The next big thing

[bella]

i think it's fair to say that boccolacci is one of those drivers who have all the opportunities they could need, and so he's as good as he should be.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by bella

i think it's fair to say that boccolacci is one of those drivers who have all the opportunities they could need, and so he's as good as he should be.

But you can argue that about Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel but those 2 aren't exactly bad...

[bella]

*shrugs* the challenge is in spotting guys doing things they shouldn't really be doing, not in seeing the ones who have all the opportunities. picking out the ones in the best situation to win isn't really very hard

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by bella

*shrugs* the challenge is in spotting guys doing things they shouldn't really be doing, not in seeing the ones who have all the opportunities. picking out the ones in the best situation to win isn't really very hard

So Joseph Mawson is French F4's best prospect then

And Santino Ferrucci must be awesome, he's a hugely promising prospect for F1 from the USA...

[bella]

yeah he looks like he could be REALLY worth watching.

he seems to have been involved in a few scuffles which is to be expected but he's very prompt...!

along the silly age theme i was going to suggest matt mcmurray from elms, purely for having the balls to step up and compete at le mans and in elms at 16 but his pace isn't quite there yet in comparison to even the most... gentlemanly of gentlemen drivers in lmp2. worth keeping an eye out for though.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by bella

sorensen SHOULD be whipping everyone in french f4 given he already has decent car racing experience, and hirsiger's not doing a bad job at all either.

Well Sorensen and Hirsiger just cleaned the field in the first race at Val de Vienne, with Boccolacci and Mawson fell off the road both from good positions. 3rd went to car racing rookie Paul Hokfelt Jr, narrowly ahead of Mexican debutant Patricio O'Ward, who did some FR1.6 and Pacific F2000 (which he was dominant in) last season, but is only 15. Look out for those two as well...

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

I cannot believe what Mawson just did...

...Sorensen won a wet race 3 by a good 14 seconds (yes, 14 seconds in 14 laps, not hard to work out his relative pace!) ahead of Boccolacci, after Hirsiger and Mawson fell off the road. Mawson fell to 9th, and charged back up to 6th before misjudging an move on O'Ward for 5th and flying over the back of him. But that's 3/3 for Sorensen, which is ridiculous...

[ivanalesi]

Also I would add Andrea Russo from Italian F4. He's a bit crazy in the races, but still very fast and has a fighting spirit. Without the mistakes he would be much closer to Stroll who I think has a much better preparation than anyone in the field bar Maisano.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Max Verstappen has joined Red Bull's junior programme. I wonder, if they're only going to put 2 drivers into FR3.5 next season, who it would be? Will they end up being forced to remove Vergne from the programme? Even so, that leaves Gasly, Lynn and Verstappen, all of whom have star qualities.

[p-matt]

Red Bull junior programme will have a log jam in their hands. I can't see Sainz or Lynn being dropped if they win their championships. That leaves Gasly. I'm not convinced that he's a superstar, but it would be unlucky if he gets dropped for not winning a championship he should have no right winning as a rookie

[Rf1 Fan]

Apparently Mercedes and Toto Wolf poached Ocon from Lotus F1 junior team.
http://autosport.pt/esteban-ocon-na-...medium=twitter

As part of engine deal for 2015.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Well, with Verstappen signed for F1 next season, let's focus elsewhere!!!!

Charles Leclerc is starting to look like he could be something pretty special. With Todt being his manager, expect to hear his name in the future. Ben Barnicoat currently leads the FR NEC standings, so that's that (it really isn't)

Gaetano di Mauro imo could well be one to watch from BRDC F4, having taken a pole position and win for a brand new team (Petroball) in a series dominated by Lanan Racing and HHC Motorsports.

Dorian Boccolacci needs another season at F4 level, he's way too raw, and needs refining. Or maybe that could be an incentive for Lotus to chuck him into the deep end and see how he copes...

Esteban Ocon made a hash of his FR3.5 debut, but the weekend was very tough for everyone who isn't called Roberto Merhi. He's still destined for Formula 1.

But the biggest prospect in motorsports has to be Lando Norris

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Bruno Baptista has only 1 non-podium finish in the Fórmula 4 Sudamericana series, and heads the standings with 8 rounds gone. Baptista (from what I can find) is competing in his maiden car racing season and heads fellow car racing rookie Felipe Ortiz, with the two of them (on 132 and 121 points repectively) are the only 2 drivers with over 100 points.

16-year-old Finn Joonas Lappalainen (probably some accents in there somewhere) also has a good lead in the Swedish FR1.6 series.

Higher up the ladder, Roberto Merhi is on some outrageous form right now...

[kotkot]

Speaking of South America, Pedro Piquet's dominance in F3 Brazil is worth mentioning, he already took the title, however, not sure how much it means considering Lukas Moraes, who was the worst full-time driver in the dying Formula Abarth last year, sits in second.

[snowdog140]

Quick question, not just for Biscuits as I know others post in this thread too, but is there a way of keeping tabs on these guys? Struggling to find a centralised place for results and standings as I'm finding the junior categories so much better than F1 these days.

[jobdone]

Try http://motorsportwinners.com/

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

I use driverdatabase.com as it's very in depth. The only issue is that it takes a couple of days for the results on some of these series' to be put on to the website, and some of the standings are still out of date (e.g. BRDC F4)

[kotkot]

I agree, driverdb is extremely useful.

Most of the championships have their own wiki page, just put a bookmark on them and they will become easily accessible through your browser.

Have to mention, one of the bigger projects I was working on in Paddockscout was a collection of updated standings tables in the site. It is in the closing stages, it should appear in the next couple of months. Maybe that will help.

[bella]

forix is a heroic source of stats and career info if you've got an autosport sub. if not it's probably worth a website only one on its own. it's updated pretty sharpish.

[Go_For_Pole]

Indeed but if I remember correctly it has no karting record so driverdb gets my vote too

[cds_uk]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

But the biggest prospect in motorsports has to be Lando Norris

Agreed, Lando is a rare talent who could well end up in F1. Could i add Ash Sutton to the list aswell, in a very disjointed Formula Ford season he was outrageously rapid when he finally ended up with MBM and is undoubtedly one of the best young overtakers out there.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Not sure about Sutton. But he was certainly worth watching. He shows that in spec formula (let's face it, that Sinter wasn't going anywhere!) it matters which team you are in - maybe even more so than non-spec formulae. He was clearly the best driver in the field when his car worked! And Juan Rosso would've certainly been a title contender if he was at JTR. Hence why I think di Mauro could well be worth watching. There's no way that Petroball are anywhere near Lanan in the F4 series. Plus he has Barrichello as his manager. But is that Brit FF grid actually as good as you may think? I doubt it, but the frontrunners could all win in an HHC car in BRDC F4...

As for Norris, whilst my comment was a bit jokey, he is certainly F1 potential. Absolutely mega talent. That Ginetta Juniors grid looked special though - I can see the likes of the Mitchell, Kellett, Norris, Caroline, Zelos and maybe the Hadfield bros and Chadwick getting somewhere in their careers. Kellett I know is looking at the GT4 SuperCup now he has enough money. Mitchell wants to go through the single seater route, which will be interesting.

And I mentioned young Gjergj Haxhiu earlier as someone who was expected to perform as he stepped up from a karting career at the same success levels as Mr Verstappen Jr. He hasn't shown too much pace in French F4 but took a reverse grid win at Jerez last weekend and then with confidence skyrocketing, he claimed 6th next time out (Joseph Mawson stopped crashing and actually won something in R1, Lasse Sorensen in R2, just for reference) and I expect to see Haxhiu get closer to the front next season. He only recently turned 15 so has time on his side, probably to remain in the series next season.

And Nyck de Vries is confirmed at DAMS for FR3.5 next season! It's DAMS, it's the reigning Eurocup champion, it's a McLaren junior, it's FR3.5, surely that just has success written all over it! Even if de Vries isn't the fastest on the block (Vandoorne may well be his teammate as McLaren try to get more on his CV before he inevitably enters F1) he'll surely be up there!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

And Nyck de Vries is confirmed at DAMS for FR3.5 next season! It's DAMS, it's the reigning Eurocup champion, it's a McLaren junior, it's FR3.5, surely that just has success written all over it! Even if de Vries isn't the fastest on the block (Vandoorne may well be his teammate as McLaren try to get more on his CV before he inevitably enters F1) he'll surely be up there!

Vandoorne would surely stay in GP2?

I think Rowland would be the title favourite if he can find the budget for a second season.

[kotkot]

Nah, Haxhiu was only successful in his local, Swiss championships, he never entered the international scene like Verstappen did. That doesn't mean he isn't good though, he can be the next big Swiss talent. Should improve a lot next year.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I think Rowland would be the title favourite if he can find the budget for a second season.

Rowland is very good but if Alex Lynn can enter the series and get decent pre-season mileage he should wipe out all competition unless Vandoorne returns and/or Gasly. Remember how far behind Rowland was compared to Lynn in most days in FR UK? Lynn is such a complete driver to be racing in the supposed 3rd tier from the top of motorsports. I was amazed that RBR even put him back into it for a 3rd season this season in GP3, and again he's shown us that he's the best British driver in single seaters bar JB and Mr Hamilton. I personally think Mr Marko underrates his abilities. He's a step above Gasly, and was faster than Sainz Jr at the end of the 2012 British F3 season. Of course, this is all speculative...