2015 GP2 Pre-Season Test (Yas Marina) Day 2

Dams and Arden Dominate

After Gasly proved he'd lost no speed since last winter, he intended to go into the day with the same pace setting thought on his mind. It was however; Evans, Vandoorne and Rossi who were setting the early pace, as others got up to speed.

Throughout the morning session, many drivers decided to focus on set up and as a result few time improvements were seen at the top of the board. The exception to this was Lynn who beat the early pace drivers by half distance. While Gasly and Leal moved onto the quicker tyres toward the end of the morning. This saw a Dams 1-2 from Marciello at lunch.

However; unlike yesterday, many of the drivers had set their fast pace in the morning and Lynn's time would remain the fastest. Only half the field had set lap times after an hour and Gherelli's time was 3 seconds down on Lynn's morning pace. Only 15 competitive times had been set by the mid point of the session with Stanaway and Marciello on top.

The biggest action came from Haryanto who stopped on track at the back straight. He wasn't the only stoppage, with Nato bringing out the red flag after setting the fastest time. This interupted the Carlin's race runs. Times did fall towards the end, but Nato would remain fastest from his Arden teammate Negrao and the Trident drivers, who were split by Canamasas.

Pos.	Driver	Nat.	Team	Morning	Afternoon
1	Norman Nato	FRA	Arden International	1:52.319	1:49.697
2	Andre Negrao	BRA	Arden International	1:51.040	1:50.941
3	Raffaele Marciello	ITA	Trident	1:50.620 [3]	1:50.973
4	Sergio Canamasas	ESP	Hilmer Motorsport	1:52.360	1:51.171
5	Rene Binder	AUT	Trident	1:51.146	1:51.219
6	Stoffel Vandoorne	BEL	ART Grand Prix	1:50.620 [4]	1:51.251
7	Sergey Sirotkin	RUS	Rapax	1:52.192	1:51.264
8	Zoel Amburg	SUI	Lazarus	1:51.891	1:51.395
9	Nobuharu Matsushita	JAP	ART Grand Prix	1:51.908	1:51.556
10	Richie Stanaway	NZL	Status Grand Prix	1:51.620	1:51.648
11	Mitch Evans	NZL	Russian Time	1:50.625 [5]	1:51.656
12	Daniel De Jong	NED	MP Motorsport	1:51.758	1:51.675
13	Artem Markelov	RUS	Russian Time	1:51.623	1:51.783
14	Natanael Berthon	FRA	Lazarus	1:52.949	1:52.012
15	Vittorio Ghirelli	ITA	MP Motorsport	1:51.969	1:52.133
16	Robert Visoiu	ROM	Rapax	1:52.112	1:52.196
17	Marlon Stockinger	PHI	Status Grand Prix	1:52.764	1:52.694
18	Alex Lynn	GBR	Dams	1:49.648 [1]	1:53.223
19	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Dams	1:50.104 [2]	1:53.550
20	Jordan King	GBR	Racing Engineering	1:51.073	1:53.684
21	Rio Haryanto	IDN	Campos Racing	1:51.248	1:53.804
22	Alexander Rossi	USA	Racing Engineering	1:50.767	1:54.024
23	Arthur Pic	FRA	Campos Racing	1:50.996	1:54.354
24	Julian Leal	COL	Carlin	1:50.906	1:54.735
25	Marco Sorensen	DEN	Carlin	1:51.117	1:54.818
26	Axcil Jefferies	ZIM	Hilmer Motorsport	--	--
The Positions are the results of the Afternoon Session [1] – Position in Morning Session (only top 5 shown)

Also, congratulations as well to Jordan King who becomes Manor F1's development driver for the season.

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2015 GP2 Pre-Season Test (Yas Marina) Day 1

Gasly on top as drivers get use to DRS

Yes, morning mostly saw the competitors testing out the new DRS system that the cars have for this year. When GP2's technical director; Didier Perrin was asked about the DRS system he said; "our target was to produce one that would be similar to the one used in Formula One but that would be easy to operate and affordable for GP2." It should make racing closer and make it easier to overtake, which would really spice up the Sprint Races.

As for the cars, they ventured out carefully. There were only 3 lap times after 30 mins as many drivers did one lap runs. Rossi had been the first one out and unsurprisingly got use to the track the quickest. He was the fastest in the morning session ahead of the Dams drivers of Gasly and Lynn.

Meanwhile; the session was stopped for 30 mins while software adjustments were made. Stockinger would also later find himself stopping the session after his car stopped at turn 5. Stockinger will have a hard season if he can't get use to new car. It's going to be a competitive field, so he will need to connect with the team and his vehicle before we start the season.

Into the Afternoon Session after the teams had focused on aero testing, many drivers tried to beat their personal best with Rossi's time tumbling fast. Vandoorne had set the early pace with Gasly the first man to dip into the 1:49s. Some time later Evans and Haryanto both improved up the leaderboard, but time was cut short after a red flag with Leal stopping at turn 17.

Some more quick times came in at the end with first King then Gasly topping the timing sheets. Despite some improvements Gasly was not beaten and now looks like the man to beat, going into day 2. The only issue came with Jefferies who failed to complete a lap.

Full Results:

Pos.	Driver	Nat.	Team	Morning	Afternoon
1	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Dams	1:51.298 [2]	1:48.897
2	Artur Pic	FRA	Campos Racing	1:52.020	1:48.955
3	Raffaele Marciello	ITA	Trident	1:51.605 [4]	1:49.252
4	Rene Binder	AUT	Trident	1:51.779	1:49.294
5	Jordan King	GBR	Racing Engineering	1:51.822	1:49.303
6	Sergey Sirotkin	RUS	Rapax	1:52.103	1:49.379
7	Mitch Evans	NZL	Russian Time	1:51.670	1:49.393
8	Rio Haryanto	IDN	Campos	1:52.273	1:49.456
9	Alexander Rossi	USA	Racing Engineering	1:50.845 [1]	1:49.474
10	Alex Lynn	GBR	Dams	1:51.544 [3]	1:49.480
11	Stoffel Vandoorne	BEL	ART Grand Prix	2:08.142	1:49.579
12	Norman Nato	FRA	Arden International	2:15.901	1:49.682
13	Richie Stanaway	NZL	Status Grand Prix	1:52.261	1:49.771
14	Daniel De Jong	NED	MP Motorsport	1:51.665 [5]	1:49.865
15	Andre Negrao	BRA	Arden International	1:54.645	1:49.916
16	Marco Sorensen	DEN	Carlin	1:53.366	1:49.960
17	Nathanael Berthon	FRA	Lazarus	1:52.001	1:50.163
18	Julian Leal	COL	Carlin	1:52.074	1:50.307
19	Nobuharu Matsushita	JAP	ART Grand Prix	2:25.398	1:50.674
20	Vittorio Ghirelli	ITA	MP Motorsport	1:54.451	1:50.680
21	Artem Markelov	RUS	Russian Time	1:53.059	1:50.929
22	Marlon Stockinger	PHI	Status Grand Prix	1:53.701	1:51.004
23	Robert Visoiu	ROM	Rapax	1:53.338	1:51.069
24	Sergio Canamasas	ESP	Hilmer Motorsport	1:53.340	1:51.178
25	Zoel Amburg	SUI	Lazarus	1:53.565	1:52.651
26	Axcil Jefferies	ZIM	Hilmer Motorsport	--	--
The Positions are the results of the Afternoon Session [1] – Position in Morning Session (only top 5 shown)

Gasly appears to the man to beat, but I feel we haven't seen all of Vandoorne/ Rossi's pace.

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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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The future for Mick Schumacher

Is there too much pressure on Mick

The name Michael Schumacher is synonymous with Formula One, for an era of dominance and to many, the greatest driver in Formula One History.

While this may seem like an overstatement to some, even his biggest critics will accept, statistically he was one of the best and won many of his later championships with ease. However; like a royal family, his kids will be compared to him. This is where Mick comes in. Mick has so far had a fairly successful karting career, having come 2nd in a World Karting Championship One off Race recently. He also competed in the European Karting Championships and German Karting Championships.

Moving in Formula Racing, he will enter the inaugural season of German F4 (ADAC F4) and will race for Van Amersfoort Racing, the same team that Max Verstappen drove for in European F3 last year. As for the series itself, it joins a world wide roll out of the F4 concept that is being run in many countries including Italy, Japan, UK and Pan-America, in order to give a better place for drivers to enter out of Karting.

But, this may be a new problem for Mick. While he has always had his pedigree weigh down on him, he has competed under his mothers name and "Mick Junior". I don't know what name he shall have for Formula Racing, but one thing is for certain; he will be more scrutinised. While Max may have proved that he can handle the pressure at a young age, what about Mick. Will the bad results get to him? Will he be good enough for F1? Is it fair to compare him to F1 drivers at this point in his career?

Britain's Enaam Ahmed

I talk about comparing him, but what about his rivals. He lost the European and World Championship to Enaam Ahmed, a boy a year younger, who has beaten many of Hamilton's karting records [See BBC article] and on the road to have just as bright a future in cars. Also what about the other Karting Champions who will be competing in cars in the coming year. Such as Ferrari Young Driver; Zhou, competing in Italian F4. Or Red Bulls young Ilott, who will compete in cars for the first time in European F3, just like Max Verstappen.

Mick needs to find his own identity. The next few years will determine his future in motor sport. Whether he lives up to the hype or will simply be known as a "Son-of" for one of the greats. Damon Hill may have been able to forge his own name and not just "Graham's son", but his son Josh has since retired from motor sport after not achieving the results that would get him a seat.

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Is Carmen Jorda Ready for F1?

PR Stunt or Female Sensation

Now, I'm usually quite objective when I do this sort of thing. However; I feel a bit of a rant coming on. Carmen Jorda is a 26 year old Spanish Racing Driver who has competed in Spanish Formula 3, F3 Open Series, GP3 Series and Indy Lights.

While this might seem like quite an impressive feet and a good lead for female motorsport, it's clear to see that the performance does not match the credentials. During her time in GP3 she competed in the 2012 / 2013 / 2014 season. However; as many of you who watch GP3 will know, she isn't the most competitive driver. She would often find herself at the back and it was rare for her to qualify off the back row. This was most summed up in a Sprint Race last year where she didn't only finish last, but also finished behind a driver who had to pit for damage in a race without pit stops. 

To add on to her list of "achievements" she managed to join a very select group of drivers who have failed to Qualify for a GP3 Series event. She is the 3rd most experienced (in terms of races) and holds the record for most GP3 Races without a point.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing her because she's a women driver. I was fully invested in Simona de Silvestro's plight for Formula One, because, in her, as well as a few other female drivers we see talent. However; we must ask, is this being used simply as a PR stunt.

Carmen has taken on the role of Development Driver. I bring this up because this was the role of another female Counterpart; Susie Wolff. My concern remains though; what is the plan for these drivers. Neither Jorda or Wolff have had incredibly successful youth careers (at least not outside of karting.) So is the aim to "develop" them to F1 ability, or is it simply to get young girls interested. I talk about using her as a PR stunt as a bad thing. But maybe the aim isn't to get them into F1 but to instead use them as a catalyst for the next generation. If so, then I applaud Lotus.

My only concern comes from the current young driver situation. There are many highly skilled young drivers coming through the order, it seems unfair to push aside drivers like Palmer (GP2 Champion) and Ocon (European F3 Champion) (both at Lotus) in order to promote a driver that will get the sponsorship.

Also, maybe I was too harsh on her career. She did achieve 4th in the Spanish F3 [Copa F300 class] and did achieve a point in Indy Lights. Formula One has been very male based for a number of years, and it would be great to make it more even, and not just have a female driver in the sport for PR purposes. However; I feel this will take time and there a very few from this generation that could do it.

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Young Driver Academy

Big Teams, Supporting Little Talents

While many young drivers come through the ranks, we find only the very best make it to F1 or the other major series. However; talent is hot property and many teams don't want to try to invest in a young driver only for them to sign with a rival. Neither do they want a potential talent to go to waste. So bring to the forefront; Driver Academy's!

While they don't always work the same way that football academy's do, young driver academy's allow F1 teams to financially invest in young talent. This ensures that drivers are given cars and series to compete in. In order to prepare them for Formula One. While the success of Hamilton through the McLaren academy and Vettel through the Red Bull Academy may be the most obvious.

McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari are the three main teams, who dedicate their time and resources, other teams do have large sponsorship with Caterham, Murussia and Lotus all giving their young drivers the same livery as the F1 cars. While private organisations, like the "Racing Steps Foundation" have also given their drivers the same support. So who are the new stars of the future? Which drivers have the major teams backed?

 

Name	2014	2015	Likelihood to win title	Outlook for 2015
Red Bull
Stoneman	GP3	FR3.5	High	After having to take time out because of illness, 24 y/o may be too old to challenge for F1, but will be the man to beat, after a strong 2014
Gasly	FR3.5	GP2	High	Losing to Sainz, means he was overlooked for T. Rosso, but a move to DAMS should help his chances.
Ilott	Eu KF Kart	EuroF3	Med/Low	Fresh out of karting, he's done the same route as Verstappen, maybe RB are hoping to strike oil twice.
McLaren
Vandoorne	GP2	GP2	Favourite	“The best (GP2) rookie of the Pirelli era” It would be a surprise if he didn't win, as he heaps the pressure on Magnussen
De Vries	FR2.0	FR3.5	Med/ High	Its taken him longer than he would like to reach this stage and will be hard to beat team mate Stoneman.
Barnicoat	FR2.0 NEC	FR2.0	Med/ High	While he might seem destined to win, he hasn't joined one of the top two teams, so might be hard to get results.
Ferrari
Marciello	GP2 (8th)	GP2	Med/High	The former EuroF3 Champ. Will look to chase Vandoorne, but Trident are not a front running team, results may vary.
Fuoco	EuroF3 (5)	GP3	Favourite	Having joined the champion team and performing in F3, he would need some talented opposition to challenge him.
Stroll	Italy F4	EuroF3	Medium	Having won the Toyota Racing Series in January, he has the momentum, but is it too much too soon for the Canadian.
Zhou	Eu Chall. Kart	Italy F4	High(ish)	Its hard to judge his performance having come out of Karts, but it means he will directly be compared to Stroll's result.
Lotus
Ocon	EuroF3	N/a	N/a	Future unclear. He missed out on a DAMS GP2 seat and Lotus 3rd Driver. But he's beaten Verstappen and impressed Ferrari in tests at only 18. Likely future star.
Sorensen	GP2/FR3.5	GP2 WEC	Med/ High Low/ Med	He may be in a top team, but can Sorensen use his experience, or will his long term future be in Endurance Racing
Fontana	GP3 (11th)	GP3	Med/High	Another disappointing year in GP3 has left him with an uncertain future. Now with a top GP3 team.
Tunjo	FR3.5 (22)	FR3.5	Low	Loyalty with Pons Racing may help his chances, but remains an outside hope for the title. Didn't outscore his 2014 partner
Stockinger	FR3.5 (9)	GP2	Low/ Mid	He's rumoured to be MP Motorsports new driver, but his Lotus future maybe be threatened if the results don't come.
Albon	FR2.0	EuroF3	Medium	A Former Red Bull Young Driver, will be hard to judge at a new team, but his 2.0 result shows he has potential.
Bocculacci	FrenchF4	EuroF3	Medium	Team mate to Albon, it will be easy to judge his form. But will be hard in a competitive series with a poor car.
Racing Steps Foundation
Dennis	EuroF3 (9)	EuroF3	V.High	Now with the defending champions and having got experience, he must surely have high hopes.
Rowland	FR3.5 (4)	FR3.5	V. High	Not finished lower than 4th in any championship since 2010. Will be expecting much success in 2015.
Harvey	IndyLights	IndyLights	Favourite	Also won the BritF3 title in 2012. Looks set to be one of Britain’s top drivers not in European racing.
Barnicoat	FR2.0 NEC	FR2.0	Med/ High	With Support from Racing Steps and Mclaren, he's sure to be well supported.

Key:

1st

2nd

3rd

(9) Position in Series

Italics: Rumoured Series

So, there we go. However; this isn't something new, this has been going on for years, while Torro Rosso make the amount of wasted talent more obvious, what happens to all those who never make it. Or who's parent team is too big to take them on. What about the Ferrari young boys, if they do get to Formula One, what are the chances that the Scuderia will clear a space for them

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Young Driver's Roulette

The final hurdle

GP2 has a large roster of Successful Formula 1 drivers. 2014 marks the first year 2 GP2 champions went head-to-head. The title fight between Hamilton and Rosberg proved to be one that almost tore their friendship apart. Going into the final round in Abu Dhabi, the media in both country's fully backed their hero's. From the time the engine was turned on, on Thursday, to the time the lights went out, neither driver wasn't being scrutinised by the media.

However; despite the many cameras and personnel in the paddock, their was another British Driver who had been fighting for the title with a young German. Alex Lynn had missed the opportunity to clinch the GP3 championship in style in Russia, but had scored enough to ensure German, Marvin Kirchhofer could not beat him and only fellow Brit Dean Stoneman could deny his title. He just needed to hope Stoneman didn't have a perfect weekend. That achievement was met when it was the German Kirchhofer who took pole position. Unfortunately for the German he failed in his bid to overtake Stoneman in the championship as Lynn cruised to a 5th and 2nd in his title winning weekend. A German having a not so good race with good results for the British driver(s). Somehow this is starting to ring bells.


So, what of them now. Lynn has been promoted to GP2, even if he has lost his Red Bull sponsorship. This honour has been taken up by Stoneman, who has decided to aim for the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, while Kirchhofer is still undecided.

Formula 1 champions are not plucked out of thin air, while Hamiltons youth career may be well documented and Max Verstappen has shone a light on Euro F3, it's easy to forget that these drivers haven't come from no where. They've raced for championships, they've had hard times, but if there's one thing they all crave, its winning.

With the 2015 GP2/3 season starting soon, we have more drivers fighting for an opportunity to get into F1. However; successful drivers remain in short supply. With the field down to 18 cars there are only 3 rookies in F1 this year with Verstappen and Sainz Jr. going to Torro Rosso (a team notable for having closed driver line-up choices. To add, this is the 3 year in a row, the GP2 champion has failed to get a seat in F1, instead Palmer has settled for a third driver role at Lotus.

This season appears to be one where the Formula 1 youth programme will take a front Seat. With Red Bull/ McLaren/ Ferrari and Lotus all proving they have up and coming talent. So, bring on the 2015 GP2 and GP3 Season, as we continue to look for F1's next superstar. With F1 becoming more about the car and strategy, these provide an opportunity for the worlds best to prove their ability. As they try to jump over the last hurdle before their ultimate goal.

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