2013 GP2 Silly Season

[bella]

i'm in two minds about frijns turning up in gp2. would he absolutely have to do really well to retain his reputation? would he spend most of his time waiting outside the stewards office for his persuasive driving style? or does it not matter and is tracktime more important?

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I would add that I wouldn't be at all surprised if one or two others drivers gatecrash the perceived James v Felipe battle and steal the crown from these two pre season fav's!

I'm actually surprised by the lack of hype around Marcus Ericsson. He's on his 4th season, he's had a strong form over the last 3 rounds last year, and DAMS is on 2 titles in a row. One of the clear title favorites IMO.

Also, Fabio Leimer. Very fast last year, but very unlucky. Will be one to watch in 2013.

Originally Posted by bella

would he spend most of his time waiting outside the stewards office for his persuasive driving style?

Hope this won't happen. Easy enough like that to get into trouble in GP2. And with one qualifying session per week-end it can be very costly in terms of points.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by bella

i'm in two minds about frijns turning up in gp2. would he absolutely have to do really well to retain his reputation? would he spend most of his time waiting outside the stewards office for his persuasive driving style? or does it not matter and is tracktime more important?

I think he has a lot still to prove. OK, he's won titles in each of the last three years. No one else can say that outside of F1. But it's clear that success in Eurocup gives a driver a big advantage in FR 3.5. And for money or for other reasons, it is success in GP2 rather than FR 3.5 that leads to a seat in F1. I think he needs to prove that he can thrive in a very different championship than what he's raced in so far. If he does, even finishing in the top 3 in the championship in a Trident, then he's the real deal.

Besides, he doesn't have funding, so he needs to show he is worthy of an F1 seat on raw pace. Therefore, he really can't afford to tootle around and finish in 10th place in the championship.

[ptclaus98]

He was in 2.0 two years ago, was he not? Seat time is great and all, but I think GP2 is too far for him, especially with the money issues.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by p-matt

OK, he's won titles in each of the last three years. No one else can say that outside of F1.

Actually I think the only current F1 who can say that is Felipe Massa, with Formula Chevrolet/F2.0 Italy/Euro F3000 between 1999 and 2001, but that's nowhere near as impressive as what Frijns did.

Also, one could argue that Hulkenberg did it with A1GP/Euro F3/GP2 between 2007 and 2009, but technically his A1GP championship season spawned between 2006 and 2007...

Oh, and Lewis Hamilton would have done a stunning F3 Euro/GP2/F1 between 2005 and 2007, without a muddy Chinese gravel trap

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

He was in 2.0 two years ago, was he not? Seat time is great and all

Yes, he won the 2.0 Eurocup in 2011.

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

but I think GP2 is too far for him, especially with the money issues.

Well, he would have been a Sauber F1 race driver right now is it wasn't for Telmex...

He has nowhere else to go though, do you come back in WSR after taking the title in your rookie season? Keeping in mind that Da Costa is on the grid...

[JohnMiller]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Actually I think the only current F1 who can say that is Felipe Massa

Or Vettel perhaps...

[Go_For_Pole]

Well statistics is one thing, seeing him on the track quite another. Regardless of whether he races in GP2 or not he is F1 winning material. For selfish reasons I hope he does, even in Trident he will be top-5 in the points.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by JohnMiller

Or Vettel perhaps...

Well, you're right. Missed the most obvious one

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Yes, he won the 2.0 Eurocup in 2011.



Well, he would have been a Sauber F1 race driver right now is it wasn't for Telmex...

He has nowhere else to go though, do you come back in WSR after taking the title in your rookie season? Keeping in mind that Da Costa is on the grid...

And I think that would have been a shame, because success aside, I don't see him pulling that off, he has work to do, IMO. When you don't have money, you need to be perfect when you get to F1.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Yes, he won the 2.0 Eurocup in 2011.



Well, he would have been a Sauber F1 race driver right now is it wasn't for Telmex...

He has nowhere else to go though, do you come back in WSR after taking the title in your rookie season? Keeping in mind that Da Costa is on the grid...

That is also a good point, and my only answer would be for him to put himself in the best situation to succeed. I'm just saying, we've seen this act before. GP2 is completely different to the other categories. It takes experience and a good team around you to succeed. Raw talent and intuition won't bring him to the front, and we've seen how quickly that F1 backing leaves when you don't bring in the results.

[bella]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

GP2 is completely different to the other categories. It takes experience and a good team around you to succeed.

eehhhh i'd disagree with that. i think it's completely different because of the tyres, and that adds a huge new ballgame for a driver to cope with. aside from that, i think the struggles a driver has swimming to the front probably reflects f1 fairly well if you take out the new parts on the car and development game in f1. there seems to be a lot more faffing to cope with in gp2 than in fr3.5, which i think is one of the reasons you can't compare the two. that stupid backwards grid thing isn't at all relevant in f1, and imo shouldn't occur. i prefer the fr3.5 approach of having 2 completely seperate and unconnected race days, because in real life, that's more like f1.

so, back on topic - if the point of frijns doing gp2 is an educational year and not a title winning year, then it's probably a pretty sound approach as long as there's no demand or expectation of bringing back a trophy. if they suddenly decide they want to see a title or a trophy then imo it will have been a terrible idea. once you (as a f1 team) have a guy as a third driver, whatever that means, and you're convinced of his talent then the focus should be to develop the areas of his ability where he's not quite so strong. if putting him in gp2 will do that, then so be it but the aim should be that he comes out as a better driver, not as a champion.

/ideal world, fluffy cloudsville, standard talking out of the back of my head disclaimer applies.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

And I think that would have been a shame, because success aside, I don't see him pulling that off, he has work to do, IMO. When you don't have money, you need to be perfect when you get to F1.

Oh, it was probably too early for him indeed, but then Peter knows his stuff and has won on much bigger gambles in the past(Raïkkonen).

There might be another opening in 2014 for him, if Hulkenberg moves up to a better team. But then Gutierrez-Frijns doesn't sound like a very wise line-up, especially on a year with huge technical changes.

[bella]

i'm so curious about how gutierrez is going to get on, he looked a bit wobbly a lot of the time in gp2. when he was on form he was great, but in a way he's another "too soon" driver perhaps?

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by bella

i'm so curious about how gutierrez is going to get on, he looked a bit wobbly a lot of the time in gp2. when he was on form he was great, but in a way he's another "too soon" driver perhaps?

Last seasons I fully expected Gutiérrez to challenge for the title, an he never actually looked like someone who could sustain a challenge, and sometimes looked like he didn't belong in a top team. I hope he does okay this season, but I'm not optimistic, and think that against Hulkenberg (who is a class act, in my humble opinion) he will be outclassed.

[Mekola]

With the superb performance of Tom Dillmann during the first two days of tests, the man deserves a backer to battle for something important in GP2 this year. Or some manufacturer with an eye kept on him for a future in any form of motorsport.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by Mekola

With the superb performance of Tom Dillmann during the first two days of tests, the man deserves a backer to battle for something important in GP2 this year. Or some manufacturer with an eye kept on him for a future in any form of motorsport.

Tom's done well. But Varhaug showed flashes of pace as well, so it is more of a case of the team running with low fuel? It's a new team, not exactly with the strongest credentials in the GP2 field. Topping the timesheets certainly helps in terms of attracting sponsors.

Caterham F1 have announced that Rossi and Hua are their test drivers this year. Does that mean they will also be driving for the GP2 team?

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Tom's done well. But Varhaug showed flashes of pace as well, so it is more of a case of the team running with low fuel? It's a new team, not exactly with the strongest credentials in the GP2 field. Topping the timesheets certainly helps in terms of attracting sponsors.

Caterham F1 have announced that Rossi and Hua are their test drivers this year. Does that mean they will also be driving for the GP2 team?

The Caterham announcement says that Ma will join the GP2 team, but nothing about Rossi as yet.

[Robbe]

I was surprised to see Hilmer Motorsport do so well, even with low fuel it's not bad for a new team. But apparently the entire crew is just a re-branded JD Motorsport (ex-Formula Master, Abarth, Italian F3).

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by Robbe

I was surprised to see Hilmer Motorsport do so well, even with low fuel it's not bad for a new team. But apparently the entire crew is just a re-branded JD Motorsport (ex-Formula Master, Abarth, Italian F3).

They use JD's facilities in Italy, but quite a few of the staff have GP2 experience. Sean Thompson has worked at Coloni, Meritus, Lazarus and SuperNova in GP2; Daniele Rossi has worked for Trident and Carlin in GP2; Fabio Meneghetti worked for Piquet in GP2

[kurski]

GP2 Series organisers are pleased to announce that RUSSIAN TIME have been allocated an entry for the 2013 season.

[p-matt]

What Russian drivers are out there that don't have a drive? I can't think of any. Unless they get Aleshin / Sirotkin out of FR 3.5

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by p-matt

What Russian drivers are out there that don't have a drive? I can't think of any. Unless they get Aleshin / Sirotkin out of FR 3.5

Artem Markelov, who is managed by Igor Mazepa.

The Team Principal of Russian Time is called...Igor Mazepa.

But they're not definitely the same person.

[bella]

russian time. it's like chico time, but with furrier hats and more vodka.

/sterotyping

always good to see some money cash coming into the sport regardless of where it comes from (though shame it's at the cost of a british team).

only russian i can think of is nebylitskiy, but that'd be a very unfortunate choice.

where have the isport guys ended up working, same team or have they all gone to different places now?

[kurski]

Originally Posted by BackmarkerUK

The Team Principal of Russian Time is called...Igor Mazepa.

Mazepa is former IPB Spartak Racing (Le Mans Series) Press Officer.