2013 GP2 Silly Season

[verde]

Originally Posted by Go_For_Pole

I would think that Tio will stay in Manor's GP3 to go for the title. Besides the kid only has three seasons in single seaters, no need to hurry him.

Ellinas topped some of the post-season sessions. I don't see him going elsewhere.

His sophomore season will happen in an excellent year for him: more knowledge of the tracks and more experience against a crop of excellent drivers that are possibly coming up for the season. If he sets the pace driving a much more powerful car (more than 400hp), Tio will stand out in the scramble for getting a good car in GP2 in 2014.

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

Originally Posted by verde

His sophomore season will happen in an excellent year for him:

Arguable.

With the new car, everyone is starting again from scratch, and the knowledge of the ancient car from Tio and the other returners won't be an advantage anymore.

Plus, Tio+the other returners will be the ones with the pressure, they're not rookies anymore, so they'll have to deliver.

[verde]

Originally Posted by W.A Trichlorostyrene

Arguable.

With the new car, everyone is starting again from scratch, and the knowledge of the ancient car from Tio and the other returners won't be an advantage anymore.

Plus, Tio+the other returners will be the ones with the pressure, they're not rookies anymore, so they'll have to deliver.

Yes, but Tio at least has the great advantage of having known almost all the tracks of the 2013 calendar. Guys like Jack Harvey, Daniil Kvyat, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Eric Lichtenstein will still need to learn some (or many of) the tracks and that represents a hard handicap to them at least in the first moments.

Pressure is a possibility, but for all the minimally good drivers that wish to climb up to GP2 or World Series by Renault. I believe that a chap like Harvey will be as pressured as Ellinas, but nothing can be ensured if we're not in there.

[ivanalesi]

Harvey, Kvyat & Sainz raced in FBMW Europe on the F1 weekends, so they know the tracks. Usually well backed drivers can afford a session or two at one of the best simulators to learn the tracks and in the case of Kvyat & Sainz be sure there won't be just a session or two at Red Bull's simulator
I'd say these 3 have the pressure to win from the start, they have plenty of experience and if someone like Tio beats them, then Dr. Marko should think long and hard about it. Sainz has 120 car races...

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

I'd say these 3 have the pressure to win from the start, they have plenty of experience and if someone like Tio beats them, then Dr. Marko should think long and hard about it. Sainz has 120 car races...

I think 2013 might be the last chance saloon for Sainz. I'm surprised he's being given a second chance after finishing 6th in British F3 this season. A shame that so many promising drivers are chewed up and spat out by Red Bull so quickly (see Lewis Williamson - will he be back in GP3 in 2013?)

[verde]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

Harvey, Kvyat & Sainz raced in FBMW Europe on the F1 weekends, so they know the tracks. Usually well backed drivers can afford a session or two at one of the best simulators to learn the tracks and in the case of Kvyat & Sainz be sure there won't be just a session or two at Red Bull's simulator
I'd say these 3 have the pressure to win from the start, they have plenty of experience and if someone like Tio beats them, then Dr. Marko should think long and hard about it. Sainz has 120 car races...

Oh, yes, I forgot the Formula BMW days. But I don't really see a driver losing out to Ellinas as a problem. The biggest issue is the fact Sainz really hard an underperforming season this year and Kvyat didn't win the FR2.0 title as expected. If there are some (unfair) people dissatisfied with Ricciardo and Vergne, who were astonishing during the lower formulae times, what can we say about Sainz and Kvyat?

The only man Red Bull can rely on right now without major doubts is Félix da Costa, sad but true.

[ivanalesi]

Originally Posted by BackmarkerUK

I think 2013 might be the last chance saloon for Sainz. I'm surprised he's being given a second chance after finishing 6th in British F3 this season. A shame that so many promising drivers are chewed up and spat out by Red Bull so quickly (see Lewis Williamson - will he be back in GP3 in 2013?)

He must under perform a lot to get dropped, the name helps him a lot. We'll see, but he hasn't won a single championship despite always having the busiest racing calendar of all.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by verde

The only man Red Bull can rely on right now without major doubts is Félix da Costa, sad but true.

I certainly agree with that.

I think Sainz will inevitably go all the way whether he wins much or not. He has the name and funding, a bit like one or two other under-performing drivers who have still "made it" to F1.

[chunterer]

Meanwhile back to the world of GP2?!

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Meanwhile back to the world of GP2?!

Hardly any news! There is a 'German consortium' interested in buying Ocean, but I've no idea who that would actually be.

[verde]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Meanwhile back to the world of GP2?!

In Twitter, James Calado said an announcement is due to be made in the next days. I hope he stays with Lotus in 2013 alongside Daniel Abt.

[BackmarkerUK]

I might be adding two and two together and getting five, but let's see.

MP Motorsport have signed Daniel de Jong for the 2013 GP2 season
+
MP Motorsport are currently having Daniel de Jong test for them in Auto GP
+
MP Motorsport are currently having Rodolfo Gonzalez test for them in Auto GP
+
MP Motorsport say their second driver in GP2 will have GP2 experience
=
MP Motorsport will sign Rodolfo Gonzalez for the 2013 GP2 season?

Which, if it's true, would mean a Serenelli - Cecotto lineup at Venezuela GP Lazarus, as they have said they are going to have 2 Venezuelans driving for them next season (and have been tweeting about Cecotto a lot, which makes me suspect it's on the cards).

[Felipe]

Originally Posted by BackmarkerUK

I might be adding two and two together and getting five, but let's see.

MP Motorsport have signed Daniel de Jong for the 2013 GP2 season
+
MP Motorsport are currently having Daniel de Jong test for them in Auto GP
+
MP Motorsport are currently having Rodolfo Gonzalez test for them in Auto GP
+
MP Motorsport say their second driver in GP2 will have GP2 experience
=
MP Motorsport will sign Rodolfo Gonzalez for the 2013 GP2 season?

Which, if it's true, would mean a Serenelli - Cecotto lineup at Venezuela GP Lazarus, as they have said they are going to have 2 Venezuelans driving for them next season (and have been tweeting about Cecotto a lot, which makes me suspect it's on the cards).

If true, it is quite a shame for Cecotto.

He made some good effort at post season tests, so I expected him to be competitive next season. Well, he will be on his fourth year on GP2 next season, maybe he can "do a Razia".

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by Felipe

If true, it is quite a shame for Cecotto.

He made some good effort at post season tests, so I expected him to be competitive next season. Well, he will be on his fourth year on GP2 next season, maybe he can "do a Razia".

But it would be good for Venezuela GP Lazarus! Cecotto has moments of speed to him, when he's not crashing, so he could drag Venezuela GP Lazarus to the podium on occasions. If the team is going to have two Venezuelans, then he would be the one I would want in my team.

[ivanalesi]

I think if Gautheron goes to Lazarus, Cecotto will go, but if he stays put in Addax - Cecotto stays put in Addax He won 2 feature races and he was 2nd in two more + the pole at Monaco! You have to be completely crazy to change anything

[verde]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

I think if Gautheron goes to Lazarus, Cecotto will go, but if he stays put in Addax - Cecotto stays put in Addax He won 2 feature races and he was 2nd in two more + the pole at Monaco! You have to be completely crazy to change anything

I still cannot trust Cecotto 100%, even though I actually support him ever since he sitted in a GP2 car. This season had been a daft rollercoaster one, with ups and downs specially in the first part.

But it's obvious he's got the speed and can be a good contender for 2013. But can he reach higher achievements? Hard to say. Unless PDVSA is really interested on funding him in Formula 1, likely Cecotto will have to seek out for a job in Indy, touring cars or something alike.

[p-matt]

Lazarus is about Cecotto's level I'd have thought. He got a few wins this year, but he's not an F1 star in the making. It makes sense for Venezuela to pump money into its own national team, so there's probably pressure on PVDSA to fund two Veneuzelan drivers in Lazarus.

It's interesting that Lazarus have always seemed very anti-Gonzalez. They point blank ruled him out of a seat last year, and will probably overlook him again this year. He's not very good but he is miles better than Serenelli.

[BackmarkerUK]

After the current crop of Venezuelans (Serenelli, Gonzalez and Cecotto) have left GP2, will Venezuelan sponsorship of Lazarus continue, or will they separate? There's little Venezuelan talent currently below GP2 - presumably they will try and bring Roberto la Rocca through to GP2, but otherwise will Venezuelan sponsorship bring some of the drivers currently on the Road to Indy through to Europe?

[Monkey Head]

GP2 team Ocean is trying to claim 5 million EUR to Portuguese Government. They own that money to Ocean of Autodromo do Algarve sponsorship in the past seasons.

http://iris.cpidt.pt/sportmotores200...ticia?id=35801

[verde]

Originally Posted by Monkey Head

GP2 team Ocean is trying to claim 5 million EUR to Portuguese Government. They own that money to Ocean of Autodromo do Algarve sponsorship in the past seasons.

http://iris.cpidt.pt/sportmotores200...ticia?id=35801

That's the second time the Portuguese government screws up with someone linked to motorsport. Do you remember when Alvaro Parente lost the money of the Ministry of Tourism just some days after he was announced as one of the Virgin reserve drivers?

I'm not for any sort of government sponsorship but if Portugal wanted to help a GP2 team, they need to carry out with their liabilities. Deadbeats!

[bella]

i don't know how the algarve circuit is funded, but the maintenance on it now is non-existant. if you compare it to motorland, which opened at a very similar time and is pretty much spotless nowadays, it's looking a bit worse for wear.

[verde]

Jolyon Palmer confirmed at Carlin:

http://www.carlin.co.uk/news/Palmert...withCarlin.htm

Nasr and Palmer together. Not a bad pair, I must say. Palmer is not on the wishlist of anyone here, I wonder, but there are far worse people than him trying to afford some good cars on this grid.

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by verde

Nasr and Palmer together. Not a bad pair, I must say. Palmer is not on the wishlist of anyone here, I wonder, but there are far worse people than him trying to afford some good cars on this grid.

I don't think Palmer's a bad driver...I just don't think he's a very good one either. I didn't see Palmer going back to Carlin, but the team has improved in his absence. That said, he'll have a tough time against Nasr next season. Nasr and Palmer being together at Carlin makes me dubious that Marussia will be associated with them next season. It will be interesting to see where Rio Haryanto winds up.

[kotkot]

So Haryanto (and Marussia) will definitely leave Carlin, I suppose he is going to Lotus. I saw an Indonesian article about it, however, I only understood two words, 'Haryanto' and 'Lotus'.

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by kotkot

So Haryanto (and Marussia) will definitely leave Carlin, I suppose he is going to Lotus. I saw an Indonesian article about it, however, I only understood two words, 'Haryanto' and 'Lotus'.

The Indonesian articles are just saying that his priority is to secure a seat at Lotus (and who wouldn't want a seat at Lotus). But I still think that the Lotus seats are going to Abt and Calado, which means that he's more likely to end up at DAMS (or if Marussia move, wherever they go).