- 15 May 13, 14:10#358622
There are certain moments when you are proud to be Dutch (and some not so proud ones), even in Formula 1, where we've had very few successes. For years, Dutch race fans have been eagerly awaiting young karting talents like Max Verstappen (son of) and Nyck de Vries (McLaren development program) to start their car race careers, and kind of out of nowhere, we suddenly see Robin Frijns making a name for himself.
Only 21 years old, Robin Frijns is one of the few drivers in history to start his career with back-to-back-to-back championships, winning the European Formula BMW championship in 2010, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2011, and in a controversial clash with Jules Bianchi, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2012. He was then given a chance to test for both Red Bull and Sauber in Abu Dhabi, the latter team signing him on as test driver for this year.
Being without a racing seat for 2013, missing out on a GP2 seat for the start of the season, some were fearful that it might indicate a halt to this stellar start of a career; Frijns is entirely without sponsorship. However, in Bahrain, Hilmer Motorsport gave Frijns a chance to show his worth in GP2. Although he showed promising speed, his inexperience with the Pirelli tires meant the results were not that amazing. But then came Spain, and he got another chance, and he took it with both hands, and has now shown, without a doubt, that he is one of the biggest talents aiming for Formula One: a victory in the feature race, and 2nd on just 0.7 seconds in the sprint race.
If you hadn't heard it before, you heard it here first: Robin Frijns will be the next big talent in Formula One!
Only 21 years old, Robin Frijns is one of the few drivers in history to start his career with back-to-back-to-back championships, winning the European Formula BMW championship in 2010, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2011, and in a controversial clash with Jules Bianchi, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2012. He was then given a chance to test for both Red Bull and Sauber in Abu Dhabi, the latter team signing him on as test driver for this year.
Being without a racing seat for 2013, missing out on a GP2 seat for the start of the season, some were fearful that it might indicate a halt to this stellar start of a career; Frijns is entirely without sponsorship. However, in Bahrain, Hilmer Motorsport gave Frijns a chance to show his worth in GP2. Although he showed promising speed, his inexperience with the Pirelli tires meant the results were not that amazing. But then came Spain, and he got another chance, and he took it with both hands, and has now shown, without a doubt, that he is one of the biggest talents aiming for Formula One: a victory in the feature race, and 2nd on just 0.7 seconds in the sprint race.
If you hadn't heard it before, you heard it here first: Robin Frijns will be the next big talent in Formula One!
The less intelligent observers say anyone could do it in that car.
