75 replies to this topic

[noikeee]

That's part of the game too but it's not the whole story. Bianchi's reputation isn't taking any hits this season (in fact it's improving) despite being there. Of course team-mates is another factor, you'd rather have Chilton than Glock wouldn't you (and I know you rate Glock big time)...

I don't think Lucas was good enough to make it in F1, rubbish machinery or not.

Edited by noikeee, 06 August 2013 - 14:42.

[spaceace1977]

He didn't only win but dominated F-BMW and F3.. And about what some of you are saying about not doing anything special during the races, well, have you watched Silverstone this year? When he started p20 (I think) and arrived p7, and all of that in the Sprint Race (no strategy at all). In this race, he started behind Colleti and finished in the points.. There are many others examples of that, especially last year, in his rookie season, when he got a podium on his first ever race in GP2.

He's fighting for the championship on his second season (with a mid-level team), may become the second youngest champion in the history of GP2 and still not good enough?

Last year, I only saw people praising Kimi Raikkonen for being in the title fight until the end with a Lotus, and still, he only won a race at the very end of the championship.

But I'm 100% sure that a couple of race wins from him and those opinions will change very fast

Exactly. He needs pole positions and race wins and up to now he didn't achieve either. He must raise his game in order to do so..

[Kyo]

He is too conservative? He should demand the winning tactics from his team. Especially when you think of the championship and with Colleti in the backfield (Hungary). If they adapted the Palmer tactics he had his first win instead of third place. And the 10 points difference he got have gained in Hungary is a lot in the end. Heck, he would have been leading the championship right now.

Fortec boss told about Frijns he beat himself up if he wasn't on pole position or wasn't winning..

So while he is racing for the championship he should demand the riskier strategy that may give him a race win but may as well lose him the championship? Yeah, sure.

And Frijns must have beaten himself up almost to death while racing against Nasr in FBMW, after all he was constantly losing.

[V3TT3L]

Nasr descends from Arabs and the last GP2 will be held in Yas Marina.

[Jackman]

That's part of the game too but it's not the whole story. Bianchi's reputation isn't taking any hits this season (in fact it's improving) despite being there. Of course team-mates is another factor, you'd rather have Chilton than Glock wouldn't you (and I know you rate Glock big time)...

I don't think Lucas was good enough to make it in F1, rubbish machinery or not.

Sure, ironically Bianchi's reputation is growing better than Grosjean's, despite the former causing way more accidents in the juniors and the latter have a strong reputation before F1, but partially that's because he starts so far back there's no one for him to crash into at the start!

Lucas was an under-rated guy: he got beat by Timo in GP2, no doubt, and must have wondered what he'd done to line up next to him in F1. But his approach to racing was pretty sensible, and his team bosses have always appreciated the feedback (and straight car) afterwards. He wasn't a dramatic guy, but he was a really smart guy: I still suspect he'll be the first head of state I've met, in about 20 years...

[Kyo]

I watched him win F-BMW, and he was not bad - not Vettel or Gutierrez levels, but he definitely marked himself out as the next potential hot shoe - and he definitely looked to be in the Piquet mold of give it a go, learn the series and then attack for the title, but he is slipping back into di Grassi mode now. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and there are plenty of people who could learn from his stay out of trouble, don't go for the questionable move tactics, particularly with respect to his abilities on tyre management, which is crucial these days.

It's not tremendous to watch, of course, and even Coletti learnt how to manage his tyres better eventually, so he has been schooling his rivals in one respect.

Yeah, he won in his first year there, took 2 for Vettel or Gutierrez to do the same.

Too bad that nowadays to win a race in GP2 is more about strategy than about the driver.

[V3TT3L]

Sure, ironically Bianchi's reputation is growing better than Grosjean's, despite the former causing way more accidents in the juniors and the latter have a strong reputation before F1, but partially that's because he starts so far back there's no one for him to crash into at the start!

Ironically Bianchi has a reputation, but it was Frijns that dive bomb inside Jules at Barcelona to win the FR3.5 title.

[Jackman]

Yeah, it was all won on that weekend.

[SpaMaster]

Does not make any difference. He either is good enough or he isn't.

Exactly. Rejecting RBR is not going to take his talent away. Going by the looks of it, he hasn't lost opportunities either.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I watched him win F-BMW, and he was not bad - not Vettel or Gutierrez levels...

I dunno, Vettel and Gutierrez did it in their second full seasons, he did it in his first.

[spaceace1977]

So while he is racing for the championship he should demand the riskier strategy that may give him a race win but may as well lose him the championship? Yeah, sure.

Well, he is not leading the championship. If he was leading the championship a conservative strategy is in place, but he must gain as much as possible when coletti is in the backfield. That is my opinion.

Yeah, he won in his first year there, took 2 for Vettel or Gutierrez to do the same.

Felipe wasn't qualified as a rookie in f-bmw europe. He drove races in f-bmw pacific and americas before f-bmw europe

[olliek88]

Felipe wasn't qualified as a rookie in f-bmw europe. He drove races in f-bmw pacific and americas before f-bmw europe

He did two races in each series, he was a rookie in all but name.

[BrunoCarneiro]

I followed his 2011 campaign in Brit F-3 and he certainly was no Steady Eddy. He beat Magnussen, who was his teammate. He has developed that tyre saving strategy in GP2. It's way easier to overtake your rivals towards the end of the race when their tyres are shot. IMO, he is getting the most out of that Carlin car which doesn't seem to be the fastest.

[andysaint]

Red Bull would have given him an easier path but look how many drivers they have/had on their books. A few have been unceremonaly dumped (Hartley, Jani, Wickens, Ammermuller, Alberqerque) without making it to formula 1 and several have been dumped having got there (Alguersuari, Buemi, Speed, Liuzzi and Klien) and their careers haven't really moved forward. The only real success story Red Bull have had with their f1 young driver programme is Vettel and if Ricciardo or Vergne don't get the Webber's seat you have to somewhat question what's the point in the programme. You have to be good enough to succeed granted but at the same time you have to be given a chance to prove yourself. The majority of drivers have served their time at the smaller teams getting experience (Webber with Minardi, Jag and Williams, Alonso with Minardi and Renault, Kimi at Sauber, Massa at Sauber, Button at Williams, and Bar). Some of these kids are written off too quickly IMO.

[l8apex]

Last year, I only saw people praising Kimi Raikkonen for being in the title fight until the end with a Lotus, and still, he only won a race at the very end of the championship.

Can't really compare F1 to GP2. If Kimi and everyone else had a Red Bull chassis and failed to win a race for most of last season, then yes we we might be able to make this comparison.

Perhaps Nasr is a victim of the Pirelli era and would do better with some tires that could be pushed.

[saudoso]

Nasr descends from Arabs and the last GP2 will be held in Yas Marina.;)

Lebanse.

[Kyo]

Well, he is not leading the championship. If he was leading the championship a conservative strategy is in place, but he must gain as much as possible when coletti is in the backfield. That is my opinion.

In Nurburgring he took an aggressive strategy and it backfired, if not he could be leading the championship right now. I would be worried if he hadn't the pace to win races, but he has (in Bahrain if the finishing line were 200m ahead he would've won. Malaysia he was right behind Coletti and probably one more lap and he would have won. Spain and Hungary he lost because strategy calls. Silverstone in the incident when he was taking the lead), too bad that with todays rules/tyres most races in GP2 are won thanks to strategy calls.

Felipe wasn't qualified as a rookie in f-bmw europe. He drove races in f-bmw pacific and americas before f-bmw europe

Nope, before F-BMW Europe he only did the last round (2 races) of F-BMW America in Interlagos. He only drove races in F-BMW Pacific after F-BMW Europe. It is completely different from Vettel who had already done a complete season in F-BMW Europe or Gutierrez who did had a complete season in F-BMW USA + 2 races in F-BMW ADAC and raced the world final before becoming champion. And even ignoring the previous experience I fail to see how he's season was not in Gutierrez level since he finished more than 100p ahead of 2nd place while Gutierrez finished less than 30p, and Nasr faced a stronger grid.

[spaceace1977]

In Nurburgring he took an aggressive strategy and it backfired, if not he could be leading the championship right now. I would be worried if he hadn't the pace to win races, but he has (in Bahrain if the finishing line were 200m ahead he would've won. Malaysia he was right behind Coletti and probably one more lap and he would have won. Spain and Hungary he lost because strategy calls. Silverstone in the incident when he was taking the lead), too bad that with todays rules/tyres most races in GP2 are won thanks to strategy calls.


Nope, before F-BMW Europe he only did the last round (2 races) of F-BMW America in Interlagos. He only drove races in F-BMW Pacific after F-BMW Europe. It is completely different from Vettel who had already done a complete season in F-BMW Europe or Gutierrez who did had a complete season in F-BMW USA + 2 races in F-BMW ADAC and raced the world final before becoming champion. And even ignoring the previous experience I fail to see how he's season was not in Gutierrez level since he finished more than 100p ahead of 2nd place while Gutierrez finished less than 30p, and Nasr faced a stronger grid.

Don't get me wrong. I also think he is a good driver but he needs a few wins. I rate him much higher than Coletti. I think the championship goes down to either Nasr or Calado. Coletti and Bird for the dark horsies..

[DutchQuicksilver]

Where was Bernie when Jarno Trulli disappeared from F1 and we had no more Italian drivers? Though of course Brazilian drivers have a lot more history with the likes of Senna and Fittipaldi.

[Ross Stonefeld]

You don't need an Italian driver when you have Ferrari.

[luispaulob]

Don't get me wrong. I also think he is a good driver but he needs a few wins. I rate him much higher than Coletti. I think the championship goes down to either Nasr or Calado. Coletti and Bird for the dark horsies..

Do you still think that Calado has a chance?? Come on.. Calado himself seems to have let GP2 go this year, already talking about third driver position in F1 and other stuff.

[spaceace1977]

Do you still think that Calado has a chance?? Come on.. Calado himself seems to have let GP2 go this year, already talking about third driver position in F1 and other stuff.

Or Leimer, sure why not? Since silverstone Calado scored 50 points and gained 35 points on Coletti.

With 4 rounds (192 points) left a lot is possible.

[saudoso]

You don't need an Italian driver when you have Ferrari.

Yep, Italians don't seem to bother.

Having no Brazilian driver would kill the already Sunk and still sinking TV rates here. And would kick F1 out of newspaper/magazine coverage outside of specialized publications.

However I really can't say how important our audience is, if it's enough to pull Nasr if FM retires.

[luispaulob]

Yep, Italians don't seem to bother.

Having no Brazilian driver would kill the already Sunk and still sinking TV rates here. And would kick F1 out of newspaper/magazine coverage outside of specialized publications.

However I really can't say how important our audience is, if it's enough to pull Nasr if FM retires.

Brazil has the best tv rates in the world.. So, yes, quite important.

[luispaulob]

Or Leimer, sure why not? Since silverstone Calado scored 50 points and gained 35 points on Coletti.

With 4 rounds (192 points) left a lot is possible.

Yeah, and after that round, I thought Calado could come back as well, but look what happened in Hungary.. Calado doesnt have the consistency to fight for the title..

As for Leimer, well, forth or fifth season, can he be a consistent front runner? it remains to be seen

[Mihai]

His approach to GP2 has certainly marked him out to be the new di Grassi.

Nasr actually reminds me of Rubens Barrichello in his first & only F3000 season (1992), when he scored points on all but one race and finished third in the championship. Rubinho was later picked by Eddie Jordan for his Grand Prix debut in 1993.