One of the decisions taken today in Paris by the World Motorsport Council is this:
The FIA will invite tenders for a new feeder series for Formula One. This championship, called Formula Two, would be launched in 2009 and used as an inexpensive platform to develop emerging driver talent for Formula One. It is hoped this can be achieved within a budget of around €200,000 a car per season.
The purpose of the new Formula Two series does not seem to be very different from the purpose of GP2. So one can make a conclusion – 2008 season is the last one GP2 as we know it. Or is the Formula 2 going to exist alongside GP2 ?
Will the new series be brand new with new chassis, engines, format or are will the new name be pretty much the only change ? One thing we can almost take for granted. With the budget only €200,000 a car per season the Formula Two would very likely have to be spec series, as GP2 currently is.
I must admit I do like the idea of Formula 1 having again, after 25 year absence, its feeder series called Formula 2. Now let’s hope that some good racing would come with it.
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The way I read it, the FIA is setting up a *rival series* to GP2, rather than GP2 being replaced. This looks to me clearly like the next stage of the Max-vs-Bernie war.
doctorvee’s last blog post..Student apathy
If that is the case, it one or the other may not survive for long
on another note – I looked up how much it costs to run a Formula 3 car for a season – the numbers vary from about GBP80,000 in Asia to about GBP400,000 in Britain … Formula 2 sort of belongs somewhere between F3 and F1, but can it achieve that with such budget ?
I do not see how they can run much of a series for that fee, especially if it runs globally. I would assume that sponsors/advertising would defray some of the cost to get to the 200k number.
If FIA and F1 want to run independent series, and think they can succeed, they might want to look at how the IRL and CHAMP series split worked. One is dead, the other is barely alive with their marque event (Indy 500) a shadow of its previous self. Fools!!!
well, they can’t run a series for that fee … who knows what exactly Mosley has in mind …
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