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Archive: Lucas Di Grassi

Liveblogging the GP2 action in Monza

12 September 2008 14:30

Categories: GP2, Liveblog

There might still be five races to go in the Formula 1 World Championship. But the Italian Grand Prix is the last European race of the season. That means that this weekend sees the climax of the GP2 Series for 2008.

This has been the first year I have watched GP2 races in full and I am a convert. It has been a thrilling season of GP2 action. It is an excellent complement to Formula 1.

If you’ve never seen GP2 before, the format is as follows. There is one race on Saturday called the ‘Feature Race’. Scoring for this race is exactly the same as in F1. On Sunday there is a shorter ‘Sprint Race’. The top six score points as follows: 6-5-4-3-2-1.

Whoever gets pole position for the Feature Race scores two points. Both races offer a point for the fastest lap (although a driver has to meet a number of conditions to qualify for scoring the point — he must start from his allocated grid position, complete 90% of all race laps and finish in the top ten). All in all, this means that a driver has the potential to score 20 points in a weekend.

Pre-season favourite was Renault Development Driver Romain Grosjean who dominated the GP2 Asia Series last winter. However, although Grosjean does still have a (slim) chance of winning the championship, in the end it has come down to a battle between former F1 driver Giorgio Pantano and rising star Bruno Senna. Another Renault Development Driver, Lucas Di Grassi, lies in third place. Di Grassi cannot be underestimated and he has scored this many points despite not even competing in the first three events!

The current standings are as follows:

Pos. Driver Team Points
1 Giorgio Pantano Racing Engineering 71
2 Bruno Senna iSport International 60
3 Lucas Di Grassi Campos 53
4 Romain Grosjean ART 53

Amazingly, the two main contenders have been unable to capitalise on each others’ misfortune and mistakes over the past two events. Unbelievably, both Pantano and Senna ran out of fuel during the Feature Race in Valencia. Senna was also unable to score in the Valencia Sprint Race, although Pantano managed to finish third.

However, Pantano found himself excluded from both races in Belgium after crashing into Di Grassi then overtaking under a Safety Car. Meanwhile, Senna received a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release from a pitstop that was very similar to the one Massa was let off with in the European Grand Prix. The Sprint Race was not much better for Senna as he had to retire after a crash with Sébastien Buemi. As such, Pantano scored nothing and Senna got just two points for his pole position.

Anything can happen in GP2. The drivers are younger and more hot-headed than the F1 drivers, and while it can look a bit amateurish in comparison, there is absolutely no doubt that GP2 provides plenty of action for the viewers.

Since this is the Championship showdown, I have decided to liveblog the GP2 races this weekend as a bit of an experiment. I will be very busy so apologies if it does not quite go to plan! I could do with some help, so if anyone is up for helping me moderate then that would be great.

The feature race starts at 1500 UK time, and ITV4′s coverage starts at around 1430, which is when I plan to start the liveblog. That’s very handy as that is directly after qualifying has finished. So if you find yourself at a loose end after qualifying tomorrow, come back here, switch on the television and join us for the liveblog!

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Six GP2 drivers looking for an F1 seat

11 July 2008 18:45

Categories: Non-F1, Opinion, Report

I can’t leave the British Grand Prix weekend alone without enthusing about the awesome weekend of GP2 action that came with it. Beforehand I wasn’t too sure about the skills of the current crop of GP2 drivers. But after the races there were a few drivers that I knew I had to keep an eye on for the future.

The feature race was quite slow to come alive. But then Pantano surged his way through the field in the hunt for the lead. Then towards the closing laps there was some thrilling battles at the sharp end of the field. The race was a demonstration of six of the hottest talents in GP2. The stakes are high enough — these guys are racing for a career in F1. The six protagonists of the British feature race may all have done themselves a favour.

In the British feature race the widely-tipped Romain Grosjean was leading early on. But struggling on badly-worn tyres the canny Giorgio Pantano used his experience to outwit his younger counterpart at the Abbey chicane.

Later on Pantano pulled off a really intelligent move while battling for the lead with the fancied Lucas Di Grassi. Pantano lined himself up for a pass on the outside at Stowe. Di Grassi was preparing to defend on that basis, when all of a sudden Pantano lurched to the inside to catch Di Grassi completely unaware. Pantano had the speed to pull it off. An amazing overtaking manoeuvre.

Meanwhile, Andreas Zuber back in 4th place was finding himself under a lot of pressure from a growing train of cars that eventually included Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Sébastien Buemi. Zuber desperately defended his position, even banging wheels with Chandhok after leaving it far too late to close the door.

There was an inevitability about Zuber eventually losing his place, and in the end the Austrian couldn’t cope with the pressure and went off the circuit after going way too deep at Vale. Having held up the three drivers behind him, he lost the three places immediately.

Once Zuber was out of the way, Karun Chandhok had two things to contend with. First of all Romain Grosjean was still struggling with his tyres and the whole train was beginning to reel him in. But Chandhok himself was coming under pressure from Bruno Senna. Senna in turn had to deal with Buemi.

With five laps to go another train for third place had formed, but this time with Grosjean instead of Zuber under pressure at the front. For the final five laps we were treated to a jaw-dropping display of hammer-and-tongs racing between the four drivers.

Sébastien Buemi was the first to strike, taking Senna at bridge after the Brazilian was compromised by being too close to Chandhok. But it was only a matter of time before Chandhok could take Grosjean. The Indian was released. Once that had happened, Grosjean, Buemi and Senna were three abreast through Maggotts and Becketts. Holding each other up, Chandhok was now assured third place.

Now the battle was a three-way tussle for fourth place. It doesn’t sound like especially high-stakes stuff — the difference between 5 points and 3 points — but they were all driving their backsides off in the final two laps of the race, probably looking to impress the F1 bosses.

Coming down the Hangar Straight, Buemi was losing out as a result of the side-by-side driving through Becketts. Senna bounced over the grass in his desperation to re-take Buemi, but he lost little time and was right back on the tail of the train.

In the final lap, for the second lap in a row the drivers went three abreast through Maggotts and Becketts. This time Buemi got the advantage over Grosjean. Soon enough Senna too was harrying Grosjean along the Hangar Straight and got him through Stowe. But ultimately Grosjean was able to re-gain the advantage as Senna ran wide at Priory, one of the very last corners of the race.

It wasn’t all bad news for Bruno Senna though. He took the sprint race in difficult damp conditions. Then this week have come rumours that he is in line for an F1 drive.

So what about the six protagonists of the race, who all finished in the top six of the British feature race, and are all looking for an F1 seat?

Giorgio Pantano

Pantano may have been dismissed as an old has-been. He is the only former F1 driver in a GP2 field filled with young hopefuls. But Pantano has the drive as well. And his weekend at Silverstone demonstrated an astonishing intelligence to his driving that I haven’t appreciated in him before. Not only did he plough his way to a race in in the feature race, but he also impressed in the damp conditions during the sprint race where he finished 3rd despite starting 8th on the grid as a result of his feature race win.

Giorgio Pantano may not have impressed in his first stint in F1, but I am starting to wonder if he deserves a second try. He is, after all, pulling out an impressive lead at the top of the GP2 standings. And he has the experience and racecraft to make a decent race out of a bad situation, as he showed by coming through the field twice in Silverstone.

Lucas Di Grassi

Lucas Di Grassi is currently the Renault F1 team’s third drivers. Having finished 2nd in GP2 last year behind Timo Glock, he has his foot in the door of F1. But he has only one GP2 win to his name — the 2007 Turkey feature race. And despite finishing second three times in his four GP2 races so far this year, I don’t see him as a potential F1 star after he was outwitted by Pantano.

Karun Chandhok

Chandhok impressed by seizing the initiative. He wasted relatively little time in passing Grosjean compared to Buemi and Senna, and in the end managed to pull out a 5 second gap to the three remaining scrappers.

It is difficult to say if Chandhok is F1 material. But his Indian nationality may prove useful to a certain back-of-the-grid team that gets a lot of publicity in India. If Force India want an Indian driver, they should seriously consider Karun Chandhok. After all, he can’t be that much worse than the increasingly embarrassing Giancarlo Fisichella, can he?

Sébastien Buemi

I don’t understand why more people don’t tip Buemi for a race seat. He seems to have it all. He’s certainly got the talent as his performance in Britain demonstrated. He also impressed in the damp conditions of the French sprint race by storming through the field from 21st on the grid to take the race win. Along the way he made a smart move on his team mate Senna on the run up to the Adelaide hairpin.

Sébastien Buemi also has the advantage of having backing in the form of the Red Bull Junior Team driver development programme. Although the scheme has had limited success in the past, impressing as part of the programme does help drivers get a drive at Red Bull or, more likely, Toro Rosso. He is already a test driver at Red Bull Racing, although Sebastian Vettel is more likely to get the race seat for next year.

That neatly leaves a gap at Toro Rosso though. Even though there is uncertainty as to the future direction of the Toro Rosso team, it still seems feasible that a Red Bull junior driver would get the spare seat, as pointed out by Toro Rosso chief Gerhard Berger. Plus, with a name like Sébastien, I don’t know how Toro Rosso can resist!

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean was widely tipped to win the GP2 series prior to the start of the season. He won last year’s F3 Euroseries and dominated the winter GP2 Asia series. He also looks set for an F1 drive some time in the future as he is currently Renault’s test driver.

But this year he has struggled a bit in the GP2 series. His relatively poor performance in Britain, struggling on badly-worn tyres, underlined that he is not yet the complete package. I think another year in GP2 is required before Grosjean can start thinking about getting into F1.

But you never know with Renault. If they get fed up with Nelsinho Piquet, he could be in with a good shout of taking that race seat.

Bruno Senna

Senna has turned heads during his GP2 career. He won in Monaco, inevitably launching a thousand cheesy comparisons to his uncle Ayrton Senna. There is more to the comparison than just the name though. Bruno seems to have some genuine talent. The disappointment of the British feature race was forgotten when he took victory in the difficult conditions of the sprint race.

Now rumour has it that Toro Rosso are interested in his services. I would say that Bruno Senna is inevitably going to get a race seat in F1. Whether he has the talent to shine enough in F1 is almost by the way. The PR opportunities for a team having a driver by the name of Senna are massive. It is helpful that he also also handy behind the wheel. Senna may have to wait a year before getting an F1 drive. At least he doesn’t seem to be fazed by the rumours surrounding him at the moment.

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Bluffer's guide — Part 4: In context from F1 to F3

29 June 2008 23:22

Categories: Bluffer's guide

As outlined in a previous bluffer’s guide, there is no promotion or relegation and the decision for teams and drivers to enter F1 is essentially a business decision. But of course drivers (and sometimes teams) do not just appear out of thin air. There are countless other categories of motor racing that drivers also compete in. There is no set route towards Formula 1, nor do all paths necessarily lead to F1. But Formula 1 is generally regarded to be ‘top of the tree’ that most drivers aspire to compete in.

However, a cursory glance at the various championships organised by the FIA alone (never mind non-FIA championships) reveals that motor racing is a hugely diverse category of sports. The skills needed to be a top F1 driver are very different to the skills required to succeed in rallying, drag racing and hill climbing!

The next two bluffer’s guides will cover those categories where you should look out for future (and sometimes past) F1 stars. I have done research on the careers of every driver that has entered a Formula 1 race in the past five seasons. This has revealed which junior formulae are the most common early destinations for future F1 stars. This post will cover the major series from GP2 to Formula 3 and everything in between.

The following diagram shows the links between categories en route to F1. Any moves made by two or more drivers are represented in the diagram. Down the centre column is by far the most common route: Formula Renault / BMW / Ford → Formula 3 → GP2 → Formula 1. Other links show more unorthodox but nevertheless common routes to and from F1. The area of the boxes denote the number of F1 drivers that have raced in that category.

Routes to F1

Tier two (maroon boxes)

GP2

The most conventional entry point to F1 is GP2. This was designed specifically as an F1 “feeder” series in 2005. The cars are similar to, but less sophisticated than, F1 cars. GP2 is a spec series (meaning that all of the cars are the same). GP2 replaced Formula 3000, which in turn replaced Formula 2 in 1985.

Current F1 drivers Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock and Nelsinho Piquet all graduated from GP2. Every year in GP2′s short history, the GP2 Champion has been offered an F1 drive for the following year so it is the place to look for up-and-coming talent. Look out for Romain Grosjean, Bruno Senna (Ayrton’s nephew) and Sébastien Buemi who could be on their way to becoming F1 drivers in the near future.

Occasionally, but not so often, former F1 drivers compete in GP2. Timo Glock entered GP2 after a fleeting appearance in F1 and after a few years he got another drive in the top category. Giorgio Pantano is another former F1 driver currently competing in GP2, but although he is relatively successful in GP2 he is getting on now and there is little interest in him from F1 teams.

The main GP2 series is a ‘support’ race at most European F1 events, so GP2 drivers get the opportunity to learn many F1 tracks. Interestingly, Giancarlo Fisichella can be seen casting a watchful eye over proceedings when he has finished his F1 sessions — he owns a GP2 team, Fisichella Motor Sport.

GP2 Asia

GP2 also has a spin-off series called GP2 Asia which runs during winter. Two events — Malaysia and Bahrain — are also F1 support races. As the name suggests, this is focussed on Asian circuits where there is an emerging interest in motor racing, though many of the teams and drivers are the same as the main GP2 Series.

Formula Nippon

Formula Nippon is the Japanese equivalent of GP2 / Formula 3000. In the past a few drivers have graduated from Formula Nippon. These include Ralf Schumacher and Pedro de la Rosa. Michael Schumacher also drove for one race in Formula Nippon prior to racing in F1.

However, the talent available in Formula Nippon not generally up to the standards of F1. The series is more likely to supply under-performing Japanese drivers such as Yuji Ide and Sakon Yamamoto. The best Japanese drivers are more likely to prove their worth in a European category, with Formula Nippon remaining primarily a Japan-centric series.

Tier 2.5 (red boxes)

I have invented ‘tier 2.5′ for the purposes of this post. It represents categories that are not as major as GP2, but are arguably more important than Formula 3.

World Series by Renault

This is a relatively new — and rapidly growing — series of motor racing. Part of Renault’s massive motor racing programme, this is also known as Formula Renault 3.5. It is designed to slot in between Formula 3 and GP2.

The series can be traced back to its roots as the Open Fortuna by Nissan in 1998. Back then it was a particularly Spanish motor racing series. But it quickly gained a reputation as a stamping ground for hot new talent. Almost every winner of the series has gone on to make a name for himself in F1 including Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica.

Over the years the series has cultivated a more international feel with races in nine different countries. The most recent winner of the series is Álvaro Parente who is currently racing in GP2. Part of the prize drivers get by winning the World Series by Renault is a test drive with the Renault F1 team.

A1GP

The self-styled “World Cup of Motorsport” likes to think of itself as a major rival to F1, though in reality it is quite a minor championship. Running in winter to avoid clashing with F1, A1GP is an unusual concept in that the focus of the championship is not on drivers or teams but on nationalities.

Like GP2, A1GP is a spec series. A1GP pulled off a major coup by persuading Ferrari to design and manufacture the A1GP chassis and engine which will be used for four seasons from 2008-2009.

In its favour, A1GP has attracted entries from a number of countries which do not have a strong tradition in motor racing. This may help bring motor racing to new audiences. However, the drivers are often treated as disposable commodities, with teams swapping drivers about all season.

A1GP has not proved to be a good feeder series, with only relatively poor drivers Scott Speed and Nelsinho Piquet having graduated from A1GP to F1. Former F1 drivers can be found racing in A1GP. Ex F1 drivers to have taken part in A1GP include Jos Verstappen, Narain Karthikeyan and Franck Montagny.

Superleague Formula

Superleague Formula is, like A1GP, a slightly eccentric idea for a racing series — but might just work. It is new, hence the uncertainty. Instead of teams as we know them, drivers will be representing football clubs on the racing circuit with the spec cars decked out in each football team’s colours.

One British club — Rangers FC — is involved, along with a number of other major football clubs from around the world. The only notable driver confirmed for Superleague Formula so far is ex-F1 driver Robert Doornbos.

Formula 3 (orange box)

Formula 3 is a very important category for F1. All but four of the 45 drivers who have raced in F1 in the past five years raced in F3 along the way. As such, F3 is a great category to keep an eye on for those interested in F1′s future talent. Six recent F1 drivers including Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella all made the jump directly from F3 to F1. However, success in F3 could just as easily spell a career in another category such as touring cars.

The champions of five F3 series are each eligible for an FIA Super License for 12 months. The five series are Formula 3 Euroseries, British F3 International, Italian Formula 3, Formel 3 Cup and Japanese Formula 3.

F3 is not actually a single championship. Rather, there are several championships which are part of the F3 category.

Formula 3 Euroseries

A very new series but already arguably the most important is the F3 Euroseries. As the name suggests, circuits from all around Europe are used. F3 Euroseries was originally intended to replace the separate French and German F3 championships. The French F3 series ended, but German F3 continues in a different form to this day.

Lewis Hamilton won the F3 Euroseries championship in utterly dominant fashion in 2005, the year before he entered GP2. Other notable F3 Euroseries graduates include Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. Those still to make it to F1 but making waves nonetheless include Romain Grosjean and Sébastien Buemi. One name to watch out for among the current F3 Euroseries drivers is Nico Hülkenberg who already has a relationship with the Williams F1 team.

Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix

The Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix is an annual event that brings together many of the top F3 drivers from the various F3 competitions around the world. The Macau street circuit is a challenging racetrack. As such, drivers who excel in Macau often do well in higher categories. 13 of this year’s 22 F1 drivers have competed in this event.

Famous winners include Ayrton Senna, David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher. Recent winners include Lucas di Grassi and Mike Conway, both currently making waves in GP2.

Masters of Formula 3

Another major international F3 event, this is Europe’s most important F3 race. Like Macau, 13 of this year’s F1 drivers have competed in this event. Recent winners include Lewis Hamilton, Christian Klien and Nico Hülkenberg.

British F3 International

The F3 championship with the longest history is British F3 (now known as British F3 International). The ‘British’ in British F3 refers only to the circuits that are used. The championship itself is open to drivers of all nationalities, but all of the races are held in Britain.

The list of British F3 champions includes many familiar names that went on to make a name for themselves in F1. Most notable in recent years is perhaps Mika Häkkinen who won the 1990 British F3 championship and went on to become a double F1 World Champion in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, Jenson Button caused a stir by leaping straight from F3 to F1, even though he only finished third in the British British F3 championship! But the British F3 roll of honour also contains a number of promising youngsters whose stars faded before they could reach the top category.

Seven of this season’s F1 drivers competed in British F3. Additionally, several test drivers honed their skills in this series. F1 takes a great deal of interest in British F3 and Kimi Räikkönen co-owns a British F3 team, Räikkönen Robertson Racing. Recent British F3 drivers to look out for in future include Mike Conway, Álvaro Parente and Marko Asmer.

Other F3 series

Other F3 series include the Formel 3 Cup (originally German F3, which Michael Schumacher won in 1990 and several other F1 drivers competed in their youth), Japanese F3 (which Adrian Sutil won in 2006) and Italian F3 (whose biggest name has been Giancarlo Fisichella). Drivers from Latin America including Rubens Barrichello and Nelsinho Piquet have competed in Formula 3 Sudamericana.

Keep an eye out for the next bluffer’s guide which will look at entry-level series and non-open wheel series.

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