2015 GP2 Pre-Season Test (Yas Marina) Preview

GP2 is back, with plenty of new Faces.

After seeing Palmer win the title last year, many thought he would break the duct of World Champions not going to F1, but instead he has to settle for the role of test driver at Lotus. The only man to make it from the series last season was 3rd place Felipe Nasr, whose results are certainly worth an F1 drive after fighting for the title two years on the bounce. To add, F1's new "points" system requires young drivers to score a certain number of points in order to qualify. With most of the points available in GP2, it's likely we'll see many FR3.5 refugees, desperate to get the points they need, as we've seen this season.

So with backlogged talent and switching drivers, it's likely this will become GP2's most competitive year. But how many will make it, is a different question. As always we've lost the champion, and Nasr to F1, but we've also lost other regulars; Richelmi, Coletti, Cecotto and Canamasas, as well as a few others, but we've seen plenty of apt talent who have replaced them.

March 9th -   Day 1 - Morning session: 9.00-12.00 // Afternoon session: 14.00-17.00
March 10th - Day 2 - Morning session: 9.00-12.00 // Afternoon session: 14.00-17.00
March 11th - Day 3 - Morning session: 9.00-12.00 // Afternoon session: 13.00-16.00

Line Up for the First Test:

DAMS
01. Pierre Gasly (FRA)
02. Alex Lynn (GBR)

Carlin
03. Julian Leal (COL)
04. Marco Sorensen (DEN)

ART Grand Prix
05. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL)
06. Nobuharu Matsushita (JAP)

Racing Engineering
07. Jordan King (GBR)
08. Alexander Rossi (USA)

RUSSIAN TIME
09. Mitch Evans (NZL)
10. Artem Markelov (RUS)

Trident
11. Raffaele Marciello (ITA)
12. Rene Binder (AUT)

Campos Racing
14. Arthur Pic (FRA)
15. Rio Haryanto (INA)

MP Motorsport
16. Vittorio Ghirelli (ITA)
17. Daniel De Jong (NED)

Rapax
18. Sergey Sirotkin (RUS)
19. Robert Visoiu (ROU)

Arden International
20. André Negrao (BRA)
21. Norman Nato (FRA)

Status Grand Prix
22. Marlon Stockinger (PHI)
23. Richie Stanaway (NZL)

Hilmer Motorsport
24. Sergio Canamasias (ESP)
25. Axcil Jefferies (ZIM)

Lazarus
26. Nathanaël Berthon (FRA)
27. Zoel Amberg (SUI)

Key: Contracted for the Season // Only Confirmed for the Test

So what are we expecting?

As the reigning champs the DAMS drivers will have a lot of pressure on them, especially considering how Lynn will have to adapt to life where he may not be the fastest one out there. While Gasly, who narrowly lost to Sainz Jr for the Torro Rosso drive will now act the senior Red Bull Young Driver to pressure the existing F1 pairing.

What influence will "pay drivers" have?

The most likely championship contenders are Vandoorne and Evans after coming 2nd and 4th last year, but can they win the teams championship? Both have chosen inexperienced heavily funded teammates, so do ART and Russian Time stand any chance of reclaiming the Number 1 and 2 on their cars. Then again, many top teams had a funded and a raw talent driver, but this proved to be some teams downfall, see Campos.

Who will fill the remaining seats?

While many will want to fight for the title, what about the back of the grid team. These competitors must know their chances are slim, many have not confirmed their line-up and it will be curious to see who their short list is. Stanaway has already confirmed he'll be driving for Status at the test but will this materialise into a race seat? What about MP/ Hilmer who have yet to announce any drivers.

Who Should be the quickest?

There's no reason to suggest that Vandoorne won't be quickest, but it will be curious to see how the FR3.5 refugees of Gasly/ Sorensen/ Sirotkin/ Nato/ Stockinger will do compared to the experienced drivers. While Pic has had all winter with the Campos team, so should know the car really well.

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