GP2 Series in 2012

[jens]

What are everyone's thoughts regarding the new upcoming season?

At the moment I have to say that alas the level of drivers can turn out to be a bit underwhelming for this campaign. I mean if even drivers like Cecotto Jr and Palmer have found seats in top teams... :crazy: Both of who scored a grand total of zero points last year and got beaten by their team-mates.

More than half of the field is yet to be confirmed, but if it keeps going like that, it is getting hard to see past Ericsson and Gutiérrez as prime title contenders.

Confirmed drivers so far:
Barwa: Cecotto Jr
DAMS: Valsecchi
Racing Engineering
iSport: Ericsson - Palmer
Lotus: Gutiérrez - Calado
Caterham
Coloni: Coletti - Onidi
Trident: Leal - Richelmi
Super Nova? (read rumours that they might be sold to Qi-Meritus?!)
Rapax
Arden: Trummer
ORT: Melker
Carlin

[Nikki Katz]

Yeah, not great so far. Was hoping for Wickens and Vergne to move up to GP2 rather than being dropped straight into F1 or disappearing in a dead-end test drive role. Was also hoping for Bianchi to return. No such luck.

I think that Palmer and Cecotto are both better than their GP2 form suggests, but neither are championship material, and I don't see why they've landed seats in such top teams.

Yeah, Gutierrez vs Ericsson for the title; outside shots for Valsecchi and Calado.

There's still a lot of seats left, it's not out of the question that some of the good drivers that didn't manage to secure a full time seat in the past will return.

Still not sure it'll actually be broadcast in the UK. GP3 is for some reason instead...

[Nikki Katz]

I see Super Nova have pulled out after a couple of not very good seasons. They've been replaced already though, by Auto GP team Lazarus.

Still a lot of seats available considering the season starts in a month.

[jens]

Barwa: Cecotto Jr - Kral
DAMS: Valsecchi - Nasr
Racing Engineering: Leimer - Berthon
iSport: Ericsson - Palmer
Lotus: Gutiérrez - Calado
Caterham: van der Garde - Gonzalez
Coloni: Coletti - Onidi
Trident: Leal - Richelmi
Lazarus: Crestani
Rapax
Arden: Razia - Trummer
ORT: Melker - Lancaster
Carlin: Chilton - Haryanto

Well, most of the seats have been confirmed so far. Considering the field, I think vastly experienced van der Garde can easily be one of the main contenders this year. And among rookies Nasr is a dark horse in addition to Calado.

Lotus GP is favourite for the teams' title, but for instance DAMS can be a contender as well. Reigning champion Barwa has made their life difficult. Their drivers, especially Kral, may challenge for top10 in the standings, but more than that? Nah...

[Nikki Katz]

I think Kral's underrated, he's done a decent job at a midfield team. But I doubt he'll challenge the championship.

I agree that Lotus are probably favourites with either of their drivers, but I wouldn't rule out DAMS, iSport and maybe even Caterham.

Rapax seem to be challenging for the coveted 13th place award considering who they've been testing.

[jens]

So already this weekend the GP2 season gets underway. Unusually early!

The driver line-ups have been completed. Even Teixeira found his way back to GP2! Now we are only missing Kralev. :p :

Looking elsewhere, we have got more losses. Somehow Dani Clos ended without a drive, so concentrating mainly on HRT duties? And one of Italian main hopes Kevin Ceccon isn't on the grid either despite being rumoured a long time.

[DamonHillFan]

okay first race I thought, good to see Chilton top 3 :) Calado starts first I think for race 2 due to grid reverse for the top 8? (think I have this right!) anyway, should be good :)

[jens]

Impressive weekend by Razia. Didn't think he had it in him to dominate the GP2 field. Behind him DAMS and Lotus drivers are well-positioned for title fight during the rest of the season. Good debut by Calado and Nasr, good comeback by Gutiérrez after terrible qualifying. Ericsson was a major disappointment. :down: He must surely know that he is capable of much-much more! What happened?

[jens]

Qualifying for the Bahrain GP has been done. Valsecchi on pole again, but this time Gutiérrez and rookie Nasr are looking much better for a shot at being a feature race front-runner. :up: Ericsson is struggling this season. He also has a 10-place grid penalty, so not much is going to be achieved by the looks of it.

Also we have had first driver changes. If Clos in Barwa Addax participates for the whole season, he can be among front-runners too.

[jens]

Well, Valsecchi is the man to beat in GP2 at the moment. Two races wins and a championship lead.
Razia proved that Malaysian win was no fluke as he fought back from a poor grid position and got decent points in both races.
Gutiérrez is there or thereabouts, but win has escaped him so far.
Chilton seems very consistent, but not spectacular.
Leimer was a bit unlucky this weekend, also a dodgy penalty denied him a potential win today. But generally he is consistent as well.
Nasr had a promising weekend. Even though yesterday he had a collision with Cecotto, but strong recovery drive moved him to 6th today. So he is one to watch for the rest of the season.

Van der Garde - disappointment of the weekend. One of pre-season favourites for the title is struggling, while two former Caterham GP2 drivers are fighting for the title. What has gone wrong? And another one is Ericsson - he is not getting anywhere at all.

[Mihai]

I doubt anyone can steal the GP2 title from Valsecchi this year. In his 5th year in the main series he can finally clinch the top prize. Though I can't see him in Formula 1.

A man to watch this year in Valsecchi's team-mate, Felipe Nasr. He has the right age, the momentum and access to proper funding. I predict Nasr to land the GP2 title in 2013 and a Formula 1 drive in 2014 or earlier.

[jens]

Valsecchi is indeed comfortably controlling the series. However, I remember him winning GP2 Asia championship back in 2010 for iSport, but once the European season began, he dropped into the midfield. So perhaps the Asian circuits suit him and other drivers still have a hope of outperforming the experienced Italian during the rest of the season. In any case, they have some serious catching to do now...

Nasr is indeed impressive, but perhaps due to lack of experience the feature races haven't gone well for him so far. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts outperforming Valsecchi from mid-season onwards.

Pleased to see Rio Haryanto going well this weekend. Ericsson has opened his point-score, but is still far from showing anything special. Quite an unusual sight to see Barwa Addax among backmarkers in the team's championship. Well, this is the cost of hiring underwhelming drivers... Though I would expect much more from Clos, perhaps he will improve during the European season.

Overall I'm still intrigued by the fact that two former Caterham reserve and GP2 drivers are going so well, especially as they have never looked that promising before. Perhaps being part of Caterham driver development program was really useful for their personal development.

Valsecchi in F1? He could well face the fate of his fellow countryman Pantano... I don't know his budget - if he can find necessary budget, he may land a seat in F1. Otherwise unlikely.

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[Mekola]

In Barcelona races the winners were Van der Garde and Razia. Valsecchi is still at the top of the table and is title favourite.

[jens]

Meantime the situation in GP2 has changed quite a fair bit. Like in 2010, Valsecchi has dropped backwards after the Asian season. Razia is gradually taking control, but he isn't particularly convincing either. Let's see if someone else manages to threaten the championship lead during the rest of the season, for instance the Lotus duo.

[Mekola]

Nonetheless Valsecchi was crowned champion of the season despite the menace of Razia. But now Davide is in a similar situation to Pantano after 2008, where will he go? It seems no F1 team has interest in him... Razia could have more luck on that, and surely Gutiérrez.

[Nikki Katz]

There are only so many seats in F1 and it already looks like some pretty good established drivers have little chance of a 2013 seat. I don't really see why the GP2 champion should automatically get an F1 seat the following year, particularly if it's someone who's been in the series, often at top teams, for many years. I just think it's a shame that A1GP died and IRL's in difficulty (even WTCC isn't what it was) as there are a lot of drivers such as Valsecchi and Razia who deserve a home somewhere but are probably just going to fade into obscurity now.

[marathonboats]

I agree that One of pre-season favourites for the title is struggling

[Grundo Farb]

I agree that One of pre-season favourites for the title is struggling

Is there a reason why you commented in the present tense on a thread about 2012 GP2?