123 replies to this topic

[Ben1445]

Highlights reel from Wehrlein's first test with Porsche 

 

https://twitter.com/...938978511527936

[Vielleicht]

According to Sam Smith of The Race, leading cadidates for the Venturi seat are:

 

Norman Nato - Venturi development driver currenty in LMP2 in the WEC

Jérôme d'Ambrosio - Just left Mahindra and one of few remaining drivers to have been around in FE since the very beginning.

 

Potential for some Mercedes affiliated driver or F2/F3 name.

[balage06]

I wouldn't say Nato is a particularly exciting prospect. At least he has a decent amount of single seater experience, but I remember him well from his FR3.5/GP2/F2 days and not necessarily for the right reasons. A couple of wins here and there, but otherwise failed to make a good impression, often overly aggressive with poor judgement of racing situations.

[maximilian]

Yeah, Jerome sure seems like a better prospect.

 

Didn't realize there are any Mercedes Junior drivers in F2/F3... who?    Beckmann?

Edited by maximilian, 01 September 2020 - 13:39.

[balage06]

Yeah, Jerome sure seems like a better prospect.

 

Didn't realize there are any Mercedes Junior drivers in F2/F3... who?    Beckmann?

 

HWA is there in both categories, but weirdly running mostly Ferrari and Red Bull-affiliated drivers. I think Jake Hughes would make sense though. He addmittedly doesn't have the necessary budget to climb higher up the ladder from F3, but he is an experienced and capable driver with good development skills and he already did a rookie test I guess? But maybe I'm wrong here.

[Ben1445]

Fun thing: Jake Hughes and Norman Nato's fastest Rookie Test times were 0.001 seconds apart from each other. 

 

Not that this proves anything at all with it being different teams and only testing (though they were both using Mercedes powertrains). 

 

I really don't know who Venturi should pick, but unless something unexpected happens in the wider driver market I think they'll end up taking a 'safe' bet.

Edited by Ben1445, 01 September 2020 - 22:41.

[William Hunt]

Jerôme is the ideal candidate for Venturi because of his enormous Formula E experience (he's one of the few drivers, there are some other like Bird, di Grassi or Buemi, who were there since season 1) and he still has good race pace, he does need to qualify a bit better though. 

Don't think Nato is a better choice but with Rebellion quiting WEC he's also on the market off course.

[messy]

Jake Hughes would be good. The guy is pretty talented, but far too old to still be in F3. Maybe this is his (finally) big break. 

[Vielleicht]

I've got a feeling it will be Jerôme just because he's got the experience and is actively looking for another seat. Venturi have a young driver thing going (unusual for FE teams) and have Arthur Leclerc in it but none are ready to fill the seat. Mahindra this year seemingly had a bit of a quiet nightmare with their powertrain this season just gone so I don't think it's completely fair to judge Jerôme's abilty on it. Lynn came in mid seasom with a point to prove and nothing to lose which has a habit of aiding performance so I'd add that as a small caveat to any comparison there.
 
The only other options he has would probably be back to Dragon, move to NIO or look just elsewhere.

[maximilian]

https://www.motorspo...mpaign=widget-1

 

Eng is a big fan and really wants FE... I say give the man a shot at it! 

[FLB]

 

Don't think Nato is a better choice but with Rebellion quiting WEC he's also on the market off course.

He'll remain in the WEC with Peugeot, AFAIK. Rumours are he is already signed, as is JEV.

Edited by FLB, 07 September 2020 - 13:02.

[Ben1445]

Eng is a big fan and really wants FE... I say give the man a shot at it! 

If I was an FE team principle, this attitude would be first on my wish-list of qualities in a driver. 

[William Hunt]

He'll remain in the WEC with Peugeot, AFAIK. Rumours are he is already signed, as is JEV.

 

Wouldn't Grosjean also be a prime target for Peugeot? He could also end up in Formula E off course.

[HistoryFan]

DS Techeetah: Antonio Felix da Costa (?) – Jean-Eric Vergne

Nissan e.dams: Sébastien Buemi – Oliver Rowland

Mercedes: Stoffel Vandoorne (?) – Nyck de Vries (?)

Virgin-Audi: Robin Frijns – Nick Cassidy

BMW-Andretti: Maximilian Günther – Jake Dennis (?)

Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler: Lucas di Grassi – René Rast

Jaguar: Mitch Evans – Sam Bird 

Porsche: André Lotterer – Pascal Wehrlein

Mahindra: Alex Lynn (?) – Alex Sims

Venturi-Mercedes: Edoardo Mortara – Norman Nato

Dragon: Nico Müller (?) – Sergio Sette Câmara (?)

Nio333-Dragon: Oliver Turvey (?) – Daniel Abt (?)

Edited by HistoryFan, 27 October 2020 - 14:17.

[thegamer23]

It's Sims confirmed at the moment, not Lynn in Mahindra!

(even if it's likely)

Edited by thegamer23, 27 October 2020 - 12:06.

[maximilian]

Looking forward to Rast taking the right to diGrassi.  I have high hopes for him.

[HistoryFan]

It's Sims confirmed at the moment, not Lynn in Mahindra!

(even if it's likely)

 

thanks, changed that
 

[Anja]

Jake Dennis is the second BMW driver: https://www.fiaformu...er-announcement

 

D'Ambrosio retires from racing and joins Venturi as deputy team principal: https://www.motorspo...rement/4901154/

[Ben1445]

I must confess I know very little about Jake Dennis 

[thegamer23]

The kid has the talent, he finished 3rd in the F3 2015 championship in front of Charles Leclerc.
Than 4th in the first GP3 season.

Than his career went a bit into a stall mode. He didn't bring any money or sponsorship so he struggled to get a seat somewhere. 

 

Very interesting pair of driver in BMW!     

[thegamer23]

[Viryfan]

According to French TV, both Nico Muller and Robin Frinjs are unhappy that Rast earned the Abt seat.

 

Nico Muller had a contract clause with Audi which handed him a first priority in case an Abt seat got freed.

 

The relationship between Muller and Rast soured a fair bit.

[maximilian]

Can't help that they are all embroiled in an intense DTM title battle, either...

 

Then again, not so sure the factory Audi ride was any better than the customer Audi ride... at least this past season.

Edited by maximilian, 07 November 2020 - 14:46.

[juicy sushi]

Can't help that they are all embroiled in an intense DTM title battle, either...

 

Then again, not so sure the factory Audi ride was any better than the customer Audi ride... at least this past season.

That Envision team is very race smart, even if they're not the factory.  They definitely have the race strategy side of Formula E down to a degree few others have.