Briscoe to start in F1 soon?

[Skam85]

There is a whisper Aussie European F3 champ Ryan Briscoe may be joining Minardi in 04. Two aussies in F2 would be great!! If he doesnt bag the Minardi seat, hell be promoted to senior Toyota tester as Ricardo Zonta will probably go to Indy Cars or the CART series

[Skam85]

oopsy i mean "two aussies in F1 would be great"

[jetsetter]

It would be great to see Ryan get an opportunity in F1 next year & get some experience for 2005 when Toyota call him up.

[GTV27]

Hmm, would he be better to race for Minardi for a year or to test for Toyota for a year - both with a view to racing for Toyota in 2005?

I can see pros and cons either way.

If the 05 contract was solid, testing would be better. If is was uncertain, Minardi might be a better way to display talent to the world (although, it can be a deadend too - and there is always Friday testing to show off in the TF1-04).

Testing for Toyota seems the best option to me.

[jetsetter]

Nothing beats race experience for mine & next year he can do the same thing that Webber did & get the Minardi up through the field & show Toyota that he can handle the pressure associated with competing in G.P.'s.

[Rick]

Don't think anyone has much hope of getting the Minardi up the field next year. Everyone - with the possible exception of Jordan - is improving too much. Webber had a cr@p Jaguar, inconsistent Arrows and Jordan to beat in 2001.

[Mark Webber]

Ryan in Minardi would be ideal F1 miles are all important and testing miles are a huge credit by nothing can take the place of Race miles .

Racing for Minardi seems to be the best place to be IMHO

[GTV27]

but would driving a piece of crud Minardi be worthwhile experience compared to lots of miles in a state of the art Toyota? {note the descriptions are deliberately hyperbolic}

[f1manoz]

Racing is the only way to learn and at Minardi he'd learn to deal with the pressures to perform, to get the most out of a slow car, how to deal with press and the overall atmosphere of a race weekend.

However, if he has a solid seat at Toyota, with a guaranteed ride for 2005, a solid year of testing could do him just as well regarding the miles he'd accomplish through testing.

[Valve Bounce]

How come nobody talks about Ant anymore? :confused:

[Super Tourer]

Ant will be as 3rd driver at BAR and take part in the Friday sessions at all the GP's.

He's made it clear in stuff I've read, that he is not interested in paying for an F1 drive - hence the Jordan/Minardi options are not available for him, as they both require drivers to bring funding.

[BootsOntheSide]

As long as Minardi don't have 2 rookies, I'm sure they can give anotehr young driver a real leg-up. The racing experience is invaluable at this stage of someone like Briscoe's career.

Even though this year's car was miles slower than anything else, Wilson still managed to show his stuff at the starts.

[Dutch chap]

[Two aussies in F2 would be great!!/]

[oopsy i mean "two aussies in F1 would be great"/]

You were right the first time if you're talking about Minardi.

[Skam85]

Originally posted by Dutch chap
[Two aussies in F2 would be great!!/]

[oopsy i mean "two aussies in F1 would be great"/]

You were right the first time if you're talking about Minardi.

[Skam85]

...hahaha

[DieRitter]

He will definitely drive for Toyota on Friday in Melbourne... but it's *very* unlikely that he will replace Zonta for the rest of the season.

[mac]

Zonta and Briscoe will share the testing duties through the season. I think a full time testing role is a better option for Ryan. When Webber was there, he was driving against bad cars like Jordan, Arrows, and the rubbish Jag, BAR and Toyota. I think all Minardi could hope to achieve this year, even with Michael Schumacher aboard, would be to occasionally get a whiff of the fumes from a Jordan.

Toyota testing for Ryan. If he can do some good times against Cris, Olivier and Ricardo, provide reliable feedback and become more comfortable within the team, he'll be set for '05.