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Re Filippi's performance and the standards of this year's GP2 field, I'm going to claim it's a bit of both.
It is extremely difficult to come into a series like GP2 as an established driver, even in a year were no regulations have changed. That he had experience of the tires helped, but usually you see how difficult it is to match the sheer ferocity and motivation of the drivers who are "in the moment" so to say. To come in with no racing in a year and do as well as he did is extremely impressive.
But it's also somewhat indicative of the level of this year's field. Because who are at the top, fighting for the championship? Two drivers with an enormous amount of experience, none of which I think has shown more than a handful flashes of brilliance previously. They've used their experience to get the results, and when there's a proper star on the grid (Rosberg, Hamilton, Grosjean, Bird, Hülkenberg etc) it's usually not quite enough. I don't know if Calado or Nasr are at this level yet (been impressed with Nasr elsewhere though) but I feel they are closer to Valsecchi/Razia than they ought to be considering the experience gap. Makes you wonder what would have happened if guys like Bird, Bianchi or Vietoris would have hung around for another season.
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