Giedo van der Garde gets 2nd Caterham seat

I am surprised that after such a long time of waiting van der Garde has finally made it into F1 as well. His sponsors have been patient enough, I have to say then. Well, more patient than the sponsors of other drivers, who have already dropped out of F1 without finding the necessary funding (Petrov among them).

But overall I don't expect the Dutchman to accomplish more than hanging around for 1-2 seasons at best. Before it is his turn to run out of money, when the sponsors get bored (read: they realize their driver has already peaked).

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Originally Posted by jens

I am surprised that after such a long time of waiting van der Garde has finally made it into F1 as well. His sponsors have been patient enough, I have to say then. Well, more patient than the sponsors of other drivers, who have already dropped out of F1 without finding the necessary funding (Petrov among them).

But overall I don't expect the Dutchman to accomplish more than hanging around for 1-2 seasons at best. Before it is his turn to run out of money, when the sponsors get bored (read: they realize their driver has already peaked).

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Well his Sponsor is his father in Law, his name is Marcel Boekhoorn. Do some Google and you will see that it's hard to believe he will run out off money fast ;)

Giedo is a solid driver and proven that in every championship he competed in, he could become a di Grassi, but he could also become a Webber or Irvine. Only time will tell!

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Originally Posted by lars75

Well his Sponsor is his father in Law, his name is Marcel Boekhoorn. Do some Google and you will see that it's hard to believe he will run out off money fast ;)

Giedo is a solid driver and proven that in every championship he competed in, he could become a di Grassi, but he could also become a Webber or Irvine. Only time will tell!

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I remember van der Garde hanging around already when Hamilton and Vettel were racing in feeder series. So it's almost like he has been racing forever.

I would be very surprised if a top team hires him like Webber or Irvine. Or does that mean the financial crisis will be so deep that the whole grid will be in need of paydrivers then. :)

What ages where Webber and Irvine before they made their debut at F1? What did they win in the feeder series before F1?

He drove with lesser materials in the same series and made quit an impression to become former Renault en Mercedes young driver by talent and not by budget.
The only season that he had the same material as Hamilton and Vettel it was an disapointment indead. His biggest achievement that year was pole position at the Masters of Formel3 at Zandvoort. Wit a faillure at the start and a strong race he became runner-up behind diGrassi if i'm wright.

In the GP2 his first year he made a good impression to. He was through out the year the better over Perez in their second season at GP2 with Barwa and a year later he was the top contender with Grosjean up untill Belgium in 2011, with leading the first few races untill Bianchi hit him several times. After that he was second in the standing up untill Monza. People that say that pic had the better of him in 2011 are not aware of the treu facts.

He ain't a Hamilton or Vettel, but he is surely capable of a nice career when everything is comming in place for him this once.

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Originally Posted by lars75

What ages where Webber and Irvine before they made their debut at F1? What did they win in the feeder series before F1?

He drove with lesser materials in the same series and made quit an impression to become former Renault en Mercedes young driver by talent and not by budget.
The only season that he had the same material as Hamilton and Vettel it was an disapointment indead. His biggest achievement that year was pole position at the Masters of Formel3 at Zandvoort. Wit a faillure at the start and a strong race he became runner-up behind diGrassi if i'm wright.

In the GP2 his first year he made a good impression to. He was through out the year the better over Perez in their second season at GP2 with Barwa and a year later he was the top contender with Grosjean up untill Belgium in 2011, with leading the first few races untill Bianchi hit him several times. After that he was second in the standing up untill Monza. People that say that pic had the better of him in 2011 are not aware of the treu facts.

He ain't a Hamilton or Vettel, but he is surely capable of a nice career when everything is comming in place for him this once.

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The age of entrance doesn't matter that much - drivers' skills matter. Webber is criticized for not winning in feeder categories, but his F3000 career was still pretty strong - two seasons and was 3rd and 2nd in those.

In GP2 van der Garde was in top teams in 2009-11, but didn't make much of an impression. From what I remember, Pérez beat him convincingly in 2010. People rate Pic higher, because he was significantly less experienced at the time.

I am sorry, but van der Garde hasn't even accomplished what Valsecchi has managed - finally win a GP2 title after hanging around forever. And Valsecchi is hardly someone you would expect to set the world alight in F1. Sure GvdG has some solid results, but he has had such a huge experience advantage over most of the field that it would be strange if he wasn't in Top5 with that.

He has had a solid career in feeder level, but F1 is a higher level. I don't expect drivers, who have spent a decade in feeder categories without standing out, to shine at that level.

In any case, I have significantly bigger hopes on the other Dutch driver Robin Frijns. He has been rising up the ranks really fast and been right at the front of the field immediately in anything - a sign of an adaptable driver and a potential future star. Let's see, what comes out of there.

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Originally Posted by jens

In any case, I have significantly bigger hopes on the other Dutch driver Robin Frijns. He has been rising up the ranks really fast and been right at the front of the field immediately in anything - a sign of an adaptable driver and a potential future star. Let's see, what comes out of there.

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I agree that Frijns is probably the more talented driver.
But he lacks in the political dept. aka he has a big mouth that he shoots off frequently.

Giedo is more experienced at that and off course he has a billoinaire father in law ;)

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Originally Posted by lars75

Well his Sponsor is his father in Law, his name is Marcel Boekhoorn. Do some Google and you will see that it's hard to believe he will run out off money fast ;)

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I wish I had a father in law like that!

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Originally Posted by jens

The age of entrance doesn't matter that much - drivers' skills matter. Webber is criticized for not winning in feeder categories, but his F3000 career was still pretty strong - two seasons and was 3rd and 2nd in those.

In GP2 van der Garde was in top teams in 2009-11, but didn't make much of an impression. From what I remember, Pérez beat him convincingly in 2010. People rate Pic higher, because he was significantly less experienced at the time.

I am sorry, but van der Garde hasn't even accomplished what Valsecchi has managed - finally win a GP2 title after hanging around forever. And Valsecchi is hardly someone you would expect to set the world alight in F1. Sure GvdG has some solid results, but he has had such a huge experience advantage over most of the field that it would be strange if he wasn't in Top5 with that.

He has had a solid career in feeder level, but F1 is a higher level. I don't expect drivers, who have spent a decade in feeder categories without standing out, to shine at that level.

In any case, I have significantly bigger hopes on the other Dutch driver Robin Frijns. He has been rising up the ranks really fast and been right at the front of the field immediately in anything - a sign of an adaptable driver and a potential future star. Let's see, what comes out of there.

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I don't say that vd Garde is the revelution in motorsport at all. i-Sport was not a top contender at GP2 in 2009, Giedo had 3 wins and a strong debut at GP2. But he had the upperhand over Perez in the GP2 in 2010, unfortunatly the standings would tell you otherwise. He got some penalty's over team mistakes and had some gearbox problems in crucial moments like Silverstone. The start off his 2010 season was weak, but he had a strong recovery and drove some awesome races like Belgium.
The 2011 season he was the top contender of Grosjean for the whole season, with leading the championship the first half of the season. Bianchi is to blame that he lost some very expensive points that made him lose the championship in the first place, but also cost him the points to stay second after a disapointing weekend at Monza.

Just looking at the standing doesn't tell the complete story about the potential of a driver!

When I loke at the feeder series I see some talented young drivers but they didn't win much so far!

Boys like Magnussen, Ericcson, Abt, Kvyat, Melker, da Costa, Bianchi, Bird, Colado and many more I believe wouldn't be a shame for F1.

Some people name Bianchi and Bird as tallented young drivers and can tell with dry eyes that vd Garde is not tallented enough. Winning is a good standard for talent, but it isn't the only standard I believe.

But the Dutch hopes are on Robin Frijns, de Vries and Verstappen for the future of F1.

If I'm being cynical, I reckon Caterham are throwing all their weight into the 2014 car when the regs change. Therefore there's no point in paying a good driver to drive an average car for 2013, when they'd be better off getting as much money in as possible from a "pay" driver and trying to make a leap next year. The only gamble is whether they can nick 10th off Marussia again - but they've only got one contender for the position now rather than two last year.

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Originally Posted by christophulus

If I'm being cynical, I reckon Caterham are throwing all their weight into the 2014 car when the regs change. Therefore there's no point in paying a good driver to drive an average car for 2013, when they'd be better off getting as much money in as possible from a "pay" driver and trying to make a leap next year. The only gamble is whether they can nick 10th off Marussia again - but they've only got one contender for the position now rather than two last year.

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I hope you're right. But I think Fernandes lost interest, remember how he used to talk about being a top 5 team within 5 years... He expected to be competing with Sauber and FI - and his budget was up there according to various estimates. The team won't make it to next year as Caterham.