight rounds, from Istanbul to Monza, alongside Formula One and GP2 Series.

[jondownunder]

Originally Posted by bella

also, i meant to post this before - gp3 seem to think they've got a provisional race at monaco. seems like a marketing ploy to me to try and lure some more drivers in.

Always listen to bella!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89229

Edit: Sorry, somehow missed your post!

[ivanalesi]

Zimin from Formula Abarth & Da Costa are joining GP3 with Jenzer & Status respectively. The GP3 field takes shape very fast some 3 weeks before the 1st official test.

[bella]

out of the confirmed drivers so far, how many are doing gp3 as a second campaign and how many are concentrating solely on gp3?

it occurs to me that if a lot of drivers are doing it alongside another series it kind of defeats the object of a) limiting testing in all series b) trumpeting it as a lower cost alternative to f3...

[ivanalesi]

1. ART Grand Prix: Bottas, Calado, Pedro Nunes

2. Status Grand Prix: Sims, Da Costa,

3. Jenzer Motorsport: Muller, Zimin, Amberg?

4. Manor Racing: Haryanto, Hylkema?

5. Carlin: None

6. Tech 1 Racing: Vainio

7. Atech CRS GP: Yelloly, Stockinger,

8. Addax Team: None

9. MW Arden: Trummer, Frijns, Mitch Evans?

10. RSC Mücke Motorsport: Melker, Steindl,

I made a list with the confirmed drivers and a couple of almost certain drivers. Amberg has always been with Jenzer & Mark Webber has been recently praising Mitch Evans
I think Frijns & Melker are the ones doing couple of championships.

[ptclaus98]

Still haven't heard much from Conor Daly or Josef Newgarten. They were both looking at GP3. What is the difference in costs between British F3 and GP3?