Karun Chandhok GP2 Monza 2008

Earlier this year, at the height of the Mosleygate came a surprising piece of news from FIA - plans to revive the Formula 2 series. Thanks to the timing of the announcement it was almost immediately considered to be just another shot fired in the Bernie vs. Max war. Thanks to the planned low budget (£195,000 per car) it was also almost immediately branded as impossible. Things have however moved ahead. Jonathan Palmer’s MotorSport Vision has been selected to run the series and the plans for 2009 season were announced last weekend including the 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship calendar (see the bottom of this post).

Many people are a bit confused with this Formula 2 thing especially when there already exists rather successful Formula 1 feeder series - GP2. So what are the differences between current GP2 series and the planned Formula 2 championship ?

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F1Wolf

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The FIA announced the winner of the Formula Two chassis and engine supplier tender - MotorSport Vision (MSV):

MotorSport Vision (MSV) has won the tender to supply chassis and engines for the new FIA Formula Two Championship, following a fax vote of the FIA World Motor Sport Council. As part of the winning tender it has been agreed that MSV will be the promoter of the Championship as well as the operating entity for all of the cars.
MSV has commissioned WilliamsF1 to design the car, which will incorporate a turbocharged 1.8 litre Audi engine and be built to Formula One-level safety standards. The first prototype car is on schedule for its testing debut in November 2008, with the Championship due to start in May 2009 and comprising 16 races over eight events. Performance levels will be between Formula Three and Formula One and the cost per competing driver will be less than €250,000.

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F1Wolf

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Felipa Massa wins 2008 European GP

It was nice hot and sunny Sunday here in Valencia. The F1 race unfortunately turned out to be a procession, at least at the front. If not for Ferrari mess ups there would hardly be any excitement. Felipe Massa pulled away after the start of the race and Lewis Hamilton (to the delight of local fans here) was no match for him. Massa had a bit of a scare after his second pit stops, but he managed to keep clear from Sutil and went on to win the race. Hamilton settled for second. Kubica’s 3rd place was never threatened by the other Ferrari and McLaren.

Kimi Raikkonen provided the excitement today. First he ran away with the refueling hose still attached to his car and ran over one of his crew members after his second pit stop. Then a while later his engine let go and the smoke covered the start finish line.

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F1Wolf

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The only confirmed 2009 F1 vacancy is at the moment at Toro Rosso. Sebastian Vettel signed with Red Bull from next year and his current seat is up for grabs. With Sebastien Bourdais struggling and having no contract for next season, the contest is pretty much on for both seats in the former Minardi team. That makes Toro Rosso the most likely route to F1 for the lucky one or lucky pair of Formula 1 newcomers. Therefore it comes as no surprise that a string of young drivers has already been linked with the Faenza based team.

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F1Wolf

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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.

F1Wolf

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Mike Conway did not do himself any harm by winning his first GP2 in Monaco last weekend. The tabloid talk about Conway and F1 has already begun. Does he have realistic chance to race in Formula 1 anytime soon ?

Conway’s current F1 connection is with Honda. He is part of the Honda Young Driver programme, he tested Honda F1 car last year and he does not seem to be unhappy there:

“Honda is a good place to be. They are starting to get results and next year they will be even stronger.”

But can Honda be his ticket to F1 racing ? Anthony Davidson has been part of Honda programme for quite some time. All he got out of it was 1 year and 4 races with Honda funded Super Aguri team (and 1 lap in Sepang standing in for sick Takuma Sato). What will happen with Rubens Barrichello’s seat next year remains to be seen, but it looks very likely that Jenson Button will stay with Honda. Even if there is vacancy next to Button, would Honda fill it up with another British driver ? (The last time I remember 2 drivers from same country in one team were Albers and Doornbos with Minardi, but both of them as paid drivers.) If Button signs new contract with Honda it will probably be for few years so the chances for another British driver to get a race drive with Honda anytime soon are not that good it seems. And unlike Toyota, Honda does not supply customer engines to anybody anymore … He may probably have to look elsewhere. But he is not alone among the current GP drivers with an eye on F1 and as we all know, there are not too many seats in F1 to go round …

Photo: Mike Conway/Sutton

F1Wolf

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There were some impressive performances in Monaco last weekend. Robert Kubica, Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Sutil in Formula 1, Mike Conway in GP2. Here are podiums from Macau GPs in 2005 and 2006.

Coincidence or do these guys really know how to handle cars on tight street tracks ?

F1Wolf

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Toyota is a prime example of the fact that huge budget only does not buy success. It did buy them the wrong Schumacher few years back . He however ”left” and has gone to try his luck in DTM, and so Toyota enters the 2008 season with a fresh face in the cockpit, Timo Glock, alongside the veteran Jarno Trulli.

Jarno Trulli - Italy
Born: 13 July 1974
In F1 since 1997 Minardi, 1998 - 1999 Prost, 2000 - 2001 Jordan, 2002 - 2004 Renault, 2004 - 2008 Toyota
Best Result: 6th in 2004
Career wins: 1
Pole positions: 3
Podium Finishes: 7

Jarno Trulli is one of the longest serving drivers on current F1 grid. He has been quite optimistic about the recent Toyota performance. But he somehow negated that optimism with his latest remark placing their car a full one second behind Ferrari. That would mean a position behind the midfield pack of BMW Sauber, Williams, Red Bull and Renault. Trulli’s strength has been the one lap qualifying, in 2007 he started only 3 races from outside the top 10 on the grid. To do that this year on regular basis will not be easy. Unfortunatelly for him, his race peformances lag behind his qualifying and way too often he casts himself into the role of moving chicane. It worked for him in 2004 in Monaco when he won the race. Will be inetersting to see if the removal of electronic driver aids will work for or against him.

Timo Glock - Germany
Born: 18 March 1982
In F1 since 2004 Jordan (test driver and 4 races), 2007 BMW Sauber (test driver, no races), 2008 Toyota
Best Result: 19th in 2004
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Point Finishes: 1 (7th place)

Timo Glock returns to F1 racing for the first time since his brief experience with Jordan in 2004. He spent the following years in Champ Cars (2005) and GP2 (2006-2007). He returned to F1 last year with BMW Sauber, as their driver. His biggest achievement so far is the GP2 title in 2007. Unlike his predecessor, 2006 GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton, he does not have the benefit of title contending car. His main target for his first full year in F1 therefore will be his team mate Jarno Trulli. To outscore Trulli however he will need to master the qualifying, on that turf Trulli is a formidable opponent.

F1Wolf’s prediction for Toyota drivers in 2008:
I see Trulli ahead of Glock thanks to his qualifying skills. Glock will eventually get close to Trulli later on in the season but if Trulli scores decent points early on in the season, we will stay ahead of Glock. Under normal race circumstances it is very unlikely any of these drivers will make it to podium this year.

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull

F1Wolf

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2008 will be the third year in a row when a feeder series champion makes the step up to Formula 1 - In 2005 Vitantonio Liuzzi (2004 F3000 champion) raced few races for Red Bull (alternating with Christian Klien). Frank Williams signed 2005 GP2 champion Nico Rosberg from the 2006 season. The 2006 GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton raced for McLaren in 2007 F1 season. Timo Glock will return to F1 in 2008 after winning the GP2 championship in 2007.

Lewis Hamilton wasted a glorious opportunity to become the first ever champion of one of the F1 feeder series to win the F1 title. Yes, no Formula 2, Formula 3000 or GP2 champion ever won Formula 1 title. Almost all of them however raced in Formula 1. The only four without F1 start are Jörg Müller, Bruno Junqueira, Björn Wirdheim and Sébastien Bourdais.

Several of them will be on the grid in 2008 F1 season - Nick Heidfeld, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Sébastien Bourdais are confirmed. Vitantonio Liuzzi’s chances for 2008 drive are slim, but his F1 career may not be over yet. Will any of this guys be the first one to break the pattern ?

Here is the list of all Formula 2 (from 1967), Formula 3000 and GP2 title winners, with their F1 achievements:

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F1Wolf

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The f1fanatic.co.uk runs an interesting series of articles on up and coming racing drivers called “Meet The Rookies”. I think this is a great idea. And if you do not want to be surprised in the future again with an “unknown” guy making a big impact on F1 as Hamilton is making this year I would recommend to go and read the articles in the “Meet The Rookies” series of f1fanatic website.

I add a bit myself to promote the young guns with this little photo gallery from GP2 race in Monaco 2007. I also make all these photos available for download in high resolution at the bottom of the article. The photos feature the following GP2 drivers – B.Senna, Chandhok, Conway, Garcia, Maldonado, Negrao, Petrov, Pizzonia, Rodriguez, Tahinci and Zaugg. Enjoy !

Bruno Senna

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f1wolf

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