FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Denthúl]

Well, the first and second rounds take place this weekend. Coverage is on Eurosport 2 (round one) at 5pm tomorrow and on Eurosport (round two) at 12:45pm on Sunday for people who have it. Anybody watching? I think it will be interesting to see if there is any stand-out talent emerging and I think this will provide some good entertainment.

[Gilles 27]

Nope, i have freeview, that i somehow have to pay for

[Gaz]

not sure myself might take a look at it but the DTM is on at the same time.

prob be able to watch it here eitherway

http://www.myp2p.eu/competition.php?&co ... owedDays=7

[7UpJordan]

Well, the first and second rounds take place this weekend. Coverage is on Eurosport 2 (round one) at 5pm tomorrow and on Eurosport (round two) at 12:45pm on Sunday for people who have it. Anybody watching? I think it will be interesting to see if there is any stand-out talent emerging and I think this will provide some good entertainment.

I'll be watching it tomorrow, but Sunday's race will clash with BTCC, hopefully though they'll repeat it at some point.

[cap-dude]

Didn't see the race, but Wickens won

I know Wickens doesn't look that impressive on paper, but trust me, there's speed in there somewhere. Watching him in A1, he can be impressively fast. In his opening race in A1 he took 3rd place, But there's seems to be something that doesn't connect from time to time. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in F2.

I mean F2 has a pretty big prize. A test with Williams. If you can get a test with a team like that, you've got a chance to prove yourself.

[Denthúl]

Didn't see the race, but Wickens won

I know Wickens doesn't look that impressive on paper, but trust me, there's speed in there somewhere. Watching him in A1, he can be impressively fast. In his opening race in A1 he took 3rd place, But there's seems to be something that doesn't connect from time to time. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in F2.

I mean F2 has a pretty big prize. A test with Williams. If you can get a test with a team like that, you've got a chance to prove yourself.

He won, yes, and what makes it that little bit more impressive is that he built up a lead over Soucek in the early stages, had it completely destroyed by the safety car, then pulled away again at the end.

Valencia probably wasn't the best track to showcase the sport, but I imagine when we get to some of the tracks where more overtaking is possible, we'll see an improvement. It was nice to see Surtees and Brundle finish in the top eight in the end and I would like to see how they do once they get used to the cars and racing at European circuits. But what happened with Palmer? His day was miserable.

[7UpJordan]

Didn't see the race, but Wickens won

I know Wickens doesn't look that impressive on paper, but trust me, there's speed in there somewhere. Watching him in A1, he can be impressively fast. In his opening race in A1 he took 3rd place, But there's seems to be something that doesn't connect from time to time. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in F2.

I mean F2 has a pretty big prize. A test with Williams. If you can get a test with a team like that, you've got a chance to prove yourself.

He won, yes, and what makes it that little bit more impressive is that he built up a lead over Soucek in the early stages, had it completely destroyed by the safety car, then pulled away again at the end.

Valencia probably wasn't the best track to showcase the sport, but I imagine when we get to some of the tracks where more overtaking is possible, we'll see an improvement. It was nice to see Surtees and Brundle finish in the top eight in the end and I would like to see how they do once they get used to the cars and racing at European circuits. But what happened with Palmer? His day was miserable.

It's always the Spanish tracks isn't it?

Patrick Head has done a good job with this car, looks very smooth and tidy, and there are some nice liveries out there in the field, makes the GP2 cars look very messy.

Wickens totally dominated that first race, very surprising to see Palmer dropping down through the field at such a rate.

The joint race weekend programme with the WTCC is a good venture and should make an enjoyable weekend when the series arrives in the UK for the Brands Hatch and Donington rounds as I am hoping to go to them.

[Denthúl]

Didn't see the race, but Wickens won

I know Wickens doesn't look that impressive on paper, but trust me, there's speed in there somewhere. Watching him in A1, he can be impressively fast. In his opening race in A1 he took 3rd place, But there's seems to be something that doesn't connect from time to time. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in F2.

I mean F2 has a pretty big prize. A test with Williams. If you can get a test with a team like that, you've got a chance to prove yourself.

He won, yes, and what makes it that little bit more impressive is that he built up a lead over Soucek in the early stages, had it completely destroyed by the safety car, then pulled away again at the end.

Valencia probably wasn't the best track to showcase the sport, but I imagine when we get to some of the tracks where more overtaking is possible, we'll see an improvement. It was nice to see Surtees and Brundle finish in the top eight in the end and I would like to see how they do once they get used to the cars and racing at European circuits. But what happened with Palmer? His day was miserable.

It's always the Spanish tracks isn't it?

Patrick Head has done a good job with this car, looks very smooth and tidy, and there are some nice liveries out there in the field, makes the GP2 cars look very messy.

Wickens totally dominated that first race, very surprising to see Palmer dropping down through the field at such a rate.

The joint race weekend programme with the WTCC is a good venture and should make an enjoyable weekend when the series arrives in the UK for the Brands Hatch and Donington rounds as I am hoping to go to them.

Yeah, it definitely looks a nice car and it's nice to see the flames licking at the back, too.

Any idea how much tickets would be for those two rounds? I could do with going to watch some kind of racing this year.

[7UpJordan]

Didn't see the race, but Wickens won

I know Wickens doesn't look that impressive on paper, but trust me, there's speed in there somewhere. Watching him in A1, he can be impressively fast. In his opening race in A1 he took 3rd place, But there's seems to be something that doesn't connect from time to time. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in F2.

I mean F2 has a pretty big prize. A test with Williams. If you can get a test with a team like that, you've got a chance to prove yourself.

He won, yes, and what makes it that little bit more impressive is that he built up a lead over Soucek in the early stages, had it completely destroyed by the safety car, then pulled away again at the end.

Valencia probably wasn't the best track to showcase the sport, but I imagine when we get to some of the tracks where more overtaking is possible, we'll see an improvement. It was nice to see Surtees and Brundle finish in the top eight in the end and I would like to see how they do once they get used to the cars and racing at European circuits. But what happened with Palmer? His day was miserable.

It's always the Spanish tracks isn't it?

Patrick Head has done a good job with this car, looks very smooth and tidy, and there are some nice liveries out there in the field, makes the GP2 cars look very messy.

Wickens totally dominated that first race, very surprising to see Palmer dropping down through the field at such a rate.

The joint race weekend programme with the WTCC is a good venture and should make an enjoyable weekend when the series arrives in the UK for the Brands Hatch and Donington rounds as I am hoping to go to them.

Yeah, it definitely looks a nice car and it's nice to see the flames licking at the back, too.

Any idea how much tickets would be for those two rounds? I could do with going to watch some kind of racing this year.

I would probably guesstimate something like £20 or £30 like you get when going to a BTCC round, but then again this is an FIA Championship...

[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

Formula 2: Season preview

The revived Formula 2 championship has gone from a blank sheet of paper to the first race in under a year, and bursts into action at Valencia this weekend

By Steven English

It's really happened - an entire championship from birth to opening round in under nine months. This weekend, 25 Formula 2 cars have made it from the drawing board to Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit for the first race of the series' revival.

The concept has had its critics since it was announced last year, and now it will finally get the chance to answer back. There have been plenty of areas of doubt over the winter - some questioned whether the ambitious brief to create an international championship with a running budget of £200,000 was even possible.

Any fears that the cars wouldn't be quick enough have been dispelled, depending on your interpretation of where the championship fits into the ladder. The performance is some way off that of GP2 or Formula Renault 3.5, and any hopes that it will rival those series - particularly GP2 - are extremely bold, at least at this early stage.

Far more realistic is its place alongside Formula 3 and Formula Master, the latter with which it shares the World Touring Car support bill, and lap times across those three categories are in the same ball park.

Its affordability will ensure that it attracts drivers from all other categories as fewer are able to meet the seemingly ever-escalating budgets, while the prizes on offer at the end of the year make it more than a match even for GP2.

The biggest question is whether a series with centrally-run cars, minimal set-up changes and roving engineers sharing three drivers at each race, can hope to give a young driver anything like the education he would receive going down the established F3, GP2 route. Probably not, but a lot of drivers are coming into F2 in 2009 with plenty of experience in other championships already behind them, and they rightly begin the year as the favourites.
Andy Soucek

But you can't have it both ways. This format is here to offer drivers an opportunity on a much more realistic budget. For that money, you don't get the same technical depth or testing time as elsewhere.

But there are up sides as well. The car has been designed - by Williams no less - with a very clear aim in mind, and 400bhp with relatively little aerodynamic performance from the wings should allow the cars to run closer together and give drivers more opportunities to overtake each other.

So what they don't learn pouring through pages of complex data on a laptop, they might make up for by getting a thorough education in racecraft, spending their 40-minute races three abreast!

The safest looking bet at this point appears to be Andy Soucek, who is putting his GP2 and FR3.5 experience to good use. But don't expect him to have it easy, Red Bull's trio of drivers - Robert Wickens, Mikhail Aleshin and Mirko Bortolotti - have plenty of experience elsewhere, as do the likes of Sebastian Hohenthal, Julien Jousse and Milos Pavlovic.

In fact, you could make a decent argument that the depth of talent in the field at least matches year's class of British F3 and isn't far off Formula Renault 3.5. And that's for a debut season when a lot of drivers were no doubt skeptical about committing to something that didn't exist at the time.

It will take a few rounds before anyone really knows the true picture, and even then a lot will depend what the champion goes on to do in 2010. But for now, sit back and watch the action unfold.


Formula 2: Runners and riders

Formula 2 is back, kicking off at Valencia this weekend after 25 years away. AUTOSPORT takes you through the grid of drivers hoping to follow Mike Thackwell as the next champion

By Steven English

#2
Sebastian Hohenthal (S)
Age: 24
2008 season: 7th in British Formula 3

Finds refuge in F2 following under-par season of British F3 in 2008. Has one of the best records in the F2 field, having won the Formula Renault UK title in 2006 and an F3 race in each of the past two years.

#3
Jolyon Palmer (GB)
Age: 18
2008 season: 3rd in Formula Palmer Audi

The son of series boss Jonathan Palmer is one of four Formula Palmer Audi graduates. He has won races in both of his years in single-seaters so far, but he's never yet faced the depth of talent he'll find this season.

#4
Julien Jousse (F)
Age: 23
2008 season: FRenault 3.5 runner-up

Jousse took a long time to graduate from Formula Renault and didn't make much of an impression in his first FR3.5 season in 2007, but he raised his game last year as the closest rival to runaway FR3.5 champion Giedo van der Garde.

#5
Alex Brundle (GB)
Age: 18
2008 season: 6th in Formula Palmer Audi

The son of former grand prix driver Martin Brundle improved steadily from initial wild reputation during his two seasons of FPA. He's still yet to win a single-seater race, though and will face a steep learning curve in F2.

#6
Armaan Ebrahim (IND)
Age: 20
2008 season: 7th in Formula V6 Asia

It's four years since he made his A1GP race debut aged just 16, and his Formula Renault and GP2 records since don't show great progress. He has won races in Formula V6 Asia, but is yet to prove himself in Europe.

#7
Henry Surtees (GB)
Age: 18
2008 season: 12th in Formula Renault UK

The son of 1964 world champion John Surtees has packed a lot of races into the past two years, mainly in Formula BMW and Renault. He was a winner in BMW, but didn't make much progress in Formula Renault last year.

#8
Tobias Hegewald (D)
Age: 19
2008 season: 5th in FRenault Eurocup

He's had four seasons in single-seaters so far, and began to bloom last year by running up front in the regional Formula Renault North European Cup. He made his FR3.5 debut with Interwetten at Spa earlier this month.

#9
Pietro Gandolfi (I)
Age: 21
2008 season: 26th in Swiss FRenault

Aside from a handful of Italian Formula Renault outings in 2006, Gandolfi's only racing experience to date is in the Swiss FRenault championship, in which he finished 26th last season. Don't expect him to be a title contender.

#10
Nicola de Marco (I)
Age: 18
2008 season: 4th in Spanish Formula 3

A race winner in Spanish Formula 3 last season, but he was well off the pace at the end-of-season Macau Grand Prix. The Italian is another with a steep mountain to climb before he can think about challenging at the front.

#11
Jack Clarke (GB)
Age: 21
2008 season: 5th in Formula Palmer Audi

Clarke had a handy couple of seasons in Formula Palmer Audi, winning a couple of races each year, but he couldn't quite join the title battle on either occasion. He will be another looking to take a step forward in Formula 2.

#12
Robert Wickens (CDN)
Age: 20
2008 season: 12th in FRenault 3.5

One of Red Bull's favoured junior drivers, Wickens starts as an expected title contender in F2, arriving with race-winning pedigree in Formula Renault 3.5, the F3 Euro Series, A1GP and Formula Atlantic.

#14
Mirko Bortolotti (I)
Age: 19
2008 season: Italian Formula 3 champion

Bortolotti joined Wickens on Red Bull's driver scheme on the advice of Ferrari, following his impressive F1 test prize after winning the Italian F3 crown. But this year's opposition will be the highest calibre he's faced yet.

#15
Mikhail Aleshin (RUS)
Age: 21
2008 season: 5th in Formula Renault 3.5

He has been around the World Series by Renault scene in Europe for a long time but has only amassed two wins in FR3.5. Red Bull has shifted him into F2 this season following three years with Carlin Motorsport.

#16
Edoardo Piscopo (I)
Age: 22
2008 season: Italian Formula 3 runner-up

A former Red Bull junior, who was dropped after a disappointing debut F3 Euro Series season in 2007. He won seven races and finished runner-up to Bortolotti in Italian F3 last year and is eager to succeed on the international scene.

#17
Carlos Iaconelli (BR)
Age: 21
2008 season: 28th in GP2

The Brazilian made his GP2 debut last year but never made the top 10. He's also posted rather average results in Formula Renault 3.5, Formula Master and GP2 Asia in the past couple of years, but his F2 testing pace has been promising.

#18
Natacha Gachnang (CH)
Age: 21
2008 season: 3rd in Spanish Formula 3

Gachnang is the cousin of grand prix driver Sebastien Buemi. She finished third in Spanish F3 last season and previously scored a handful of podiums in German Formula BMW and one in German F3, before a short spell in Star Mazda.

#20
Jens Hoing (D)
Age: 22
2008 season: 17th in German Formula 3

Hoing looked set to lose his F2 drive after a contractual dispute, but a late deal has him back on the list in time for Valencia. He didn't make much progress in three years of German FBMW and little changed in German F3 last year.

#21
Kazim Vasiliauskas (LT)
Age: 18
2008 season: 21st in Formula Renault Italy

The Lithuanian had an uneventful debut season last year in Formula Renault on the continent, but he's contesting Formula Palmer Audi as well as F2 this season and has already notched up his maiden victory.

#22
Andy Soucek (E)
Age: 23
2008 season: 14th in GP2

The former Spanish F3 champion is another expected to run at the front of F2, having won in Formula Renault 3.5 and picked up podiums in GP2 with DPR and Super Nova in the past couple of years. Starts the season as title favourite.

#23
Henri Karjalainen (FIN)
Age: 23
2008 season: 17th in Formula Atlantic

Karjalainen made his racing debut in German Formula BMW and went on to finish runner-up in F3 Asia Pacific in 2007. He even made a cameo appearance in GP2, but didn't do much in Formula Atlantic last year.

#24
Tom Gladdis (GB)
Age: 18
2008 season: 6th in Star Mazda

The British teenager had a quiet first year in cars in Formula BMW two years ago, but things picked up last season when he took his first win in North America's Star Mazda championship. He's back to see if he can repeat that form in Europe.

#25
Milos Pavlovic (RS)
Age: 26
2008 season: GP2 (three rounds)

Comfortably the oldest driver in F2 (even after 'losing' a couple of years!), he's been around since Formula Vauxhall in the UK in the late 1990s. He's collected Italian F3 and World Series Lights titles along the way.

#27
German Sanchez (E)
Age: 19
2008 season: Spanish Formula 3 champion

Reigning Spanish Formula 3 champion moves on from the category after three years to join Formula 2. How well he goes will be a good indication of the competitiveness of F3 on the Iberian peninsula.

#31
Jason Moore (GB)
Age: 20
2008 season: FPA champion

Moore is the fourth FPA graduate to join F2 this season and was the pick of the quartet on his way to the title last year, in just his second season of racing. He'll have a lot to learn in a big step up this year though.

#33
Philipp Eng (A)
Age: 19
2008 season: German F3 (two rounds)

Eng took a couple of wins on his way to runner-up in German FBMW in 2007, before winning the category's World Final. A planned graduation to the F3 Euro Series didn't come off, so he'll be eager for a full campaign this season.

[Denthúl]

Didn't see the race, but Wickens won

I know Wickens doesn't look that impressive on paper, but trust me, there's speed in there somewhere. Watching him in A1, he can be impressively fast. In his opening race in A1 he took 3rd place, But there's seems to be something that doesn't connect from time to time. It'll be interesting to see what he can do in F2.

I mean F2 has a pretty big prize. A test with Williams. If you can get a test with a team like that, you've got a chance to prove yourself.

He won, yes, and what makes it that little bit more impressive is that he built up a lead over Soucek in the early stages, had it completely destroyed by the safety car, then pulled away again at the end.

Valencia probably wasn't the best track to showcase the sport, but I imagine when we get to some of the tracks where more overtaking is possible, we'll see an improvement. It was nice to see Surtees and Brundle finish in the top eight in the end and I would like to see how they do once they get used to the cars and racing at European circuits. But what happened with Palmer? His day was miserable.

It's always the Spanish tracks isn't it?

Patrick Head has done a good job with this car, looks very smooth and tidy, and there are some nice liveries out there in the field, makes the GP2 cars look very messy.

Wickens totally dominated that first race, very surprising to see Palmer dropping down through the field at such a rate.

The joint race weekend programme with the WTCC is a good venture and should make an enjoyable weekend when the series arrives in the UK for the Brands Hatch and Donington rounds as I am hoping to go to them.

Yeah, it definitely looks a nice car and it's nice to see the flames licking at the back, too.

Any idea how much tickets would be for those two rounds? I could do with going to watch some kind of racing this year.

I would probably guesstimate something like £20 or £30 like you get when going to a BTCC round, but then again this is an FIA Championship...

Just had a look at the prices on the Brands Hatch website and it's £24 for a race day ticket or £34 for a weekend ticket (if you book them online, of course). At Donington it's ~£17 for race day and ~£22 for the weekend for Formula Two, but there's no mention of WTCC or anything.

With those prices, I'm quite tempted. Might see if I can get a couple of friends to come along for the fun.

[EwanM]

From watching it, i'd agree with everyone who has posted, I think it has alot of potential. Certainly on the WTCC bill it has a nice little slot.

I realise they shouldn't be compared, but I think it'll be hard to overcome the credibility of GP2. However time will tell..

[Jamie]

I thin they are trying to make F1 not seem so un realistic, I think now days it is easy to enter racing if you have company sponsor, like entering motor sport today is allot easier than before and more opportunities are arousing! I think the prize is fantastic, will look little better than Gp2, but I think there both strong feeders! Just top boys are in Gp2; the boys who want a short cut are in F2?

[irons_4_ever]

so this isnt on tv then

[Jamie]

it is, but go to
http://www.formulatwo.com/

You can watch live races from there!