2013 GP2 Silly Season

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by bella

i think it's a massive gamble tbh, regardless of the quality of the rest of the field. but then again, putting him up against someone as experienced and quick as da costa in 3.5 or taking a big old sideways step into f3 wouldn't have really worked either...

hmm.

That's the problem. 2.5 million quid budgets mean that not all of the top talent will be on the top rung. It creates a logjam and with the journeyman drivers all moved on, the seats are not filling up, so this sort of thing happens.


GP2 should never go international, and they need to take the silly 2 car mandatory rule out as well. It isn't F1, they don't allow the teams to do anything to the cars, so they should adapt with the times. But they won't, because they know that they can do it all over again with a new name and some nice short term concepts and wait for it to implode all while piling up the stacks of money. If only the FIA had the sack to stand up to it.

[bella]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

Is Evans a Red Bull driver, or an Arden driver? They already support Da Costa, and they have Frijns in the fold as well.

like what p-matt says, he seems to be an arden driver who's supported by red bull. from a point of no knowledge it looks like a who you know and who looks after you type arrangement rather than a red bull junior situation...

frijns iirc got an offer and told them to go away. don't blame him, it doesn't seem like a great situation when you look at it from a drivers point of view. it's a shame in a way, but only from a "what could have happened" point of view rather than an actual, he turned down a chance of a lifetime sort of view.

[verde]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

200k EU only if you go to GP2, it doesn't apply for anything else. Hopefully Red Bull will support him more.

Geez, at least it pays the Sepang round, heh.

[bella]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

GP2 should never go international, and they need to take the silly 2 car mandatory rule out as well. It isn't F1, they don't allow the teams to do anything to the cars, so they should adapt with the times. But they won't, because they know that they can do it all over again with a new name and some nice short term concepts and wait for it to implode all while piling up the stacks of money. If only the FIA had the sack to stand up to it.

the two car rule i suspect is as much to do with logistics and paddock space that fom will let them have as actual on track and off track money stuff. you can only have one truck, so you can't bring 3, and if everyone turned up with one car then you'd end up with a full paddock and a 12 car field.

i'd love it if the entry was freed up a bit too but then you end up with a whole lot of posturing from teams making "looking at entering" noises and drivers with no idea who to go to for a seat in a series. one thing controlling the entry does do is keep the market pretty clear and simple. there's always going to be shifting around of entries in the background, but at least it's minimal and it's clear for teams, drivers, media and fans too.

totally agree about going international, that was utterly silly. i think there's merit to be had in a big flagship round, but only as a bonus thats fully funded somehow and wouldn't cost more than a standard european round. i think i see why they did it - it does differentiate it from fr3.5 in another way, but it racks up the cost too, and it pushes gp2 either further from the reaches of talent who might just be able to stretch to a gp2 season if it goes well and completely out of reach of the guys who have to rely on reputation, other peoples generosity and a couple of long term sponsors who can only fork out so much.

[ivanalesi]

If the story about Evans is true, then he should be in Da Costa's situation from last season. He had some Red Bull backing and had to prove himself to become fully supported. Also Evans still has his backing from NZ, I hope Ceccotto brings a bit more to Arden + Pirelli's 200k, but obviously it's still not enough On top of it you have Mark Webber as his mentor telling everybody that Mitch is more talented than him!
It is just incredible... If things stay like this for a few more years, Max Chilton will look like a super star driver in F1!

[TR Motorsport]

Berthon and Ceccon confirmed at Trident, massive suprise Gonzalez hasnt got a seat and i remember someone saying that two drivers who didnt test at Barcelona would get seats, well that has come true with Bird and Ceccon, great predicton from them! I was wrong about Bird and Hilmer but right bout him being bck in GP2. Must say though Ceccon is a huge suprise, though he would stay in GP3 for another year. And Russian Time's lineup is strongest on the grid apart from maybe Lotus GP and Carlin?

And who's going to get final seats at Hilmer for 2013 GP2?
My Predictons-
Varhaug and Razia/Gonzalez

[bella]

gonzalez is faffing around being marussia's 3rd driver isn't he?

i think ceccon's career has been back to front with the way he ended up doing gp2 a couple of seasons ago, but he must have got a very good deal on gp2 to give up gp3 this season.

that's a scary thought. i wonder what the budgets being offered to drivers at the moment are?

[TR Motorsport]

Originally Posted by bella

gonzalez is faffing around being marussia's 3rd driver isn't he?

i think ceccon's career has been back to front with the way he ended up doing gp2 a couple of seasons ago, but he must have got a very good deal on gp2 to give up gp3 this season.

that's a scary thought. i wonder what the budgets being offered to drivers at the moment are?

Probs in the region of £1.1-1.6m (Full season deal) now that first round is less than 5 days away. If they only signing for this first round probs bout £200,000

[TR Motorsport]

Hilmer Motorsports seats still wide open, but thinking bout this the other day
Dream Team: field any pair of drivers from this seasons grid in one team, who would you field?

My Dream Team:
Tom Dillmann and James Calado

Thats mine, whos yours?

[Go_For_Pole]

Nasr and Frijns

[Mekola]

Calado and Nasr

[Kassai]

Well, Dillmann-Calado for me.

[p-matt]

Bird and Frijns. If we're excluding Frijns, probably Calado.

I really don't understand why there's a perception on here that Dillmann is some superstar. He's a very good driver, but there's nothing I've seen in his career that would indicate he's among the 2 or 3 best drivers on the grid.

[pauln]

Calado and Bird for me

[W.A Trichlorostyrene]

I wonder what happened to Giancarlo Serenelli? Not entered in GP2, and not entered in IndyLights either, despite having tested multiple times for Juncos Racing over the winter. Did his backing dry up?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Bird and Frijns. If we're excluding Frijns, probably Calado.

I really don't understand why there's a perception on here that Dillmann is some superstar. He's a very good driver, but there's nothing I've seen in his career that would indicate he's among the 2 or 3 best drivers on the grid.

No, I don't believe i've witnessed anything to suggest that either?

Massive shame we won't be seeing Frijns, that would've been a major quality driver addition. Still we should be thankful Bird has come back.

[Hawkwood]

Just a note; Berthon and Ceccon are only confirmed for Malaysia according to Autosport.

[TR Motorsport]

Originally Posted by Ostrogothicus

Just a note; Berthon and Ceccon are only confirmed for Malaysia according to Autosport.

Now thats interesting, so frjins said he hadnt got money for GP2 Seat this year but did he mean for a whole year? He could slip into a seat mid-season at one of the lower teams maybe? If they both only signed for round 1 then Ceccon isn't doing full season for sure, he probs doesnt have the money,

Possible Ceccon replacements are?

[bella]

what's the point in frijns doing part of the year in gp2 apart from burning cash? keeping his eye in? it's not really worth it unless you're in with a shout at the title surely?

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by bella

what's the point in frijns doing part of the year in gp2 apart from burning cash? keeping his eye in? it's not really worth it unless you're in with a shout at the title surely?

He could impress as Tom Kristensen did in International F3000 during 1996. The Dane won two times that year, but raced a partial season because he had to step down in order to give place to funded drivers.

[Go_For_Pole]

Well, he doesn't have to win GP2 to be in F1, he is there anyway. Since he doesn't have a full budget, it's much better to take his part season in the European circuits. There will openings for sure.

[verde]

Originally Posted by Mekola

He could impress as Tom Kristensen did in International F3000 during 1996. The Dane won two times that year, but raced a partial season because he had to step down in order to give place to funded drivers.

Kristensen didn't win races in 1996. He scored a pole-position in Pau with his green and white Shannon car, but crashed during the race.

By the way, that was a really harsh year for him. When Tom was racing for Shannon, he didn't have to pay off a single penny to the team for his seat. But then Shannon Group's owner was arrested in Italy and all his assets, including his F-3000 team, were blocked by court. So the Dane found himself without a car to drive.

Luckily, Shannon Racing Team was being upheld somehow by Edenbridge, owned by Peter Briggs. So Kristensen could put together a good relationship with Briggs and eventually managed to sign on a race-by-race contract with the team. Sometimes, he had to sit out for a loaded driver. But his talent was acknowledged by everybody in the paddock and Edenbridge did everything possible to try to keep Tom for as many races as possible.

Back to the subject, I don't think Robin Frijns could do a Kristensen. Nor I do think he is actually willing so, specially after the somewhat frustrating results he achieved in the pre-season tests.

[TR Motorsport]

Originally Posted by bella

what's the point in frijns doing part of the year in gp2 apart from burning cash? keeping his eye in? it's not really worth it unless you're in with a shout at the title surely?

To give him experience at top single-seater level with complex tyres for possible F1 debut in 2014 with Sauber

[TR Motorsport]

Is it a dead cert someone will be replaced mid season?

since this year we have pretty strong grid and those who are rubbish drivers are signed for the season because of their $$$

Possible drivers waiting to be replaced:
Kevin Ceccon (Trident)- Rounds 1&2 only and then maybe Frjins?

Tom Dillmann- (Russian Time)- I think he is a real talent but said he had a full season deal with Rapax last year and he was dumped half-way through the year so we shall see

Simmon Trummer- (Rapax)- Awful results but has major backer in A3Technology,but is that enough?

[TR Motorsport]

Conor Daly has been confirmed by Hilmer Motorsport for Malaysia, just one seat left, has to be Varhaug doesn't it?