feeder series

[Flat.tyres]

looking ahead to 08, where do people see the next crop of f1 drivers coming from.

GP2 spawned lewis but this year cannot claim the same talken with Timo going well but not amazing and bruno failing to live up to the hype but trundleing along.

Dean smith is still young in uk Renault and Tappy looks good but are either of them material? possibly.

Henry surtees continues to impress in BMW but a star of the future. Renault next year may be a good step.

Of course, there is a bourdais bloke in america that keeps flirting with f1 but has dollar signs instead of euro.

again, in the future is oliver rowland but hes 4 years away at least but a good prospect.

so, where is the 08 drivers coming from?

[andreag]

They will be coming basically from F1 '07.

I don't expect more then 3 current drivers making a bow at the end of the season, and there are some young tests drivers waiting (Vettel and Piquet) and not so young (Glock and Klien), as well as others less known.

Maybe a couple will come from GP2, but not more.

[aryan]

I don't think F1 will take anymore GP2 drivers for a number of years. Maybe as testing but not directly to racing. As andreag mentioned, the testing seats are now full with many hopefuls.

I don't expect any driver retirements this year, unless Toyota drops both of its drivers.

[wedge]

Gary Paffet in DTM who'll probably get the Prodrive seat along with an experienced F1 driver (IMHO).

I think Bruno Senna is the most realistic prospect simply because of his last name coupled with the hype and pressure. Bit of a shame he's come back to racing in recent years. Karting and junior categories has such a huge influence.

Marco Andretti could be a Honda driver in a few years.

In terms of interesting names there's Mike Conway in GP2 - current Brit F3 champ and managed by 2MB, Paul De Rista in DTM, Marko Assmer in Brit F3, Leo Mansell in Brit F3, Frankie Cheng in Brit F3 and current National Class - he's a McLaren driver and he hasn't impressed me in Brit FRenault even though he's had unfortunate races last year.

[futuretiger9]

Life was much simpler before the late 1990s. Back then, you basically went through Formula Ford, Formula Renault/Vauxhall and Formula 3, bagged yourself an F1 testing contract, did a year of F3000, and if you were lucky at the end of that, went into F1.

These days the whole scene is much more fragmented and fluid, and matters are complicated by the relative lack of F1 seats available. Teams seem to prefer to develop their own talent, and place the drivers on long-term testing/development contracts.

The odd gem such as Hamilton or Kovalainen may emerge straight from GP2, and of course we have seen people like Raikkonen come from much lower categories straight into F1. This may still happen, but it will be the exception rather than the rule.

[ChrisS]

Why is Timo going well but not amazing? he has done better than both past champions did in the first 2 rounds, And I think Bruno Senna is doing OK,he got his first win after 3 races, thats not bad at all

Paul De Rista is one driver I 'd rather like to see in GP2 rather than DTM, I hope being part of Mercedes Junior program doesn't end up damaging F1 chances

[stevie_gerrard]

I'd love to see Timo back in F1 :D

[Flat.tyres]

Why is Timo going well but not amazing?

He's 25 with a lot of experience and a F1 driver and test driver. He just hasn't looked that sharp.

Race 1 was poor qualification but good fight back for 2nd but couldn't improve in the feature where you have the likes of mike conway coming from the back to 5th.

Race 3 he went backwards but a good race from bruno from the 3rd or 4th row wherever he was and in race 4 he managed to win a race.

He's doing well but doesn't look spectacular given the situation and team he's in and I really cannot see anything to suggest he will be anything other than a midfield F1 driver.

[millencolin]

I would love to see Timo in F1! He is a talent. Champcar Rookie of the year, Scored points in his first gp!

but nextyear, i still say, expect to see Bourdais in STR

[Jimmy Magnusson]

He's 25 with a lot of experience and a F1 driver and test driver. He just hasn't looked that sharp.

Race 1 was poor qualification but good fight back for 2nd but couldn't improve in the feature where you have the likes of mike conway coming from the back to 5th.

Race 3 he went backwards but a good race from bruno from the 3rd or 4th row wherever he was and in race 4 he managed to win a race.

He's doing well but doesn't look spectacular given the situation and team he's in and I really cannot see anything to suggest he will be anything other than a midfield F1 driver.

Backwards? His race was destroyed by a poor strategy call when 99% of the field pitted under Saftey Car during the first few laps, but Glock (for one reason or another) stayed out. He outright destroyed the field after the SC came in, built up a huge lead, came out as 3rd/4th (around there) after his pitstop and fought his way back into second. BACKWARDS!!? He was the driver of the race! FYI he won the second race from 8th on the grid - that's row 4 you know.
Secondly, Glock's year in Champ Car has really done him well; and too old? He's got at least a decade in F1 left in him. He's proven on multiple occasions that he's a true racer.

Looking for future F1 drivers I'd look at these drivers:

* Glock, as said.

* Senna: He's only raced for 3-4 seasons (1 in FBMW, 2 in F3 and now his first in GP2) and hasn't made a fool out of himself. Yet to set the world on fire in GP2, but we're only four races into the season and he's second in the championship!

* Nakajima: He's impressed me in GP2 atleast. Just needs to learn to keep it togeather for a longer period of time.

* Pantano: May not be a future star, but I think he's proven that he deserves an F1 seat. His drive in the second Barcelona race was impressive.

* Conway: His career record speaks for itself.

* Bourdais: Really deserves to be in F1.

* Danielsson: I think it is horrible that Danielsson hasn't been able to progress after his World Series title while 2nd, 3rd and 4th are all in GP2.

* Ericsson: You mention Henry Surtees - making a good racing debute in FBMW UK and is 3rd in the championship, but the current championship leader Marcus Ericsson is also making his racing debute and is already a race winner.