2012 GP2 Silly Season

[skells22]

sorry, my mistake. how many seats left now?

[Daisy]

So far 7 drivers confirmed (Ericsson, Gutierrez, Calado, Richelmi, Leal, Melker and Ceccon). Depending on if Super Nova will start (or sold), either 17 or 19 seats left.

[formula_fan]

Presumably Chilton will carry on with Carlin and Rossi with Caterham as he is their junior driver it would make sense. Leimer and Racing Engineering must also be likely given their performance in testing and Abu Dhabi.

[bella]

suppose it depends if rossi has a big chunk of financial backing from caterham or if not he has the wallet size independantly. you'd hope caterham would support him, but on the other hand if they have good interest from the well-upholstered in their gp2 seats it might be more cost effective and not lose him any wisdom or skills to place him in a fr3.5 team again.

[Supertec]

Supernova finally closed its doors today, without a deal to sell the team wrapped up.

I wonder if Supernova will be the only team to drop out of GP2 with costs spiraling up and up and drivers budgets in free fall.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Supertec

Supernova finally closed its doors today, without a deal to sell the team wrapped up.

I wonder if Supernova will be the only team to drop out of GP2 with costs spiraling up and up and drivers budgets in free fall.

RIP Supernova then.

One of the best teams ever to compete in F3000/GP2. So many stars came up through David Sears' equipe but the team had found it tough going in the last 5 or so years it has to be said.

Still it will be strange without those midnight blue and yellow cars, just as it was to me at least when Onyx went years back, in a funny sort of way.

[F3 Rocks]

[QUOTE=chunterer;3002920]RIP Supernova then.

One of the best teams ever to compete in F3000/GP2.

Totally agree with chunterer here

Its a sad day for motorsport in general when a great team like Supernova finishes, and I mean 'team' as in team members all top notch. I am sure they will all find new teams to go to quickly.

GP2 as a series need to look closely at where the series is going and what they are producing, money should not be king in th top feeder series to F1. They need to find a way of bringing real talent through not just the advantaged few

[jondownunder]

Have to agree, Super Nova will be much missed. David Sears brought on many talents, through SN and his satellite teams, even if they never reached their former glory in GP2. As they were top dog when I first followed F3000, I always had a fondness for them... helped by the fact they were one of the few teams to largely have an unchanged livery over many of their seasons (seems team colours and driver helmet colours remaining consistent year-to-year is a rarity these days).

I've little sympathy for GP2 if this is the first of a number of teams to drop out. GP2 "Asia" was obviously a stretch for the teams, and now those flyaways are incorporated into the main series... surely the rich and talentless like Leal and Richelmi will be increasing in proportion? F.Renault 3.5 now looks a much more attractive series for drivers and the likes of Red Bull.

[skells22]

for the 2nd time this week another driver has been given a drive for GP2. (yes, same places as before)

[Zen]

I've little sympathy for GP2 if this is the first of a number of teams to drop out. GP2 "Asia" was obviously a stretch for the teams, and now those flyaways are incorporated into the main series... surely the rich and talentless like Leal and Richelmi will be increasing in proportion? F.Renault 3.5 now looks a much more attractive series for drivers and the likes of Red Bull.[/QUOTE]

Does this mean in a few years time we will only have the rich and the talentless in F1 and of course Red Bulls 'talented' sponsored drivers, Ferrari have the right idea to bring back testing in F1 and get the real talented drivers in F1 early so as not to waste all their money in GP2.

[bella]

i refer the rt honorable members to my previous suggestion (i forgot where) that gp2 needs to be aligned with f1 commercially, and that cash needs to be found by the f1 teams to support their gp2 team. all drivers bring the same affordable budget. within gp2 f1 teams can then evaluate drivers, train engineers and mechanics, and gain more exposure for their brands.

formula renault 3.5 does a better job at being gp2 than gp2 does. that suggests the money you pay extra to be completely ignored by f1 teams isn't worth spending.

[medler]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

I've little sympathy for GP2 if this is the first of a number of teams to drop out. GP2 "Asia" was obviously a stretch for the teams, and now those flyaways are incorporated into the main series... surely the rich and talentless like Leal and Richelmi will be increasing in proportion? F.Renault 3.5 now looks a much more attractive series for drivers and the likes of Red Bull.

I agree I think the organisers of GP2 will shot themselves in the foot with this idea of a Global series. I don't know if we'll see more teams go under, well maybe not this year, but I do think we'll see fewer talented drivers, and if drivers and sponsors see drivers more drivers progressing to F1 from the Renualt 3.5 series then they'll spend thier money there.

What is the budget for Formula Renault 3.5 now?

[formula_fan]

I agree money in motorsport is becoming far too important and stopping a number of exciting talents getting to F1.

GP2 still has announced some good drivers this year though, Gutierrez, Calado, Ericsson. Ceccon and Melker have potential as well. I think the line up so far is much stronger than FR3.5. We will have to wait and see who else is in each series though as the off season develops.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by formula_fan

I think the line up so far is much stronger than FR3.5. We will have to wait and see who else is in each series though as the off season develops.

Er, not unless you've been reading a different FR3.5 list to me it isn't.

[formula_fan]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Er, not unless you've been reading a different FR3.5 list to me it isn't.

Struggle to see that unless you consider Williamson, Magnussen and Huertas are better than Gutierrez, Calado and Ericsson?

Am I missing something?

[bella]

Originally Posted by medler

What is the budget for Formula Renault 3.5 now?

the organisers said it would be around €600-800,000. it'd be interesting to know how close to reality that is.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by formula_fan

Struggle to see that unless you consider Williamson, Magnussen and Huertas are better than Gutierrez, Calado and Ericsson?

Am I missing something?

3 very good drivers in each that would grace either grid. Kevin and Williamson are both very much coming men and I don't see the 3 you mention as being any better, even though I quite rate Marcus.

Where 3.5 scores better imo, is the depth, compare last years 2 series and GP2 had some appalling quality once you moved outside the top 8 drivers or so.

I reckon 3.5 will have the better field in 2012 for definite.

[jondownunder]

Jolyon Palmer to iSport:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96828

[Zen]

Originally Posted by jondownunder

Jolyon Palmer to iSport:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96828

Another rich (father) but talentless driver for GP2.

[formula_fan]

I think some people on here may need a bit of a reality check when it comes to talented drivers.

I agree that Williamson and Magnussen have good potential but to say they currently have the same ability as any of the GP2 drivers I listed is laughable. Williamson was 8th in GP3 this year, Calado 2nd and Melker 3rd. Gutierrez was champion the year before. Huertas being a distant 3rd in F3 in his 3rd year in the series and in easily the top team is a good result but hardly that impressive.

People like Ceccon, who won Auto GP in his first season at only 18 and Palmer who was runner up in F2 last year and finished 4th in the GP2 finals this year at 20 may not have gone the conventional route but to say they are talentless is ridiculous.

[Zen]

People like Ceccon, who won Auto GP in his first season at only 18 and Palmer who was runner up in F2 last year and finished 4th in the GP2 finals this year at 20 may not have gone the conventional route but to say they are talentless is ridiculous.[/QUOTE]

Jolyon Palmer finished GP2 2011 in 28th and the last position of drivers that completed all rounds, scoring Zero points ....ridiculous?

[formula_fan]

Admittedly he had a very poor year this year. Having one bad season in GP2 doesn't mean someone is a talentless driver in my opinion considering they are compared to most of the best drivers outside of F1. He had a poor season in his first year in F2 and the next year went on to finish 2nd. I also think Arden weren't the best team to be with last year, as soon as he jumped into a proven quick car he was on the podium.

[Brioche]

Although ''ridiculous'' is a bit harsh, i agree that he's very far from being considered even a decent prospect. It's clear that it was entirely an economic decision, and it's also clear that iSport is running with just 1 car next year and putting all their hopes on Ericsson.

[cleanup]

Originally Posted by formula_fan

Struggle to see that unless you consider Williamson, Magnussen and Huertas are better than Gutierrez, Calado and Ericsson?

Am I missing something?

No, spot on with what you say. Sure the FR3.5 line up will improve in time when hopefully it attracts a few stars but whatever anyone says about the rediculous GP2 budgets and logistics etc etc,( all true) its still by far the best place to be for the best drivers.Lets be honest, if the budgets were the same as FR3.5, GP2 would be fully subscribed by now.

[bella]

this gp2 vs fr3.5 thing is getting ridiculous. they both fulfil the same job - getting well-offf and well-connected drivers into f1. the cost varies, but let's see exactly how that affects the 2012 grids. pitch something too low and you get some pretty average drivers. pitch it too high and you don't get any of the talented, but unconnected guys.

right now, i'm looking forward to seeing both sets of drivers in action. i really hope calado is as competitive as he was at abu dhabi, and it'll be interesting to see how gutierrez handles year 2. and in turn, i guess, how sauber handles that.