2010 BRDC Mclaren Autosport Young Driver Awards

[cleanup]

Originally Posted by krt917

Not quite sure how many times I can say this politely, but of course the winner hasn't already been chosen! Why would McLaren, Autosport, the BRDC and the various judges waste all that time and money (a lot in both cases) on the tests if they didn't mean anything?! It just doesn't make sense.

Perhaps a little background on the judges would help. Jamie Green, Oliver Turvey and Mark Williams are pretty busy during the year with international motorsport (!) so come at the awards with no preconceived ideas - they will judge what they see.

Ian Titchmarsh and Marcus Pye are long-term judges, know how it all works, and are keen to find the next British talent. Anyone who knows Ian will know how meticulous he is: award conversations are never short when he is around!

I'd like to think I was pretty objective too, as shown by the fact that non-Formula Ford drivers have won it for the last two years despite the fact I love the category.

I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing how they all perform this year, and hope they all enjoy it too.

Enough said, total respect for all involved. The award will always throw up some controversy, am looking forward to seeing the new winner at the Grosvenor.

[Deemun]

Originally Posted by Peter Cammish

Kevin, thanks for the post , loads of good guys missed out , the judges are entitled to an opinion it is after all a competition, as far as we are concerend the matter is closed and 2011 is the target. PC

Firstly I'm delighted to see Scott Malvern's name in the final six. I think he's done a great job this year and thoroughly deserves to be there. I think he will be an under dog, which may seem strange as he is the oldest of the six finalists, as he doesn't have the experience of the others in that he has not driven a winged car.

I know these things are matters of personal opinion but I'd have chosen Dan Cammish over Nigel Moore. Nigel is a super little driver and his achievments to date have been phenominal for one of such tender years, but as KT points out it is judged solely on this years performance and I would argue that Cammish's acheivement in finihing third in Formula Ford outweighs Moore's performance so far in Palmer Audi. I base this simply on the level of the competition and the rseources at the disposal of the drivers.

Nigel Moore has a great future in the sport, as no doubt at least two of his siblings do. But I think his undoubted strength and best prospects for the future are in sports and GT cars where he has shown a considerable amount of flair and already had enormous success. It's a shame that there isn't a parrallel scheme for seeking and supporting closed wheel talent as well.

[Deemun]

http://www.autosportinternational.com/public/node/8801

[Morris Dancer]

On what criteria are Autosport's Rookie of the Year finalists chosen?

This year's shortlist seems remarkably narrow, ignoring numerous significant 'feeder' and 'junior development' openwheel championships (eg. Formula Renault 3.5 & 2.0, Indy Lights, Formula Nippon, Auto GP, all but British F3, Formula Azzura, Star Mazda, F2000 Championship Series, USF2000 Championship and Formula BMW), yet it includes multiple nominees from F1, IndyCars and GP2, and WRC 'rookie' flop Kimi Raikonen!

To have any credibility, the award should be open to the top-placed rookie in any national or international openwheel championship.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

To have any credibility, the award should be open to the top-placed rookie in any national or international openwheel championship.

I'm unsure why the Rookie of the Year award should be restricted to single seater drivers (notwithstanding the forum that this thread is situated in). Unltimately, Autosport's main selling point is the coverage to a wide range of championships and types of racing. Limiting the eligible drivers to one type of racing goes against this approach.

Furthermore, restricting nominations to one driver per series would count against series which have a number of impressive rookie drivers. For instance, I was more impressed by Sam Bird's GP2 performances (ending up 5th and second highest rookie out of 30 drivers) than Laurens Vanthoor in the F3 Euro Series (highest rookie and 6th out of the 17 drivers that were eligible for the title) and as such I don't see anything particularly 'wrong' in the approach Autosport has taken.

If one takes the view that the award should be open to only the highest placed rookie in any series, then Kimi Raikkonen's inclusion on the list can be justified as he currently occupies that position in the WRC.

[dank]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

On what criteria are Autosport's Rookie of the Year finalists chosen?

This year's shortlist seems remarkably narrow, ignoring numerous significant 'feeder' and 'junior development' openwheel championships (eg. Formula Renault 3.5 & 2.0, Indy Lights, Formula Nippon, Auto GP, all but British F3, Formula Azzura, Star Mazda, F2000 Championship Series, USF2000 Championship and Formula BMW), yet it includes multiple nominees from F1, IndyCars and GP2, and WRC 'rookie' flop Kimi Raikonen!

To have any credibility, the award should be open to the top-placed rookie in any national or international openwheel championship.

How is Kobayashi classed as a 'rookie', given that he gained his current drive with Sauber based on his 'rookie' performance towards the end of last year with Toyota?

The mind boggles...

[kipper]

Originally Posted by dank

How is Kobayashi classed as a 'rookie', given that he gained his current drive with Sauber based on his 'rookie' performance towards the end of last year with Toyota?

The mind boggles...

The nominations have tended to include some leeway in defining a rookie, presumably to take into account part seasons and fleeting appearences in series; for instance, Vettel and Wheldon both won the award in seperate seasons to making their F1 and IRL debuts.

In the case of Kobayashi, with a mere two starts to his name prior to this season and visiting a number of circuits for the first time, I'd consider him an F1 rookie. To be fair to Autosport, there are a number of definitions of rookie in circulation; for example, Alex Lloyd won this years Indy Car Rookie of the Year award over two years after first appearing in the championship.

[Morris Dancer]

Originally Posted by kipper

I'm unsure why the Rookie of the Year award should be restricted to single seater drivers (notwithstanding the forum that this thread is situated in).

Leaving rallying aside because it's a different discipline from circuit racing, openwheelers are (and have always been) the best test of race driving ability.

From FF to F1, they're more demanding than equivalent sports cars and touring cars.

Opening up the Rookie award to non-openwheeler drivers would be impractical.

[chunterer]

Really, why do you think that Morris Dancer?

[Morris Dancer]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Really, why do you think that Morris Dancer?

I'd have thought it was obvious. I can't recall any F1 drivers who drove tin-tops or sports cars - by choice, not circumstance - in their formative years.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

I'd have thought it was obvious. I can't recall any F1 drivers who drove tin-tops or sports cars - by choice, not circumstance - in their formative years.

Derek Warwick, Martin Brundle, but I agree it's unusual.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

I'd have thought it was obvious. I can't recall any F1 drivers who drove tin-tops or sports cars - by choice, not circumstance - in their formative years.

Fisichella and Webber

[bella]

i can think of at least one current fr3.5 driver who has tinkered around with sportscars as well. vitaly petrov also did le mans a couple of years ago alongside his gp2 season.

[strider]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Derek Warwick, Martin Brundle, but I agree it's unusual.

Didn't they drive sports cars after being in F1?

The best examples are Michael Schumacher, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Mark Webber, and Alex Wurz was the youngest ever winner of Le Mans way back when.

[kipper]

Originally Posted by strider

Didn't they drive sports cars after being in F1?

Martin Brundle began his career in saloon cars before switching to single seaters and progressing to F1. A course of action also undetaken by Vitaly Petrov (Ladas), Jacques Villeneuve (Alfa Romeos) and James Hunt (Minis).

[Flavio Galtieri]

Sorry just remembered Derek Warwick started in Spedeworth Stock cars not saloons. I believe he was F2 champ before circuit racing.

[carbontub]

Originally Posted by boyndie
Unfortunately, even if Blomqvist is "British", being the son of Stig, he's probably got enough money to fund his career for a good while and thus, regardless of ability, will probably be deemed unlikely to win BRDC young driver award. From past awards it seems that, in a semi-charitable way, the award is there primarily to help the under privileged and not, as you would hope, to pick the cream of the crop of future BRITISH champions.

Sorry to burst the Blomqvist bubble.

Did I mention Williamson? (Scottish & British)



Tom Blomqvist born in the UK to an English mother living in the UK, father swedish. Lived in the UK for the first 7 years of his life, then moved to NZ with his mother. Has never lived in Sweden, does not speak swedish, does not have swedish nationality or passport. His father has no MONEY. Tom is not priviledged in any way other than his talent for driving. Has been living back in the UK for 2 years. Hope this clarifys it for you Boyndie!

[strider]

The prize fund has been doubled from £50,000 to £100,000.

[Deemun]

Originally Posted by strider

The prize fund has been doubled from £50,000 to £100,000.

Yes & the sponsors of the award McLaren, Autosport & the BRDC are to be highly commended for this. According to Marcus Pye's column in Autosport this week the competition has been extremely close this year so £100k will be a great boost to the budget of one talented young driver for next season.

[krt917]

Thanks for the positive response to the rise in the prize fund Deemun. It was a pleasant surprise during the course of the driver tests. Of course, all involved would like it to be even more - considering the cost of going up the single-seater ladder these days - but it's a step in the right direction.

I must also say that this year's six really did a great job. I know judges say this all the time, but it was very close and many hours were spent going over data and discussing the relative merits of the contenders.

It's just over a week now before the decision is made public, and everyone can tell us why we got it wrong!

Regards,
Kevin

[kipper]

Lewis Williamson wins the award; personally, I'm a little surprised as I thought other drivers stood a better chance but overall I think he is good recpient.

[ivanalesi]

Congrats! He also did very well in GP3 testing!

[boyndie]

Ace result.

[bella]

not surprised, he did a great job in formula renault. congratulations

(i'm interested to know how and why someone could complain about this winner!)

[MGDavid]

Originally Posted by bella

.........(i'm interested to know how and why someone could complain about this winner!)

there'll be someone somewhere who dislikes him just for being called Lewis

and others, just for being Scottish

personally I wish him all the best and hope lady luck smiles on him.