Gp2 2009

[Hayley]

Who do you think will be racing the Main Series next year? Also who do you think is going to win it?

[MikeD]

Who do you think will be racing the Main Series next year? Also who do you think is going to win it?

So far only two drivers has been confirmed. Maldonado to race for ART and Valsecchi to continue with Durango.

I expect the title fight to be between Maldonado and Grosjean (if he returns, which is very doubtful).

I expect the good teams (ART, iSport and Racing Engineering) to fight for drivers such as Parente, van der Drift, Albuquerque, Bamber, Watts, Duval, Chandhok and Kobayashi. They are all promising drivers and/or promising drivers with good sponsor deals.

Drivers I hope wont return are: Villa, Conway, Filippi, and Valerio. None of these drivers have proven anything, so we need some fresh talent to fill their seats (IMHO).

[Nikki Katz]

Hulkenberg's taking Grosjean's seat at ART, but Renault seem to want to keep Grosjean in GP2, so he'll likely take di Grassi's seat at Campos. Rodriguez is at Piquet and Buurman at Ocean Racing (BCN), but most of the grid hasn't been decided yet. I imagine that the majority of the up-and-coming drivers from last year will be back, but I wouldn't expect to see Pantano, di Grassi, Senna or Buemi.

[MikeD]

Hulkenberg's taking Grosjean's seat at ART, but Renault seem to want to keep Grosjean in GP2, so he'll likely take di Grassi's seat at Campos. Rodriguez is at Piquet and Buurman at Ocean Racing (BCN), but most of the grid hasn't been decided yet. I imagine that the majority of the up-and-coming drivers from last year will be back, but I wouldn't expect to see Pantano, di Grassi, Senna or Buemi.

I cannot find any confirmation that Hulkenberg is confirmed at ART. Do you have a link or a source?

As far as i know Rodriguez and Buurman are only confirmed for GP2 Asia ... not (yet) for the main series.

[jonny hurlock]

link, its in german
http://www.motorsport-total.com/formelsport/news/2008/10/Offiziell_Huelkenberg_steigt_in_die_GP2-Serie_auf_08103104.html

[MikeD]

link, its in german
http://www.motorsport-total.com/formelsport/news/2008/10/Offiziell_Huelkenberg_steigt_in_die_GP2-Serie_auf_08103104.html

Thanks :) ... Funny how this news haven't been spread around the sites. After all, it's big GP2 news who is signed by ART.

[jens]

To me it's quite a big surprise that Grosjean doesn't continue at ART. The French team seemed to be built around him. I wonder, what are the reasons for leaving? A better offer somewhere else?

As for driver line-ups... Estonian Sten Pentus has participated in a couple of GP2 tests for DPR ( :p : ), which was a great surprise even for us here in his homeland, because he has been quite unnoticable in the last couple of years and was pretty much written off.

[DazzlaF1]

The only other thing i've heard of is Tiago Monteiro buying into the BCN team, not much besides that

[Nikki Katz]

Actually, looking at some of the linked articles, Buurman is only confirmed for the Asian series. Hulkenberg only seems confirmed at ART by that one article, though there are others saying that he'll be in GP2 next year. But that's probably only a matter of time.
Series like GP2 don't always fill up that quickly anyway. I remember last year being surprised when the lineup was finalised with a good month before the first race, though of course many of those drivers didn't actually last long.

[Nikki Katz]

Aha, Hulkenberg has today been confirmed, so that ends that I guess.

Yamamoto seems to have quite convincingly outqualified Maldonado, which is a little worrying. I hope he doesn't become another Filippi.

The field seems a little less spread out today, which is good. From the times only the new Durango driver seems really bad, though Chen didn't set a lap. There's been 7 driver changes since the last race!

[Nikki Katz]

I didn't post anything on this earlier because of all of the other stuff that's happened in the last few days, but there was a race this weekend! (Just one though - second was a washout).
Unfortunately, Eurosport's coverage has taken a turn for the worse. The cut out the first third of the race, and when they did start broadcasting the commentary wasn't great. One of the people doing it was pretty good and seemed to know what he was talking about, the other just mumbled and sounded very bored, often going off on complete tangents. He even managed to miss a quite impressive pass for the lead! And no mention of what happened to Maldonado in the last few laps, I'm still unsure. Oh well...

[Hayley]

I think the GP2 market has been slow as most of the drivers are waiting to see what the top teams are doing. Plus it must be hard for all those guys to find budgets at the moment.

ART have confirmed Hulkenberg and Maldonado. Campos I believe are sticking with Petrov, rummors are that Renault are shifting their focus to Campos so Grosjean will go there. Although I have heard recently Campos may even run with both Grosjean and Di Grassi. That would be a mega lline up.

No news from iSport. I guess they must be waiting to hear about Senna as if Honda don't sort themselves out in time I guess he'll do another season in GP2 with iSport. Heard a vague rumour on another site that iSport have linked up professionally with McLaren, plus they also have Jonathan Williams from Willams F1 as an advisor according to their website. That could be very interesting. I guess based on that Van der Garde who already runs with them in GP2 Asia will likely race with them for Europe. The other seat appears to be open though. If the McLaren thing is true then maybe Paul De Resta??? I guess we'll have to wait and see....

[Nikki Katz]

I think that some of the seats in the top teams will indeed depend on what happens with Honda and Senna. I doubt that di Grassi will be back, but you never know I guess. Some of the other seats might start filling up in about a month after there have been a couple more Asian rounds. Plus presumably by that point we'll know whether Honda still exists or not.

[MikeD]

I think that some of the seats in the top teams will indeed depend on what happens with Honda and Senna. I doubt that di Grassi will be back, but you never know I guess. Some of the other seats might start filling up in about a month after there have been a couple more Asian rounds. Plus presumably by that point we'll know whether Honda still exists or not.

I see two problems for the 2009 GP2 main series right now. The first is that F2 now has filled up 12 seats whereas GP2 has filled up (officially) 3 seats. Even though that F2 will run alongside WTCC, it's a problem if too many drivers are taking their sponsor money (and perhaps talent) to F2. That could lead to several GP2 teams having huge problems finding sponsors if their potential drivers aren't any good.

The second problem for GP2 is the old F3000 trap. The series must not turn into a series where it's the same less talented drivers year in and year out. I personally think there should be a limit of 3 years, so that we don't have to see drivers like Javier Villa and Luca Filippi again. They have had their chance and facts are that they weren't good enough. A fourth season won't change that.

It's important that GP2 can attract the best talents, and that the best talent can beat or get beaten by other good upcomming stars, because if a new talent is just beating Villa or Filippi, then we (and the F1 team bosses) won't know how good or bad a driver is.

I personally think that GP2 is the best formula series in the world, but F2 is clearly a threat, and still it seems that none of the involved in GP2 seem to care.

Here are the current signed drivers for GP2 2009 and for F2 2009:

GP2 - grid so far for 2009:

1. Campos - TBA
2. Campos - TBA
3. iSport - TBA
4. iSport - TBA
5. Piquet GP - TBA
6. Piquet GP - TBA
7. Racing Engineering - TBA
8. Racing Engineering - TBA
9. ART Grand Prix - P.Maldonado (VEN)
10. ART Grand Prix - N.Hülkenberg (GER)
11. Arden - TBA
12. Arden - TBA
14. Super Nova - TBA
15. Super Nova - TBA
16. DAMS - TBA
17. DAMS - TBA
18. Trident Racing - TBA
19. Trident Racing - TBA
20. FMS International - TBA
21. FMS International - TBA
22. Durango - D.Valsecchi (ITA)
23. Durango - TBA
24. Ocean Racing Technology - TBA
25. Ocean Racing Technology - TBA
26. DPR - TBA
27. DPR - TBA


F2 - grid so far for 2009:

1.) Team - J.Jousse (FRA)
2.) Team - R.Wickens (CAN)
3.) Team - A.Ebrahim (IND)
4.) Team - J.Moore (GBR)
5.) Team - T.Hegewald (GER)
6.) Team - N.Gachnang (SPA) - female driver
7.) Team - S.Hohenthal (SWE)
8.) Team - M.Zipoli (ITA)
9.) Team - P.Gandolfi (ITA)
10.) Team - A.Brundle (GBR) - son of Martin Brundle
11.) Team - H.Surtees (GBR) - son of John Surtees
12.) Team - M.Aleshin (RUS)

[jens]

Considering that Formula 2 is at least supposed to be a cheap series, then I guess we may start seeing a chasm between those two feeder series based on wealth. 'Richer' drivers, who are capable of gathering enough sponsorship money, will race in GP2. Those, who can't afford it, will race in F2.

Indeed more drivers have registered for F2 season, but I don't see anyone of them as a world-beater, so I'm not worried about GP2 yet. The cream of the feeder series will still be there. But obviously it will depend on the success of F2's 2009 season, how will the balance between those two series turn out in the longer run.

From Estonia's and Marko Asmer's perspective - I'm just wondering, whether he might opt for F2, because he is among them, who has constantly lacked of money. But alas the current situation is such that there have been basically no news about him for the last two months, so no idea, what is going on!

[Nikki Katz]

F2 is indeed filling up quickly, but who are these people??? There's a couple of GP2 rejects, but other than that the only driver I'd heard of was Surtees, who finished midfield in quite a junior series last year. If it's genuinely cheaper than not only GP2 but also some F3 series then I don't see F1 teams taking it hugely seriously.

GP2 is taking longer to fill this year than last year, but I think that's more to do with general financial uncertainty at the moment. iSport will be waiting to see what happens with Senna and Honda, and that should determine whether or not Chadhok will stay at the team; he may well end up elsewhere on the grid if not.

F3000 only really turned rubbish in the last 3 years or so it ran, it was going around 15 years before that. And even if you do think that the GP2 rules are a little unfair, they have provided some very good races, often better than the F1 race it supports. I think it's got a while in it yet, so long as they don't do anything stupid like introduce medals, and as long as there are still enough European races to keep the series feasible.

I doubt that Asmer will be back. He arrived in GP2 with some expectation being an F3 champion and F1 test driver, but he did nothing and was a backmarker at most races. FMS didn't have a great year anyway, but he was pretty badly outperformed by his teammate. I think he'll only be back if there's a lot of sponsorship, though there are probably worse drivers than him (Herck) that stand reasonable chances of returning.

[Hayley]

I doubt Chandhok will be back at iSport regardless of the Senna situation. He didn't score enough points in 08. They got rid of Zuber in 07 for the same reason.

I don't think F2 will take anything away from GP2 its quite a step down in car performance probably not even better than F3. I the F2 guys will look to move up to GP2 after F2. GP2 is way too expensive though! But how can you produce a car which is as competitive as that for only 200K?

The GP2 car is so quick and for a tiny fraction of the cost of F1 so I don't know how it could be cheaper. If GP2 did fold F3 or F2 really isn't high enough to be good preparation for F1, they don't even have pit stops!

[MikeD]

F2 is indeed filling up quickly, but who are these people??? There's a couple of GP2 rejects, but other than that the only driver I'd heard of was Surtees, who finished midfield in quite a junior series last year. If it's genuinely cheaper than not only GP2 but also some F3 series then I don't see F1 teams taking it hugely seriously.

Maybe you’re right…maybe the current F2 field isn’t that impressive, but the current financial crisis could force potential good drivers into F2, due to the high costs of entering GP2. All I am hoping for is that GP2 reacts to the new economic climate, because I really don’t hope we will see the rather lame driver line-up in GP2 Asia repaated in the this years main series. And with Andreas Zuber signing today for FMS I still think my point stands that GP2 needs to get a limit of a maximum of 3 years in the series – a rule which F2 have.


GP2 is taking longer to fill this year than last year, but I think that's more to do with general financial uncertainty at the moment. iSport will be waiting to see what happens with Senna and Honda, and that should determine whether or not Chadhok will stay at the team; he may well end up elsewhere on the grid if not.

Good point.


F3000 only really turned rubbish in the last 3 years or so it ran, it was going around 15 years before that.

To be honest I think F3000 went rubbish after Heidfeld took the title in 1999. There was very little racing action in the series, because the Lola chassis (post 1998) was crap (IMHO). In 2000 the fight was between Junqueira and Minassian and to be honest none of those were F1 material. Then it was Wilson, Webber, Enge, Bourdais, Pantano, Wirdheim and Liuzzi who dominated the series, but none of these drivers had F1 race winning potential – or hardly F1 podium potential. F1 took their future stars from other series (Räikkönen, Button, Massa), and it was only Alonso who was taken from F3000, but only after one year in the series.


And even if you do think that the GP2 rules are a little unfair, they have provided some very good races, often better than the F1 race it supports.

I am by no means critising the quality of GP2 and the cars and racing it provides. Like I wrote in my post before, then I think it’s the best formula series in the world. I will only be critical of Bruno Michel if he doesn’t react to the new climate (both financial and with the new F2 series).


I think it's got a while in it yet, so long as they don't do anything stupid like introduce medals…

+1



I have updated the entrylist for GP2 and for F2. F2 only have 8 seat left before being filled up.

GP2 - grid for 2009:


1. Campos - TBA
2. Campos - TBA
3. iSport - TBA
4. iSport - TBA
5. Piquet GP - TBA
6. Piquet GP - TBA
7. Racing Engineering - TBA
8. Racing Engineering - TBA
9. ART Grand Prix - P.Maldonado (VEN)
10. ART Grand Prix - N.Hülkenberg (GER)
11. Arden - TBA
12. Arden - TBA
14. Super Nova - TBA
15. Super Nova - TBA
16. DAMS - TBA
17. DAMS - TBA
18. Trident Racing - TBA
19. Trident Racing - TBA
20. FMS International - A.Zuber (AUT)
21. FMS International - TBA
22. Durango - D.Valsecchi (ITA)
23. Durango - TBA
24. Ocean Racing Technology - TBA
25. Ocean Racing Technology - TBA
26. DPR - TBA
27. DPR - TBA


F2 - grid for 2009: (MotorSport Vision vil act as a team for all drivers)

1.) R.Wickens (CAN)
2.) J.Jousse (FRA)
3.) A.Ebrahim (IND)
4.) J.Moore (GBR)
5.) T.Hegewald (GER)
6.) N.Gachnang (SUI) – female driver
7.) S.Hohenthal (SWE)
8.) M.Zipoli (ITA)
9.) P.Gandolfi (ITA)
10.) A.Brundle (GBR) – son of Martin Brundle
11.) H.Surtees (GBR) – son of John Surtees
12.) J.Clarke (GBR)
13.) N.De Marco (ITA)
14.) M.Aleshin (RUS)
15.) J.Palmer (GBR) – son of Jonathan Palmer
16.) A.Soucek (SPA)[/font][/color]

[Nikki Katz]

I think that Rodriguez is confirmed at Piquet for the main season too. I think it's fairly easy to guess the lineup of Campos and particularly DAMS, but nothing's confirmed yet. Super Nova mentioned a number of drivers that they're talking to, but weirdly not Parente. I hope that he gets a seat somewhere, and not just at BCN.

[MikeD]

I think that Rodriguez is confirmed at Piquet for the main season too. I think it's fairly easy to guess the lineup of Campos and particularly DAMS, but nothing's confirmed yet. Super Nova mentioned a number of drivers that they're talking to, but weirdly not Parente. I hope that he gets a seat somewhere, and not just at BCN.

I cannot find any confirmation that Rodriguez is confirmed for the main series ... but it would be the logical choice due to the success they have had.

I assume that Campos will have Grosjean and Petrov - and that DAMS will continue with Kobayashi & D'Ambrosio. That's what you were thinking as well, right?

(PS: D'Ambrosio needs to up his game soon IMHO)

I wonder who will get Villa and his many spanish sponsors. My bet is that he will stay with Racing Engineering, with Super Nova as his second choice.

PS: I think both Parente and Albuquerque are talking to Ocean RT.

[Nikki Katz]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. D'Ambrosio seemed really quite good at the end of 2008 and beat Kobayashi in the championship, despite him being the highly rated Toyota development driver (though that was largely due to too many first lap accidents). But since then he's not looked so great, he blamed the last race on Kobayashi blocking him in qualifying, but he hardly moved up from there and it is possible to overtake in these cars. Well, we'll see.

I'm sure that ORT is going to be better than BCN, but I wouldn't expect overnight success even if they do move clear of DPR and some of the other backmarkers. I'm not sure that it's really progress from Super Nova. Parente had a patchy season, but there's plenty of potential.

[MikeD]

I'm sure that ORT is going to be better than BCN, but I wouldn't expect overnight success even if they do move clear of DPR and some of the other backmarkers. I'm not sure that it's really progress from Super Nova. Parente had a patchy season, but there's plenty of potential.

There is an interview with Tiago Monteiro on Crash.net, and ORT seem to be getting a lot of new sponsors and a lot of new personel, so I expect them to move up the grid. Monteiro said that the team will test several drivers during GP2 Asia to find the right pairing for the '09 main series. My guess is that their ultimate target will be to get a sprint-race victory in '09. Overall I think Monteiro seems like he knows what he's talking about and that he has realistic goals for this new team.

I also have a feeling that DPR will take over the role of being the permanent backmarker, until - hopefully - Carlin Motorsport takes over the team (I still don't understand why that deal didn't happen the last time. Carlin will be a benefit for GP2, because they really know what they are doing).

[vicvega]

GP2 Series takes action on cost cuttings

As the economical and financial situation also hits motorsport and becomes increasingly delicate for everyone, the GP2 Series have decided to take both technical and sporting actions in order to effectively help the championship’s actors, but also make sure that the level of excitement and action drama stays the same in 2009. The plan designed to do so has been submitted to GP2 teams.
The technical actions include, among other things, a significant decrease in the cost of some parts thanks to Dallara’s contribution. Some important modifications in the technical regulations have been decided also to induce the diminution of overall costs and the interruption of all seven post rig and wind tunnel testing has been settled.
In terms of sporting regulations, along with staff limitation to thirteen people from now to mid-season and then to twelve members after that, it has been decided that no official tests will take place after the first race of the year.
On top of that, the GP2 Organisation will also contribute to the cost saving plan for 2009 by allocating an exceptional credit in spare parts for teams.
GP2 Series organiser Bruno Michel said: “We cannot ignore the world’s financial crisis that affects us all. We need to make sure we can go through the present delicate time by finding solutions both in the technical and sporting areas. However, we did not want to change the standards of quality that have been the assets of the success of GP2 since 2005. The balance is therefore very difficult to define, but we are trying to find the right level to keep the series as successful as ever. We have been looking at all the areas of our business and we have come up with the different steps that we will implement as of now. We are confident that our plan will help everyone go through the difficult period we are in and will have a very significant economic impact on teams’ P&L already in 2009.”

in gp2series.com

This limitations is the complete team (including the drivers) or just the mechanics? If it`s the complete team i think it`s not enough people to do a good job.

[jens]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73151

The line-up of iSport for 2009 will be van der Garde and Diego Nunes. Well, the choice of Nunes is a huge surprise to me. Anyone care to explain, what is the reason for this? But as a result it seems like we won't see di Resta in GP2 in 2009 and hence it can be said that his chances of ever reaching F1 may be over. :(

[Nikki Katz]

Yeah, I was surprised by that too. I can only imagine it was money. I'm not really impressed by him yet; actually the moment he joined DPR seemed to be the exact same moment that they became hopeless backmarkers. He's not really done any better at Piquet either. I think I'd rather have kept Chandhok.

Van der Garde hasn't been great yet either, but he's only done a few races and is highly rated, so he may still be good.

Hmm, Senna seems quite confident about Honda's survival, at least enough to rule himself out of a GP2 (and presumably anywhere else) seat. I get the feeling that this could backfire.

[Hayley]

I would suspect it is money which got Nunes the iSport drive. If that is the case then I think they did the right thing. No use in being the best team if you can't afford to go racing.

They might manage to work their magic with him, they are a good team so lets see. van der Garde could be brilliant when he gets on the tracks he knows well. He domintaed WSR so there is no reason why he can't do well.

I think Di Resta will be in F1 but he will take the other seat with Jenson Button if Honda manage to sell. Mercedes back Di Resta and they are the only manufacturer who said they will supply Honda which puts them in a very powerful position to insist on Di Resta!

Where does that leave Senna?? I think he has made a wrong decision and he should have given up on F1 for 09 and concentrated on GP2 again with iSport.

[Placid]

There are now 2 seats remaining after Philip Eng took his car.

Will a US driver take the last seat?

And will there be a vacancy in GP2 for either Summerton, Kimball, or Antinucci?

[Nikki Katz]

It's a bit of a shame that Hulkenberg's not contesting the remaining races as he does look quite good; perhaps I'm not as blown away by him as I was by Grosjean last year, but now that there's been a lot of mid-season driver changes I think that the rest of the field is stronger than in last year's Asian championship. Maldonado will have a lot to do next year, which is a little worrying as he's seemed to go best when nobody expects anything from him - he injured himself as soon as he found form in 2007, and started off 2008 badly with a lot of accidents, many involving his teammate, which is why it was a little surprising that by the end of the year he was regularly on the podium and won a race.

Perez really needs a main series seat too based on recent performance; he's got sponsorship so hopefully he'll get one somewhere.

[jens]

With di Resta probably out of GP2 drive, I'm wondering, what is the future for Parente. IMO it would be a real shame if he is left out of GP2 drive, I even think he could be a potential title contender in the right team. Probably little chance of getting to Campos, I think his main bet would be to try to get the vacant seat at Racing Engineering alongside Dani Clos.

[patnicholls]

The smart money would be on Sergio Perez and Edoardo Mortara having shown enough to earn a main series seat after their Asian performances so far, money permitting.

It seems highly likely DAMS will keep Kobayashi and d'Ambrosio for the main series, continuity is paying off so far for them. Vitaly Petrov will probably also stay at Campos - I don't think their main driver is as sewn up as some people reckon (it might be Perez, of course).

You've then got Earl Bamber who was apparently being looked at by Super Nova for the main series, though he's dropped out of the Asian campaign after a bright start. Back in November DPR really surprised with young British driver Will Bratt - who was in Spanish F3 last year - taking second overall in testing, so he may get a look and move them some way up the order.

Of course, there remains the question mark over the 'big names' - Senna, Grosjean, even Pantano! (although he will most likely be lost to sports cars, you'd imagine) - and the forgotten man of single-seater motorsport Alvaro Parente.

It is odd to see Parente, Zuber, Filippi and Maldonado - all GP2 race-winners - languishing outside the top thirty in the current Asia standings, thanks to partial campains with no success!

[Nikki Katz]

Grosjean's confirmed at "Addax" now. I'm happy about that, I think he's a great driver but would probably benefit from another year in GP2, while people like Nakajima (and possibly Buemi and maybe Senna next year) were rushed into F1 before they were really ready.

[Nikki Katz]

Ahh, it's just been announced that di Grassi's taking Pantano's seat at Racing Engineering. So it'll probably be between him, Grosjean and possibly Hulkenberg (I'd say Maldonado is an outside shot at this point) for the title. Presumably Pantano and Senna aren't returning.

Razia's taking the second FMS seat. Nothing really to get excited about, but at least it's not Chen!

[jens]

Sad about Parente, his options seem fairly limited now.

Didn't di Grassi really have an IndyCar option, the series he was arguably associated with? His participation in GP2 is gradually starting to take a pantanoesque effect - already fourth year in the series. And yes, to be fair, I suspect di Grassi may not be at the top of the wish-lists of F1 team bosses even if the wins the series this year...

[Hayley]

I believe iSport wanted Parente but he didn't have enough budget. I also believe Di Grassi talked to iSport as well but again he had no money.

I think its a shame, Campos and RE have big money behind them so they can afford to take drivers for less or even free but thats racing.

I'm kind of hoping we get a suprise this year. Everyone will fully expect a Grosjean, Di Grassi and Hulk battle, but it would be great if someone else popped up and shcoked everyone.

[Nikki Katz]

Right, a week and a half until the next season, what's everyone's thoughts? I still think that it'll be between di Grassi and Grosjean, providing that one of them doesn't replace Piquet. Hulkenberg could be one to watch out for, and Kobayashi ran away with the Asia series title, though it has to be said that many of the other title contenders either didn't compete or ran only a partial season.

Anyway, we have:

Addax (Campos): Petrov, Grosjean
iSport: van der Garde, Nunes
Piquet: Rodriguez, Valerio (whyyyy???)
Racing Engineering: di Grassi, Clos
ART: Maldonado, Hulkenberg
Arden: Perez, Mortara
Super Nova: Villa, Filippi
DAMS: Kobayashi, D'Ambrosio
Trident: TBA, TBA
FMS: Zuber, Rasia
Durango: Valsecci, Panciatici
Ocean (BCN): Chandhok, Parente
TBA (DPR): Herck, TBA

Trident will probably field Rigon (Superleague champion) and Teixeria (who?????), who they tested and entered in the last few Asian races; while DPR has now been fully sold to Herck's father and may therefore change its name, and test driver Jakes has reportedly turned down the second seat.

[MikeD]

Right, a week and a half until the next season, what's everyone's thoughts? I still think that it'll be between di Grassi and Grosjean, providing that one of them doesn't replace Piquet. Hulkenberg could be one to watch out for, and Kobayashi ran away with the Asia series title, though it has to be said that many of the other title contenders either didn't compete or ran only a partial season.


I agree. It will be between Grosjean and Di Grassi with Hülkenberg as the outsider. I have written an article of how I see the season. Let me know your thoughts.

http://www.flagworld.com/news/?p=16800

[patnicholls]

Again, can't really argue with the Grosjean/di Grassi/Hulkenberg top three. di Grassi was really on form last year, especially considering his late start - and he's effectively replacing Pantano (what's he up to this year?) so will have a competitive car.

Pastor Maldonado will be there-or-thereabouts but possibly fall short of a full-on title challenge - he was great in the second half of last year but too late to really be in contention.

The DAMS drivers will be strong and should certainly go better than they did last year, but it'll be tougher than their Asia campaign which ended with a 1-2 championship. I'd like to see Arden do well since they've got two high-quality drivers, but haven't quite been at the sharp end recently. Ditto Alvaro Parente for Ocean, good driver in a team that needs to improve.

The weird one for me is Giedo van der Garde for iSport. He...was OK in the Asia series, but certainly nowhere near blowing me away after dominating WSbR last year and was then shown the way by ex-backmarker-turned-suprise-package Diego Nunes in the last two rounds.

Super Nova have a bit of a 'Back To The Future' lineup but Filippi has done well for them in the past. Valsecchi could be more of a contender for Durango after a decent Asia run. Oh, and Petrov will probably find a way to win a race or two for Addax (nee Campos)!

[Nikki Katz]

I agree. It will be between Grosjean and Di Grassi with Hülkenberg as the outsider. I have written an article of how I see the season. Let me know your thoughts.

http://www.flagworld.com/news/?p=16800
Yeah, that's a good article. I agree with patnicholls too. The obvious candidates are di Grassi and Grosjean, but then Filippi was thought to be a title contender last year, and Ammermuller the year before.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Zuber thought he was going to win the championship this year. Hmmm, maybe if everyone else pulls out! FMS seem to be working their way to the back of the grid quite quickly, though they did field two awful drivers in the Asian series.

[MikeD]

I'd like to see Arden do well since they've got two high-quality drivers, but haven't quite been at the sharp end recently.

I think Arden has the strongest lineup this year since 2005. Pérez is really good (IMHO) and I have also been impressed with Mortara.


The weird one for me is Giedo van der Garde for iSport. He...was OK in the Asia series, but certainly nowhere near blowing me away after dominating WSbR last year and was then shown the way by ex-backmarker-turned-suprise-package Diego Nunes in the last two rounds.

I can't either understand why iSport have chosen Giedo van der Garde. To be honest I think he's rubbish. And since he's was pretty slow in GP2 Asia, I think he will struggle even more with the 08 chassis. That car is way more difficult to setup and to drive than the 2005-2007 version.


Super Nova have a bit of a 'Back To The Future' lineup but Filippi has done well for them in the past.

I find it hard to understand some of the choices that Super Nova have made in GP2. They had a good lineup in '05 with Pantano and Carroll, and equally Parente was a bit of a scoop last year. But the team seem to be fast in the first 1-3 rounds and then they fade through the season. And electing Villa and Filippi for this season will be a major disaster in my book. Villa simply don't have neither the talent nor the technical knowledge for GP2. He was put in a GP2 car way to early in his career and now after 3 full GP2 season and 1 GP2 Asia season he's still either slow and crash prone. And Filippi looks to be having some mental problems. He used to be quite good in some races (especially Monza) but last year he was nowhere. I don't see that change...

[Mekola]

...while DPR has now been fully sold to Herck's father and may therefore change its name, and test driver Jakes has reportedly turned down the second seat.

Giacomo Ricci, the usual sub of DPR, is rumoured to take the remaining seat, at least for round-by-round basis.

[Nikki Katz]

Giacomo Ricci, the usual sub of DPR, is rumoured to take the remaining seat, at least for round-by-round basis.
Autosport say that he's signed now, they imply it's for the season (though few drives are in GP2). I don't think they're going to score any points this year...

[jens]

Well, qualifying for the Spanish GP implies that the biggest favourites are going to deliver (Grosjean 1st, di Grassi 2nd, Hülkenberg 4th) with Petrov between them. Maldonado (10th, last year's pole-sitter!), Parente (14th, last year's winner and winter tests with ORT were promising) and Kobayashi (22nd?!) were biggest disappointments.

[jens]

Yess, Grosjean won the first race of the year! :up: :D
Parente was moving nicely upwards, but had a crash with di Grassi. :\
Nice rise by van der Garde and Kobayashi.
Filippi 4th - wonder if he is starting to refind himself after 2007?

[52Paddy]

Fantastic racing. They all seemed to be pushing for positions. Big :up: to Grosjean for the win, Di Grassi for never giving up and Maldonado for constantly piling pressure on whoever seemed to be ahead of him.

[MikeD]

Looks more and more like Grosjean is gonna walk this championship like he did in GP2 Asia last year. He's really really good (IMO) - clearly the best GP2 driver I have seen to date. He's also only one win from equalling Pantanos record for 9 wins in GP2.

[52Paddy]

Looks more and more like Grosjean is gonna walk this championship like he did in GP2 Asia last year. He's really really good (IMO) - clearly the best GP2 driver I have seen to date. He's also only one win from equalling Pantanos record for 9 wins in GP2.

I agree but that after that smash in Monaco, it just seems a peculiar time to be mentioning Grosjean. :p :

[patnicholls]

I would like to be the first person to publically apologise to Alberto Valerio - that's one way to prove us all wrong!

[jens]

Valerio's win was indeed a huge surprise.

What a pity that Parente never gets any decent race results after great qualifying sessions. Oh why?! :(

Grosjean hasn't been that convincing in recent race weekends, but still keeps a solid championship leads. It looks like pre-season title favourites are gradually getting clear in the championship (GRO, DIG; HÜL, MAL). There is also a joker in Petrov between them - wonder, how long will he keep it up?

[Nikki Katz]

Haha! Soucek's finally impounded the FMS cars, only a year and a half after he was sacked! And Fisichella doesn't even own the team any more! I'm guessing that if he wins the F2 championship then he still won't be able to get a GP2 seat now :)

[MikeD]

You can read my latest article on what it will take for ART and Hülkenberg to clinch the titles at Monza...

http://www.flagworld.com/news/?p=23632

[jens]

I'm glad that Parente has finally won a race after a lot of misfortune! :)

Hülkenberg has dominated the GP2 season more than anyone else in the past since 2005. He seems to be the real deal.

[Nikki Katz]

Yeah, it's been a very good season for Hulkenberg, though admittedly his job was made a lot easier when Grosjean left. He's not only crashed a lot less than Maldonado, but he's been generally quicker too.

Looks like Durango are missing the final round too. I did wonder why they withdrew both cars last week when they only destroyed one chassis. Wonder if they'll be sold before long.

[Nikki Katz]

What a stupid race to end the season with! I'm glad that it sounds like Herck will be ok even if he did have to be taken to hospital (which Eurosport failed to point out), but from the camera shot it was clear he had several seconds to react before hitting Petrov, and just didn't. It wasn't anywhere near as unsighted as Buurman in GP2 Asia.

But those penalties - how is it Zuber's fault that the safety car slowed down to a crawl unsighted before pitting, and how is it the other 5 drivers' fault that when they spotted it they didn't just slam their foot on the break to correct Zuber's error, which probably would have resulted in a massive accident? And how many drivers were penalised for jumping kerbs last night???

It would be nice if they could sort out the anti-stall for next year, I can't remember the last race when someone hasn't stalled on first the dummy grid and then the actual grid a lap later.

[F1boat]

I am happy that Luca Filippi won! SuperNova are childhood heroes from the time they had Montoya in F3000 :)

[jens]

Well, the season is over and it's time to make some conclusions. Congrats to Hülkenberg, can't wait to see him in F1. :up:

So, with Grosjean and basically also Hülkenberg in F1, what will the future bring to others? According to assumptions much-improved Petrov could join F1 too (Campos?). What about di Grassi and Maldonado, who should have more or less won this year to keep their F1 hopes alive, but missed out clearly? This means that their F1 outlooks are clearly very slim now - IndyCar/LMS waiting? What about GP2 veterans like Filippi, Zuber and Villa? Among them probably only Filippi had some fire this year, but generally maybe it's time to seek for a new challenge for these guys rather than hang around in GP2 endlessly without reaching heights?

Who could become top contenders in the 2010 GP2 season? I reckon several current drivers, who showed some promise during the season, but were left a bit in the shadow in the final standings, could rise to the top in the right team next year - mainly I'm thinking about guys like Perez, Parente, van der Garde, but why not also d'Ambrosio and Mortara, here. Which rookie could become a top-star like Hulk in 2009? I personally think that potential Euro F3 champion Bianchi will almost certainly join GP2 in '10 and possibly in ART team, for which he is also driving in EF3 and it shouldn't be forgotten that ART's boss Nicholas Todt is also Frenchman's manager. From this point of view Bianchi is pretty much going through the same route as his predecessors Hamilton/Grosjean/Hülkenberg.

[Nikki Katz]

Other than Grosjean and Hulkenberg I think that the drivers may struggle for F1 seats. However, if by some miracle there are 28 cars on the grid next year then somebody's got to fill them. Petrov would be a good pay driver even if he can't get there on pure talent, though if he really had that much money behind him then he probably wouldn't have spent 4 years in GP2. He's still fairly likely if Campos make it though. I've heard names like Pantano and Carroll mentioned too.

di Grassi is good but not really stand-out like Grosjean and Hulkenberg are. Maldonado had a really dreadful second half to the season. I'd love to see him as the token Venezuelan driver in the IRL (instead of Duno!), but he's so accident prone I'd be a little worried that he'd do himself (or someone else) an injury - it's not exactly the safest series.

Up until recently I would've tipped Valsecci to be the next big thing, but he's really not impressed at Addax. Soucek seems to be making a lot of noise about getting an F1 drive after winning the F2 championship, but that's nowhere near as competitive, and he's so litigious I'd be surprised to see him back in GP2 even.

Might Piquet field Piquet again? Surely he'd be a contender if that did happen. Otherwise it'll probably be the names mentioned.

For the older drivers (Filippi, Zuber, Villa etc) I don't really know where they can go from there, I imagine it'll be out of single seaters if they leave GP2. There are so many feeder series at the moment and little that they're feeding to, especially if A1GP (which usually requires coming from an obscure country) and Superleague are struggling.

[jens]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79142

An interesting quote in that article, which made me wondering - iSport will sign new drivers for next year. Nunes' departure is logical, but why and where is van der Garde going?

Btw, Jerez tests next week will also see Estonian Sten Pentus getting a testing opportunity in Racing Engineering. :) Estonian company Fat Burner is also RE title sponsor, so maybe that has helped him to get such chance.

[haho]

Well, Vd Garde is testing for Addax on wednesday, I heard he might also test for ART, and he says he is negotiating with those teams + others as well as with iSport, and I would not be suprised if he stays, cause he was used to the team and the car last season and could push for the title with them, though he may well have a better chance with ART of Barwa Addax, but he is a major contender for me. Overshadowed as a rookie by the Hulk but second best of the season, which is not bad at all.

[patnicholls]

There's almost always a fairly major reshuffle of the drivers anyway, I don't think much will be clear til well into next year on the whole. Especially with the uncertainty over the new teams joining F1 (I'd love them to be ready, and hope they will be) which'll take care of a bunch of the top GP2 guys.

van der Garde had a weird season - he was good on some occasions and completely anonymous on others. Still, he should be an outright contender next year.