GP2, WSR, F3 etc....Who's hot, who's not?

[chunterer]

Right folks, there seems to be many drivers being talked about in many of the major single seater series this year but when the chips are down, the cards are on the table (the money is in place?) who's really got the skill, longevity and potential to make it over the next few years?

Maybe difficult, as GP2, and the 2 major F3 series have seen many different winners so has anyone really stood out? WSR however seems to have been a bit more predictable than in recent years. Then below that, there maybe a couple of real hot shots in Formula Renault etc......

Who looks like they're going to be challenging Hamilton and co?

[duke_toaster]

Bruno Senna should be a good bet for F1 in the future, although that is stating the obvious. I wouldn't be surprised of Riki Christodoulou does well, too.

[Gaz]

Do you mean Adam? Riki hasn't shown the same kind of form as his brother on a consistent basis over the past 2 seasons in my opinion. Not sure on Adam, hes clearly got talent but the strength in depth of Formula Renault this year is questionable and hes not absolutely dominating every meeting in the fashion other drivers have done in the past.

[duke_toaster]

Adam, I meant. I'm getting the two mixed up. Doh!.

[WSR Fan]

The driver that has stood out for me this year is Giedo van der Garde. He's only been off the podium three times in nine WSR races and his consistency in practice and qualifying (especially at places like Spa) has been outstanding. He's also part of the McLaren Mercedes driver development programme and has a fair amount of finance behind him so I would expect to see him step up to GP2 next year, possibly with one of the teams he tested for last winter (Arden or DAMS).

Further down the ladder, I've been hugely impressed with both Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas in Formula Renault. Ricciardo looks on course to win the Eurocup title and has targeted a move up to the F3 Euroseries in 2009. He's also a Red Bull driver so he hasn't got a problem with money either.

Bottas has dominated the Formula Renault NEC series this year with eight wins from ten races and it looks like he could be the next big thing to come from Finland.

[OJB]

There are far too many drivers to choose from!!

From GP2, Senna and Grosjean are obvious candidates, but Buemi and Parente have impressed me this year too. Be interesting to see what Soucek can do for the rest of the season too.

From WSR, van der Garde has been excellent, but I kind of expected him to be. Julien Jousse has built on last year's promise, as has Bertrand Baguette. Maybe Guerrieri. Robert Wickens has probably been my big standout from here though as he has done remarkably well on circuits he mostly doesn't know.

From F3, Mortara clearly has a future, as does Maki, Bianchi and Lancaster. Hulkenberg too, but then I think his future is pretty much planned out already anyway.

My biggest future prospect though is probably Marcus Ericsson. He's only 17 and in his second year of car racing yet is already a three-time British F3 pole man and multiple podium winner. He's got Brack on his side too, so I guess he has the opportunity to go far. Hope so!

As for the Brits, I have to say not many have truly stood out in the mid-range (GP2, WSR and F3) but Turvey has been in great form of late and Max Chilton and Nick Tandy have shown good flashes of speed too. I expect them to go quite far.

[Alex K]

Sims, and I see potential in Legris, Perez when on his day, hope Parrott can step into single-seaters because he is real-deal, Bottas does well...

[Albeckinho]

Definately Valtteri Bottas. Fantastic debut season in car racing by taking 3rd place in Formula Renault NEC and then marvelous performance in UK Winter Series almost taking everything. This season his team has made lot of errors and while Vale has been constantly fast, he's had some technical issues etc. that have prevented him from dominating Eurocup. In NEC he's been almost unbeatable. Interesting note: Without financing issues that occured after last year he would've driven World Series by Renault this season, which reminds me about his megaimpressive testing with WSR-car. Next season he must to F3 and most likely Euroseries, then he'll be on the line for GP2-seats.

Another man to watch is Mika Mäki. He took some victories during his first season in FBMW driving in his private "truckie" team, shined in his second season in FBMW in both ADAC and World Final, took FR 2.0 Italy title last year and did well in Eurocup, won his first F3-race and is serious contender for the title on his first season in F3 - something that even Mika Häkkinen couldn't do. Next year he'll probably drive GP2 with Arden and hopefully do well (WSR-test gave hints about his talent to adapt to bigger cars). Expect to see him in F1 either 2010 or 2011.

Besides these guys, there are lots of really HOT talents like Huelkenberg, Grosjean, A. Christo, Di Grassi etc. that can go far.

[chunterer]

I've noticed that at least 6 Red Bull backed drivers have been mentioned already as 'stand outs.'

Without wishing to cut a cross any recent threads on the subject, would these people figure so strongly on the radar without this backing and would they still be good enough to go further if, as has been known to happen, they inexplicably lost that money just as they were looking at stepping up to a higher category?

I'm pretty convinced 4 of the RBR guys are very very good indeed; Bottas, Ricciardo, Maki, Hartley (oh and Alguersuari!) but they've all got plenty of experienced left to gain -can they get even better yet?

Nice to see people putting forward names of some people who are excelling and making the most of whatever they have money or equipment wise at their disposal like Tandy etc..

I'd probably add Van Der Drift, Tappy and if he can stay with Bottas (and it looks like he's regained some of last years pace form wise) Hegewald to my longer term bets)

And what of the pool of Mexicans that Telmex clearly want to promote towards F1? Duran is most experienced but has he got the outright ability, Perez is a revelation in F3 and then there's Sanchez Lopez who struggled in WSR but has shown flashes of speed that needs harnessing.

[META4]

For your information Chunterer , Bottas is not part of the RedBull Junior Team

[chunterer]

Oh, right thanks! Thought he had red bull logos on the car?

[Alex K]

Originally Posted by META4

For your information Chunterer , Bottas is not part of the RedBull Junior Team

Heard gossip he's very much on the radar, if he's not signed already

[Albeckinho]

Bottas doesn't have RB-backing, but without getting to RDD or Red Bull he'll struggle to promote himself next year. He's quick, he can adapt pretty straight-away to different cars and tracks, he's consistent and mature... what keeps him doing what Ammermueller did - jumping to GP2 from FR 2.0? Money. He's much like Kovalainen, doesn't have necessary funds -> needs to be part of some junior team/is ready for bigger cars -> junior team makes him go through the ladder carefully. It's a huge unfairness if Bottas can't find backing to do something bigger next year.

And oh, if driver is part of some junior team and has e.g RDD-backing, does it make his achievements less good? Nonethless, Tappy, Van der Drift and Hegewald have been good, but not "standouts". Tappy won his title last year much because he was so bloody experienced in FR 2.0 if I remember right, Drifter has dropped out of my radar after his GP2 testing, think he's doing FM right now? And Hegewald has been outclassed by Bottas this year and I believe he still have to collect his funds independently.

To say, Atte Mustonen is another great driver and has Lukoil/Räikkönen (his friend)/Red Bull (believe me or not)/Puma backing him, but it's hard to say if he's the next big thing because his results from this season are way below the ones expected - is it the car? Atte is currently 5th in the standings and his team-mates are 13rd and 15th so that tells something. With Carlin he could have been a serious challenger for the title, but now it seems he'll settle out of top-3, shamely. Lukoil is planning to do a Aleshin/Mustonen-bundle and offer them to some GP2-team... but that's offtopic.

[Alex K]

Double R had some wows early in the season, but it's still a team to be,as Carlin is. I don't know what his prob's are but am cirtain he would be in that 5th position even if he was in Carlin.

[runshaw]

Originally Posted by Albeckinho

Tappy won his title last year much because he was so bloody experienced in FR 2.0 if I remember right

That isn't really correct. Tappy stepped into FR with his Jamun team in 2006, a year after they became Formula Ford Festival winners together and Tappy was not beaten in any race in FF in the second half of 2005. The results were bad, a single-car team new to the series would not do well in FR UK. And in fact he did not complete the season, he stopped just after half way. So he wasn't as experienced as you think. Then joined Fortec for 2007 and won the title with ease, along with podium finishes in the NEC and poles/podium in French FR. In 3 years Tappy has had great success, if he gets a break in a top team he should go far (IMO).

The 2008 FR UK grid is good as usual, A.Christo is the standout with 7 wins including dominant double wins at Rockingham and Oulton Park. I expect him to move up rapidly. Buzaid is v.quick but Calado is becoming a standout in his first season, and is backed by the Racing Steps Foundation like Turvey in F3, so should have the backing to move up quite quickly.

[Albeckinho]

I stand corrected. But I still wonder how good Tappy REALLY is? Mark my words, this guy will end up as some kind of teacher like Marc Hynes.

Yeah, Double R is a good team and with right driver/when everything goes well with tech, they can win the title, yes. But what's the problem then with Mustonen? Some "professionals" have tipped him as the next Räikkönen for so long, he was thought to easily walk the series this season - what's going on? Still, he's at least a decent driver with mega-backing, so no problem before GP2.

Argh, why Im stuck with these Finnish drivers: Emma Kimiläinen, Formula ADAC Masters. Okay, she's done 2xFF and one Radical season, driven Ligier-proto at Magny-Cours, tested F3 and DTM to name few her achivements and now she's struggling to get results in ADAC. Driver this experienced is expected to at least be a constant contender for podiums - look at Will Steindl, he's 15(?) and has won races in ADAC! Some could say that Emma should consider either quitting or moving to tin-tops, she's a fluke etc. Wrong answer. I've heard from very reliable source that Emma has had some problems with her racing engineer: RE wants to setup the car the way F3's are setup, not the way Emma wants or the way her driving style suits. For the first couple of races she didn't have a team-mate so there was no comparison data available and it made it more difficult. And the list continues, other teams had been testing for months before Van Amersfoort finally got their first car this year. And what I've seen in video/photos, those youngsters are racing those cars like they were karts - clashing here, blocking there. Too many times Emma has been crashed out of the track by some newbie. So, the bottom line is that Emma doesn't have any problems with speed or else, she was *******' serious contender for Audi DTM factory drive! She also has Stefan Johansson as her manager so getting higher won't be a problem.

What the hell, I should write a book.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

I think Pantano is a good yard stick when it comes to GP2. He's always been there and hasn't gotten much better or worse, always hovering around 5th in the standings. Senna's quite good, yes, but he's never really convinced me, neither in F3 or GP2. Grosjean has looked good at times but he's also made mistakes, just look at his godawful driving in Hungary. After GP2 Asia many of us expected him to blitz the field in the main series, but that hasn't really happened, has it? Buemi's improved lately, but again, needs more experience.

F3 Euroseries. I always find it hard to measure talent in this series because nothing ever happens. It's just follow the leader on big Grand Prix-size tracks. I will say though, won't Hülkenberg have really dissapointed if he doesn't win this year? He's in his third year in F3 (and with a full A1GP season under his belt), he's with the champion team of, well, every year since 2004, he was third last year while the 1st, 2nd and 4th placed drivers moved up and most of his main opposition is in their first year of F3 racing. I'm sure he'll end up in F1 eventually, but I remain unconvinced about his talent. Looking at my points above Mäki is far more impressive.

The F3 field in the UK is so bereft of experience it's hard to measure the talent of the current runners. Perez however was fantastic last year in the national class and has shown great promise several times this season. I do wonder though how much of his up-and-down performance is down to the engine. I think almost everyone in the field should stay at least one year more or move no further than World Series by Renault. While on the subject I haven't seen any WSbR races this year but van der Garde seems to have performed very well indeed.

I do think it's a crying shame that properly talented drivers such as Danny Watts, Adam Carroll, Oli Jarvis and Jonathan Legris hasn't been able to get proper drives.

And going completely the other way, what on earth has happened to Javier Villa? I know he used the 8th to pole, lights to flag system to perferction last year but still?

[bella]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

F3 Euroseries. I always find it hard to measure talent in this series because nothing ever happens. It's just follow the leader on big Grand Prix-size tracks.

not been watching dani clos and other good drivers work their way up from the back of the grid in race 2 then! there's plenty of action there, you just need to know where to find it!

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by bella

not been watching dani clos and other good drivers work their way up from the back of the grid in race 2 then! there's plenty of action there, you just need to know where to find it!

The TV director seldom knows how to it seems...

[wannab-aracer]

I have been surprised that Atte Mustonen hasn't come on more this season.
I really fancied him to take the Brit F3 title at the start of the year, but he has been out gunned by the Carlin F3 rookies Turvey, Hartley and Alguersuari.

Hartley on his day looks unstoppable, but has made a lot of unforced errors throughout the season. I'd expect him to put this right next year with more experience. (and a haircut!)

Good to see Nick Tandy getting a mention, has looked very impressive latley on limited resources.

I will be watching Esteban Guerierri with interest next season, he has done some great development work for the Mygale chassis in F3 and was rewarded with a drive in WSR with Ultimate. Would be good to see him do a full season in a competitive set up.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

The TV director seldom knows how to it seems...

try reading a race report! autosport certainly mentions any acts of effort

i agree with atte mustonen being a bit of a let down. i was hoping to see a bit more impressive stuff from alguersuari too, but he's gone a bit quiet of late. hartley has also been a disappointment, those errors have been too frequent and have denied him at least one race win if not more. that coming together between the two red bull drivers at oulton is looking a bit costly for them now, what with turvey being on form.

[wannab-aracer]

It will be interesting to see how Andy Meyrick fairs next year.

I know it may be a little early to be tipping him for the top, but he looked very impressive in the the first half of this season before serious illness ended his title charge in the Brit F3 national class.

[runshaw]

With regard to Atte Mustonen, I am still unsure as to why many people marked him out as a future Finnish F1 star of the future. He's rarely impressive. Look at his record before he stepped into British F3, the only good results he had were in the Italian Formula Renault winter series. He failed to finish in the top 6 overall in the Eurocup and even the NEC, although he had the odd pole/podium. Obviously he is a very good driver no doubt, and I would think he would do fairly well in WSR/GP2, but certainly not a mega star of any sort, and considering his backing, he should have done considerably better.

Turvey is certainly showing his worth with decent backing behind him for once. And his team mates will go further as well I assume. Hartley is blindingly quick on occasion, but lacklustre. Alguersuari is also quick and very consistent which may pay dividends, many forget that whilst Hartley took the Eurocup last year, Alguersuaria took 3 wins and 2nd in Italian FR way ahead of Hartley.

Guerierri would be a good bet in GP2. He has been downgraded to F3 since his fantastic debut season in Int. F3000 in 2004 with BCN, where he was top rookie and on the overall podium amongst Doornbos, Liuzzi, Toccacelo etc. Fortunately he hasn't wandered over to America, so maybe he could get a big break once again.

[cds_uk]

I think Bianchi has been superb this year, now he has his first F3 win under his belt will he make a charge to the title in his rookie year? Maki has been very good as well, as for UK F3 i would say Hartley and Tandy look good. Obviously i am biased but i think Esteban Gutierrez deserves a crack at a F3 drive next year, he has been awsome in F BMW this year.

[chunterer]

We've seen flashes of real ability from Jerome D'Ambrosio in GP2. I wouldn't have singled him out even though he was good in F Master, but he's sure showing signs that if he gets the right drive next season that he could be a real dark horse.

There's been several strong qualifying perfromances and also some very impressive overtaking manouvres - the one at Hockenheim was superb on the outside at the Mercedes Hairpin. He's 6th on the grid in Valencia so if he keeps out of trouble at the start he could get a great result.

Anyone else reckon he's one to watch? any further input on this driver?