2011 FR3.5 Series Off-season Thread

[strider]

Good point. It should be very interesting between them, which is no doubt what the Red Bull hierarchy is thinking!

[JVD]

I think Korjus has made a very good choice.. I'm confident he will be like Costa or maybe even better! He is just 18 when the season will start so he has the time to do a second year if that will be possible.. We can't expect him to do the same as Ricciardo, but i think he is underestimated by a lot of people.. let's see what will happen this year, i hope he can surprise

Will be a great year i think, with great drivers. Ricciardo and Vergne will be the 2 to beat, but who knows.. maybe Hartley, Rossi, Quaife-Hobbs, Guerreiri, Costa will join the battle, let's hope they will all do 3.5

[formula_fan]

Arthur Pic confirmed at Tech 1. I think this kid has lots of potential and it's great to see him in a competitve seat. Who do we think Ricciardo will be driving for? Will he partner Vergne at Carlin?

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by formula_fan

Who do we think Ricciardo will be driving for? Will he partner Vergne at Carlin?

It probably is Carlin, but it's quite telling that they didn't confirm that at the same time as Vergne. Given that Toro Rosso haven't confirmed their drivers I wonder if there are still internal discussions in the Red Bull camp to promote Ricciardo to STR in place of Buemi.

[alias99]

Im pretty sure in last weeks autosport it was stated by Trevor Carlin that Ricciardo would not be driving for the team?? Correct me if I am wrong.

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by alias99

Im pretty sure in last weeks autosport it was stated by Trevor Carlin that Ricciardo would not be driving for the team?? Correct me if I am wrong.

Correct, Carlin has stated that Ricciardo will not be with them during 2011.

So with that and Tech1 being full, where would be best for the Aussie to go?

[JohnMiller]

STR?

[alias99]

Very possible that he could end up with STR but also possible that he will go to a different team, possibly ISR?

[bella]

is it ever wise to take a seat alongside a driver whose dad owns the team?

[alias99]

Didnt hurt Van der Zande in BF3 and Guerreri too much. Ricciardo has the pace and there isnt much they can do to stop him from driving the wheels of the car! But it does throw in an unwanted variable.

[JVD]

Originally Posted by bella

is it ever wise to take a seat alongside a driver whose dad owns the team?

Guerrierri showed last year that it doesn't have to be a big problem

But there are some more.. Grubmuller to, hopefully Hartley will join P1 and show Grubbi that he isn't a very good driver..

[bella]

van der zande was one of the points i was trying to make. i do wonder about how the resorces end up being shared out and how the team dynamic works but i don't know enough to look at it objectively.

and to be fair guerrieri will just take whatever car he's given and thrash the daylights out of it so i don't think he was ever going to suffer at the hands at unequal treatment

[WSR Fan]

I have to admit I'm quite surprised that Ricciardo won't be alongside Vergne at Carlin, after all it seemed by far the most logical place for him to be if he is to continue in FR3.5. But as others have said, the fact that STR haven't officially confirmed Alguersuari or Buemi does make you wonder a little what Red Bull are up to..

Just read an interview in which Kazim Vasiliauskas states that his aim for 2011 is a drive in either GP2 or FR3.5. Considering he struggled with his F2 budget for 2010 I'd be surprised to see him in either at the moment, but I'd be delighted if he did land in FR3.5 as he's clearly a very talented driver.

[JVD]

Good news Ricciardo will drive 3.5, with ISR. Dean Stoneman will be his teammate..

[Lam Pak]

yak surprise. riciardo fail to impress in asia. longtime ago ofcourse. i doubt he be good this year. team no good. good luck

[JVD]

@ Lam Pak: I think ISR isn't a bad team, just look what Guerrieri did last year..


Good to see the series has some good drivers, i mean not many racing series can say they have 3 champions (Korjus, Stoneman, Vergne) from 2010 in it.. and with Ricciardo as last years number 2 i think it will be a great championship. And still half of the field isn't confirmed.. With probably still some good drivers To Be Confirmed..

[bella]

i can't wait. it's going to be a fantastic season

[ivanalesi]

I have the sneaky feeling that it will be more competitive than GP2 Ricciardo staying in WSbR speaks for itself.

[chunterer]

Does look good on paper so far doesn't it?

If as is likely it is going to be a classic year for talent on the entry, then I sincerely hope we get all teams in with a shout and not some freak year with some hitherto unfancied team getting some engineering or set up miracle like we've had a few times in the past. That would spoil it.

However to be fair, the last 2 or 3 seasons have been relatively open haven't they?

[ptclaus98]

So Stoneman and Ricciardo at ISR? I suppose that means Rossi to GP2, then?

[N.A-D.R]

I surely Ricciardo might miss a few races with the STR clashes? Might mean he will miss a few races and make winning the championship a little bit harder

[total3d]

I think Ricciardo is running 3.5 just so that he is racing something outside of the STR deal (seat time). I heard that both Buemi and Alguersuari only have 6 month contracts with STR this year, so there is a possibility Ricciardo might step into a full-time F1 spot, if either fail to impress.
His performance in 3.5 last year was more than incredible, even though he came runner up to a seasoned Aleshin. I'm sure getting an F1 seat is priority #1 for Ricciardo this year.

Originally Posted by N.A-D.R

I surely Ricciardo might miss a few races with the STR clashes? Might mean he will miss a few races and make winning the championship a little bit harder

[ivanalesi]

Just like Vettel, waiting in the wings to see which one is going to be changed with him. But unlike Vettel, he'll have a very strong competitor from inside Red Bull.

[bella]

latest press release confirming the team entrants as well as test and race dates:

http://tentenths.com/news/showentry.php?e=1527

[chunterer]

Thanks Bella!

Just looking at the teams again, it's strange to see so many non British teams entering a series at this level. Back in the day most teams were from these shores with a few French and Italian outfits in things like F2/F3000.

I think that the economic progression of motorsport, if that's the right way to describe it, means we now have two Czech teams running. Amazing stuff.