What next for James Courtney?

[AussieGuns]

Considered one of our (Australia) best! If he doesn't win the F3 Championship will this hurt his career? And on the other hand....Where does he get a seat in F1 in the next year or so??

[f1manoz]

I think he'll still win the F3 title, but won't get an F1 drive. It will either be an F3000 seat (or an equivalent series), another season in F3 or perhaps even a full-time testing role. Then there is always a career outside of Europe....

[silvervsix]

He should win F3 after all the only other guy close to him is a pom and we all know us Aussie love beating those poms.

Hopefully F3000 and then when the next jag seat opens up he can get a drive there (with Mark).

[mac]

If memory serves, Bobby Rahal is a big fan of James ....

I think his best bet is a test drive for next year somewhere. The only other possibility would be Minardi. I can't see James doing F3000 - just doesn't seem right.

[Rick]

I think I read recently he is trying to tie up a F3000 deal - Alan Docking - but I'm not sure.

[DavidStHubbins]

The Pom is actually leading the championship in a weaker team.

Pretty much everyone expected JC to win the F3 title pretty easily (me included) but this hasnt happened which I am sure will be noted by the F1 teams.

I hope he doesnt go to F3000 because that seems to be a strange place as Webber said "its a complete waste of time and you learn nothing."

[Chris Gray]

Even if he doesn't win the Brit F3 title that doesn't stop him going to F1 one bit. If you think back to the 1999 F3 season, Marc Hynes won (where's he these days?); Luciano Burti came second (Ferrari tester) and Jenson Button came third... Overall finishing positions often mean very little. He's drove well throughout the year and that will count for him.

[sonic]

Yeah - as DavidStHubbins points out - JC in the dominant Carlin was just a foregone conclusion for the title - especially after all the fuss everyone made about Sato and Davidson having superior equipment. Combine that with the fact that Kerr, whilst pretty good, is a total unknown in F1 circles teams won't be too impressed if he loses out.

F3000 is a waste of time because rookies cannot qualify well - the best times are almost always set immediately in the early minutes of the session - but once rookies are dialed in all that lovely grippy F1 rubber has been wiped off the track.

[racer69]

Yeah but remember Courtney was winning comfortably until his Jaguar testing accident the other week, which in terms of g-forces and so on was infact a worse crash than Luciano Burti's crash in the Prost at Spa in 2001, so i think that will hurt the rest of his year, and i'm sure F1 teams would have noted that.

As for next year, sure Rahal was a fan, but if he's serious about F1, going to America would be a huge mistake, only go as a last resort. Wasn't one of the few things Rahal and Lauda agreed on was Courtney's talent, although if Webber does go to Jag JC is gone.

In an interview in Australian Motorsport News the other week his manager Alan Gow said they were talking to F1 teams about a testing role for next year, and he would possibly use F3000 for the purpose of just learning the tracks and keeping race fit, as a rookie has bugger all chance of winning in F3000.

[Extra Rib]

Okay so Robbie has done well - no-one should dispute that but how many points did JC lose following his F1 crash. We shouldn't forget that he lost out on a potential 42 points. And I know that nothing is certain specially in racing but I always thought racers wanted to win because they deserved to not cos it was lucked their way

[Sato san]

James should win the F3 title this year , but i dont think he will , I think Kerr will beat him to it . You cant put it all down to James accident at Monza either , James has been outclassed many times this year by Robbie Kerr

I dont think James will be in F1 next year , but also i think F3000 wont be a good step either. James is at a crossroads , and it will be interesting to see which way he goes .

[Spudgun]

The FIA are talking about F3000 becoming a pre-requisite (did I spell that right?) for F1, so he might have to drive in the series..

Does anyone know if this is set in stone? If so, when does it come into effect?

[Sato san]

ive heard about this also , ans if this happens , that is just too ridiculous for words .

F3000 is a european based series , and there are alot of other series that demand as much or even more than F3000.

What about the USA , a young driver can go through Barber Dodge , Atlantics , Cart ....

and there are many other series as well , look at McNish , although he was a single seater man many years ago , it has been his sportscar route that has gained him his place this year in F1.