FR 3.5 Paul Ricard

[ace007]

Make or break for da Costa!

[chunterer]

I've got a funny feeling that both Vandoorne and AFDC will strike back heavily this weekend with Kevin only scoring ion one race...

I also suspect Sainz to continue his impressive run, and assuming it's dry make the most of the pace shown last time out to get some good results.

Also hoping Sorensen can have an 'on' weekend.

[ivanalesi]

Sorensen and also Pic & Nato! They've been declining...

[bella]

thunderstorms are due on sunday so that should mix things up again. i wouldn't be surprised if muller put in two decent results again given that it's one of his good tracks and he's not too shabby in the wet.

annoyingly, i think magnussen will prevail. i'm liking vandoorne's mind games saying that it's kevins title to lose, but then again it's probably not mind games, it's just what he thinks.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Am I the only one who genuinely thinks Kevin Magnussen could be a very good GP driver then? Vandoorne has more raw talent, but Kevin's done what he needs to this season and surely and F1 seat could or even should be his next season. Max Chilton is in F1 guys, and Magnussen has at least 500 times his pace...

[chunterer]

I doubt you're the only one! I think it's safe to say that it isn't just his dad and McLaren that believe Kevin's seriously good.

I just think that us FR3.5 fans want to see as many driver in contention going onto the final rounds as possible!

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

We all want to see a close championship, but when only one guy has been constantly right up there, you have to hand it to Kevin...

[p-matt]

I can't get excited about Vandoorne as a future star yet. He's done well this year but Eurocup champions always do so I don't know how good he is. I said the same about Frijns and he did prove himself in GP2 to some degree.

Magnussen is unquestionably ready though. I reckon a Marussia seat beckons next year

Looks like it will be a Magnussen vs Vandoorne scrap later today with AFDC hanging on. Great to see Buller up the sharp end again.

[ivanalesi]

Guys, they've both graduated from the Eurocup and Vandoorne is in his first year out of it. No F3 or extra season of FR3.5 experience. The guy is pretty impressive for his experience.

[p-matt]

I'm not saying it's not impressive. I'm just saying we can't judge if he's a star until he does something else.

Albert Costa and Kevin Korjus both looked pretty special in their first year in 3.5. Look how that panned out.

[miniman]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Am I the only one who genuinely thinks Kevin Magnussen could be a very good GP driver then? Vandoorne has more raw talent, but Kevin's done what he needs to this season and surely and F1 seat could or even should be his next season. Max Chilton is in F1 guys, and Magnussen has at least 500 times his pace...

But Daddy Chilton has 500 times more money!!!

[p-matt]

Magnussen stripped of his victory after the car fails post-race scrutineering! Championship lead is cut to 18 points.

A real disappointment as he had been awesome today. And it would feel wrong for the title to be decided by a DSQ. For the 2nd year in a row at that.

[bella]

rats, my internet ate my well considered response.

the gist of it was that you can say ANYTHING decided the championship. we had tank tape gate in 2010 as well, don't forget. but can't you say that it was vandoorne's poor weekend in austria that cost him, or his penalty that wasn't in monaco?

they have a history of hauling teams over the coals for silly little things like this. the team knows that they don't have a leg to stand on just by saying that it's been fine up till now and it was approved by the scrutes.

as for magnussen, nope, i think the guy is the very real deal too. there's absolutely nothing he needs to sort out, and it has been a long time since we've had a championship contender that hasn't had a very obvious flaw.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

DRS flap paint? Why do they even regulate that sort of thing?

[bella]

for the exact reason detailed on autosport.com now

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/110215

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Makes more sense. Magnussen on pole for R2, despite the controversy. Give that guy an F1 ride...

[Mekola]

And Magnussen won again in R2!

[chunterer]

Kevin in a different league last weekend!

Very disappointed for poor Stoffel, never really in the hunt over the weekend but what went wrong on Sunday?

AFDC very solid I felt and what superb drives from Muller...

Got to be the main man to challenge Vandoorne and I suspect Sainz next season surely?

[bella]

iirc it was a fuel pressure problem or something similar for vandoorne on sunday. a big shame they couldn't capitalise on the dams shenanigans, but i suppose it's only "fair", if you're going to invoke the karma clauses like da costa did on twitter. personally i don't see vandoorne being out of the title battle as a reflection on him and his abilities, or even how they compare to magnussen. perhaps he's still a little bit of an enigma.

magnussen really is doing a great job. the opportunity is there and he has grabbed it with both hands. he's going to make a really good f1 driver.

muller was always going to have a good weekend at ricard, so it was no surprise to see that he made the most of a really tidy pit strategy. massive shame about stalling on the grid on saturday, but those things happen and he did put in a decent recovery drive afterwards. barcelona hasn't been kind to him in the past so it'd be good to see him get some decent results there for once.

i would have liked to have seen more from stevens, he had a quiet one. and sainz too, but zeta corse have been very vocal about that being their fault so fair enough.

what's the consensus on antonio felix da costa then? did he make his point?

[p-matt]

In Red Bull's current situation, it's a no brainer that Antonio gets the seat.

Removing the context of the junior programme, it's a bit more borderline but I still think he's done enough to warrant an F1 chance. Truth be told, that's more for his heroics last year rather than this.

Of the drivers in junior formulae I would only add Magnussen, Nasr, Leimer, Frijns, Bird and Calado to AFDC as drivers that I'd be fairly satisfied would make a decent stab at F1 as a rookie. Vandoorne needs to prove himself outside of WsbR otherwise he could flounder.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Of the drivers in junior formulae I would only add Magnussen, Nasr, Leimer, Frijns, Bird and Calado to AFDC as drivers that I'd be fairly satisfied would make a decent stab at F1 as a rookie. Vandoorne needs to prove himself outside of WsbR otherwise he could flounder.

Hmmm, remove all GP2 drivers from that and you've got mine, unless Nasr can do something magic. FR3.5 has currently got the better format though, so that could be why talent shines through much more easily.

[bella]

whether fr3.5 is "better" is an opinion thing. personally i prefer it too, but i'm just a bobblehat not a driver, team manager or f1 team

and for the sake of starting a row i wouldn't say talent shines through more easily necessarily, it's simpler but there's still plenty of things that would stop a decent driver being able to produce results. it's just as easy to be blinded by circumstance.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by bella

whether fr3.5 is "better" is an opinion thing. personally i prefer it too, but i'm just a bobblehat not a driver, team manager or f1 team

and for the sake of starting a row i wouldn't say talent shines through more easily necessarily, it's simpler but there's still plenty of things that would stop a decent driver being able to produce results. it's just as easy to be blinded by circumstance.

Come on, the tyre situation and reverse grid in GP2 make FR3.5 the place to be if you want to make a name for yourself right now. Nasr hasn't won in GP2 but Nathanael Berthon has???

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Hmmm, remove all GP2 drivers from that and you've got mine, unless Nasr can do something magic. FR3.5 has currently got the better format though, so that could be why talent shines through much more easily.

Er, what about Frijns? Despite the bitty part season in GP2 he's still good....really.....

Berthon's far from rubbish but he has lost his way in recent seasons, like Korjus in GP3.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Come on, the tyre situation and reverse grid in GP2 make FR3.5 the place to be if you want to make a name for yourself right now. Nasr hasn't won in GP2 but Nathanael Berthon has???

look, i'm as pro-3.5 as anyone, but taking the rose tinted spectacles of bias off for a minute and look at the situation with the current car. there's still a lot to be ironed out compared to the uber-reliable workhorse they had before. it's an awesome car, but there's a lot still to get right.