2013 GP2 Silly Season

[BackmarkerUK]

One of the Lotus seats has been decided - James Calado, as expected. Daniel Abt announcement for the second seat will probably follow shortly. Also Jack Harvey will drive for them in GP3.

[p-matt]

Excellent news about Calado. Despite what some might think it's important that GP2 continues to be strong, especially as the field was relatively weak last year. Was pleasantly surprised to see that he's retained RSF backing for this season. I thought they could only fund 1 season of GP2, a la Turvey?

We could have a mega Calado vs Nasr vs Rossi title scrap on our hands

[bella]

arguably by funding just the one gp2 season for a driver they seriously limit their ability to gain f1 recognition or a factory drive elsewhere. one gp2 season simply isn't sensible unless you're a one-off huge massive talent, and gp2 themselves are encouraging second and third years with the tyre situation.

i'm not 100% sure rossi will be up there in a title battle. the more i see of him the less convinced i am of his talent.

[Felipe]

Originally Posted by p-matt

We could have a mega Calado vs Nasr vs Rossi title scrap on our hands

Don't forget Marcus Ericsson. With 100 seasons under his belt, maybe finally he can go somewhere.

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by Felipe

Don't forget Marcus Ericsson. With 100 seasons under his belt, maybe finally he can go somewhere.

I personally think that it will be more of the same for Marcus Ericsson. Then again, he did have the best end to 2012, so maybe he'll surprise me.

There's also a tantalising battle of the rookies between Abt, Juncadella and Evans, assuming they all get seats.

[chunterer]

Coming together quite nicely so far it seems.

Which other driver do we think might get confirmed shortly?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by bella

arguably by funding just the one gp2 season for a driver they seriously limit their ability to gain f1 recognition or a factory drive elsewhere. one gp2 season simply isn't sensible unless you're a one-off huge massive talent, and gp2 themselves are encouraging second and third years with the tyre situation.

How does RSF work?

I always thought they were a hedge fund, gambling up front finance for a large return when a protégé made it to F1 as a star? They're not a charity, so unless they are simply rich patrons I'd imagine they have to take some hard decisions regarding GP2 considering the cost.

[bella]

well, that's kind of my point. if you're going to invest in getting to f1, you do have to reckon on at least 2 years gp2 if you don't have a massive budget to help ease a contract out of a f1 team. so for them to only invest in one year's gp2 for calado would have lessened the chances considerably of there being a return on their investment at any time.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by bella

well, that's kind of my point. if you're going to invest in getting to f1, you do have to reckon on at least 2 years gp2 if you don't have a massive budget to help ease a contract out of a f1 team. so for them to only invest in one year's gp2 for calado would have lessened the chances considerably of there being a return on their investment at any time.

Agree with this. I wonder if they've learnt their lessons with Turvey? Who knows what he would have done with a GP2 seat in 2011. Or is the end game still for RSF to get their drivers into an F1 team, even if it is a test/reserve driver role?

[bella]

i think when turvey was in gp2 it was a little different. they didn't have the tyre options to get the hang of, and i think there was a bit more mobility in terms of who was at the front and who was at the back.

i wonder how f1 teams view the involvement of rsf? i wonder if they would consider it a complication and have it counting against a driver for things like test roles and that sort of thing? or whether they'd view it as an advantage because the driver has had his development managed in a professional non-biased manner?

[verde]

I read once Racing Steps Foundation is a driver development programme created by a British enterpreneur whose aim was to help countryfellow drivers that cannot survive on motorsport by themselves to climb up to major series. I didn't read anything about that programme being a hedge fund, a gamble fund or something alike. That looked more like charity coming from a wealthy motorsport fan.

[edenrace]

The man behind Racing Steps is a true race supporter who gives British under funded drivers great support and does not use them as investment tools.
Sad that they are investing in a French Team in GP2 and GP3 though

[bella]

regardless, as a supporter of a driver, you want them to go as far as they can for their benefit. it's not just financial investment is it, it's time and emotional investment too. i would imagine he more than anyone wants to give his drivers the best possible chance to get into f1, especially if they're more than capable at any level they've raced at so far.

i don't think it's sad at all that they're investing in a french team. if the french team are the best at the moment then that's the best for their drivers. the sad thing is that there's no british team able to match the performance or whatever factors it is that they've benefited from so far. better the devil you know, and all that.

[BackmarkerUK]

Mattijs Diepraam of 6th Gear says that Abt will soon be announced at Lotus (no surprise), Richelmi and Ericsson at DAMS (Richelmi is a little surprising, as I had tipped Haryanto to get one of the seats at DAMS), and Leimer at Racing Engineering (so not DTM for Leimer next season).

[verde]

Originally Posted by BackmarkerUK

Mattijs Diepraam of 6th Gear says that Abt will soon be announced at Lotus (no surprise), Richelmi and Ericsson at DAMS (Richelmi is a little surprising, as I had tipped Haryanto to get one of the seats at DAMS), and Leimer at Racing Engineering (so not DTM for Leimer next season).

Richelmi would be a sad waste of a good car. Haryanto or Melker (both had already driven for DAMS) would suit much better.

Ericsson and DAMS together? Here I have my bet for 2013.

[skells22]

that 6th gear person was bang on with the DAMS news as it is now confirmed.

[BackmarkerUK]

So Abt and Leimer should be confirmed soon too.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by verde

Ericsson and DAMS together? Here I have my bet for 2013.

Personally, I don't see it. I reckon that Ericsson will continue to be deeply unimpressive next year, even with DAMS.

[verde]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Personally, I don't see it. I reckon that Ericsson will continue to be deeply unimpressive next year, even with DAMS.

After the outright lacklustre Davide Valsecchi clinched the title, even though not in an impressive way, I firmly believe that Ericsson can do even better. Unlike Valsecchi, who was nothing before GP2, the Swede had a great career up to 2010, winning two titles and shining also in Brit F3.

[BackmarkerUK]

Originally Posted by verde

After the outright lacklustre Davide Valsecchi clinched the title, even though not in an impressive way, I firmly believe that Ericsson can do even better. Unlike Valsecchi, who was nothing before GP2, the Swede had a great career up to 2010, winning two titles and shining also in Brit F3.

And Ericsson scored 68 points in the last 3 rounds, more than anyone else, so he comes into 2012 on a good run of form. Now that he's competed at the Asian tracks, which was one of his disadvantages at the first three rounds of the season, he should get off to a better start. I personally hope that the title challengers are James Calado and Felipe Nasr, but I can't rule out Ericsson.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by bella

arguably by funding just the one gp2 season for a driver they seriously limit their ability to gain f1 recognition or a factory drive elsewhere. one gp2 season simply isn't sensible unless you're a one-off huge massive talent, and gp2 themselves are encouraging second and third years with the tyre situation.

i'm not 100% sure rossi will be up there in a title battle. the more i see of him the less convinced i am of his talent.

He needs the car. He doesn't have "it" as far as getting the most out of a car, so it needs to be well prepped.

[BackmarkerUK]

Johnny Cecotto, Jr. has told Venezuelan TV that he has signed with Arden for next season. Presumably he will line up alongside/bankroll Mitch Evans. After two seasons where he struggled in GP2 (3 if you count his 3 starts for DPR in 2009), Cecotto actually showed some flashes of brilliance last season, winning at Monaco and Hockenheim, and finishing 2nd at Silverstone and Monza, but otherwise always looked likely to cause a crash (and often did). Arden managed to take Luiz Razia to a title challenge last season, so perhaps with 61 starts under his belt Cecotto can add more wins and break into the top 5? It will be interesting to see how he gets on.

[verde]

Indeed a good driver, maybe not Formula One material, but at least had evolved well over the years and can get well into the fray towards wins and perhaps title.

However, I hope Mitch Evans can overcome him if they race together.

[BackmarkerUK]

Carlin just tweeted this picture of their garage, saying the GP2 cars are just back from the paint shop - a distinct lack of Marussia colours (unless Marussia are going for a blue livery next season)...

[ivanalesi]

I think these are F308 in the back, Haryanto has gone to Addax.