Gp2 2015 silly season

[bella]

gravity =/= lotus, fwiw. different pools of money. if they're hanging onto sorensen surely it'd be cheaper to run both drivers in the same team? can see why they'd consider a pay driver alongside ocon though. you don't want to show up the lad in front of mercedes.

it's a shame if marko's been drinking the gp2 kool aid. the tyres arguement is a red herring (no red bull pun intended).

[Rf1 Fan]

Originally Posted by bella

gravity =/= lotus, fwiw. different pools of money. if they're hanging onto sorensen surely it'd be cheaper to run both drivers in the same team? can see why they'd consider a pay driver alongside ocon though. you don't want to show up the lad in front of mercedes.

it's a shame if marko's been drinking the gp2 kool aid. the tyres arguement is a red herring (no red bull pun intended).

Well it could be either Sorensen (Saxo money) or a Stockinger maybe.


We have to remember that Ocon brings 0€ in terms of sponsorship, so it's proper investment from Gravity. Also i don't think that Gravity is fearing any form of competition for Ocon. I mean he just beat by over 220 points fair and square Fuoco, he was bang on the pace at Macau in 2013 for his F3 debut.

Also he is only 18 years old, he has load of time, he showcased himself in F3, Eurocup 2.0 and 3.5 series (bang on Top 6 in his first qualy with unknown brakes in the dry in rained out day of FP, he recovered well from his big crash in Budapest by getting in Top 10 in qualy 2 at HTTT and missing points due to very poor pit stop).

On a side note Ocon, will be at Abu Dhabi straight after Macau so it must be for some F1 testing again or Gp2 (maybe in Abt's seat?).

Then for Red Bull it is a retaliation of Marko against Renault for their engine failure in F1.

[Rf1 Fan]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116629

There you go, possible Gasly/Ocon line-up at Dams for 2015.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by bella

it's a shame if marko's been drinking the gp2 kool aid. the tyres arguement is a red herring (no red bull pun intended).

Nonsense! Look at how Magnussen - 3.5 champion no less - struggled with tyre management in the first half of the season! And how he struggled with wheel to wheel combat and general racecraft too. Looking at it objectively, how on earth does running at the front of a 3.5 field with rock like tyres prepare drivers for the last step before F1? Clearly most of the F1 junior teams agree as well, because they're pretty much all in GP2 now.

Originally Posted by Rf1 Fan

Then for Red Bull it is a retaliation of Marko against Renault for their engine failure in F1.

Ha! Yes, of course it is.

Marko doesn't make emotional spiteful decisions like that. He takes the direction of the junior programme too seriously for that.

[kotkot]

Personally, if I was a leader of an F1 junior team, I'd still prefer Formula Renault 3.5. There, a driver can prove his competitiveness in one, or at most two years. If he proves enough, they add him to the F1 grid and let him learn for one year and only expect results from him in the second season. That is pretty much what's happening with Magnussen, Kvyat, will happen to Verstappen. None of them had to race in GP2. Or Bottas, for example, see how that worked out. Maybe he didn't have the best of rookie seasons but his second year tells a lot. Where do you think he'd be if he joined GP2 after his GP3 title? Still stuck there?

This, however, happens very rarely because even if you're a rookie, if you make some mistakes you'll get massively criticized by some stupid journos, fans and sponsors will want success from the very first race.

If you go to GP2, it may make you more ready to F1, but it costs more, 95% of the cases you need to spend more than two years there because the lack of results will make your employer think if you're good enough (Nasr?). If you still make it to F1 you'll still be a rookie who has to learn and get used to a lot of things.

I don't think Marko is angry at Renault or done with FR3.5, it's just Gasly already finished second there, it would make no sense to keep him for a second season. As for Lynn, Marko likes to pair his drivers up to compare them and Lynn seems more than ready to join GP2.

[bella]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Nonsense! Look at how Magnussen - 3.5 champion no less - struggled with tyre management in the first half of the season! And how he struggled with wheel to wheel combat and general racecraft too. Looking at it objectively, how on earth does running at the front of a 3.5 field with rock like tyres prepare drivers for the last step before F1? Clearly most of the F1 junior teams agree as well, because they're pretty much all in GP2 now.

it's all very well saying it hasn't helped. but has it ACTUALLY helped anyone? or have they too been back at square one?

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by kotkot

Personally, if I was a leader of an F1 junior team, I'd still prefer Formula Renault 3.5. There, a driver can prove his competitiveness in one, or at most two years.

But does it prove anything if it's inherently easier to succeed? In FR3.5 you can get by (in a top team) with raw speed, not having to overtake or manage tires (at least to the same degree as GP3/GP2/F1). You don't get to show your full array of skills to F1 teams and that leaves question marks. For that reason, Mitch Evans impressed me just as much as, if not more than, Carlos Sainz this year.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Beryl

You don't get to show your full array of skills to F1 teams and that leaves question marks.

a fair point, and i do agree there's something off about 3.5. merhi still makes no sense, for example. but again, has anyone ever come out and said "we really like gp2, it really shows the full array of a drivers skills"?

if a drivers in gp2 and he hasn't got a big wadge of cash in his wallet it's a bit late to be spotted by a f1 team....

[Mies7337]

Sainz jr. won the FR3.5 last year in by far the best car on the grid, the DAMS. Merhi impressed me by driving in a relatively bad car. He deserves a seat in the GP2 next year within a great team, I think.
The problem is indeed that GP2 is becoming a learning school for people who have enough money to become an F1 driver anyway. Becoming a champion in GP2, as the last few years have shown, doesn't mean you'll be a F1 driver in the future.

[Aguri]

I still don't think the world needs both GP2 and WSR. GP2 just needs to be cheaper and more performance based. Drivers should have a 3 full season max in the series.

[Rf1 Fan]

Ocon to test with DAMS.

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Rf1 Fan

Ocon to test with DAMS.

Why not with Lotus? Lotus has a WSR Team.

[Hawkwood]

He can't do a GP2 test with Lotus because they don't have a GP2 team, do they?

[Formulahistory]

Does anybody know who will test in GP2 in Abu Dhabi later this week`?

[Hawkwood]

Beitske Visser will be testing.

Apart from her, I have no idea.

[bella]

judging by his tweet earlier, norman nato's having a go with racing engineering, arden and russian time.

which is still a daft name for a racing team.

[Formulahistory]

Visser will test for Lazarus, Leal for Carlin.
Kirchhöfer is very close for a test call-up at Hilmer

So we have:
DAMS: Ocon, Vandoorne, Gasly (?)
Carlin: Leal
ART:
Racing Engineering: Nato
Russian Time: Nato
Trident:
Campos: Pic (?)
MP:
Rapax:
Arden: Nato, King
Status: Yelloly
Hilmer: Kirchhöfer (?)
Lazarus: Visser

[olev]

Amberg posted on facebook he was flying to Abu Dhabi whithout saying who he would drive for.

[kotkot]

Haryanto is apparently pretty close to sign with a Spanish team for 2015. I would guess he's gonna be with Campos. We'll see who he's testing with.

Stoneman also tweeted he's gonna stick around for some testing this week, probably GP2.

[WSR Fan]

http://www.paddockscout.com/carlin-r...leal-for-2015/

Julian Leal stays with Carlin for 2015.

[olev]

And Stockinger will also be there. I find interesting how many drivers from 3.5 will drive in this test.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by WSR Fan

http://www.paddockscout.com/carlin-r...leal-for-2015/

Julian Leal stays with Carlin for 2015.

OMG im going to explode with excitement!!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by olev

And Stockinger will also be there. I find interesting how many drivers from 3.5 will drive in this test.

A fair few so far.

Also Merhi maybe?

[Formulahistory]

Racing Engineering runs Jazeman Jaafar, Raffaele Marciello, Nicolas Latifi, Mitch Evans, Simon Trummer and Norman Nato.

So we have:
DAMS: Ocon, Vandoorne, Gasly (?)
Carlin: Leal
ART:
Racing Engineering: Marciello, Evans, Trummer, Latifi, Jaafar, Nato
Russian Time: Nato
Trident:
Campos: Pic (?)
MP:
Rapax:
Arden: Nato, King
Status: Yelloly
Hilmer: Kirchhöfer (?)
Lazarus: Visser

[bella]

am i getting ahead of myself or is it not generally assumed that it'll be vandoorne and ocon at dams next season?