Preschool For F1
What do Formula1 stars like Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock have in common?
They were all past champions in GP2, a recognized feeder series for F1. Even runners-up Heikki Kovalainen (2005), Nelson Piquet Junior (2006) and Lucas di Grassi (2007) were offered roles as test drivers in the year following their achievements – all for Renault F1, interestingly. Both Piquet Junior and Kovalainen eventually made the graduation to a race seat.
GP2 was the creation of Bernie Eccelestone and ex-Renault F1 boss, Flavio Briatore in 2005. Designed as the perfect training ground for life in F1, all GP2 teams use the same car, leaving driver’s skill as the only differentiating factor. GP2 visited the Bahrain International Circuit in 2005 and 2007, but all other races were held on European circuits as support events for Formula 1.
GP2 spawned the GP2 Asia Series which was officially announced at the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. The first season ran from January to April and featured five 2- race events. Two of the five events were held as support races for the Malaysian and Bahrain F1 Grands Prix. Current test driver for the Toyota Fr team, Kamui Kobayashi, won this year’s title.
Like many Formula racing machines, the 2009 GP2 racecar is designed by Dallara. Powered by a 4-litre Renault V8 engine, power is rated at about 580bhp. Bridgestone, which is also F1’s official tyre supplier, provides three types of slick tyres (soft, medium and hard), as well as a “wet” tyre. The choice of tyres that are used each race weekend is made jointly by Bridgestone and the organisers ahead of each event.
A GP2 racecar can accelerate from 0 to 200km/h in under 7 seconds, and it has a top speed of 320km/h – this means that it is the fastest Formula racing car bar F1 and IndyCar (a popular US race series).
Besides the champions and runners-up mentioned earlier, GP2 drivers who have made the transition to F1 include Sebastien Buemi (Scuderia Toro Rosso), Romain Grosjean (Renault) and Kazuki Nakajima (Williams F1). Besides GP2, there are other race series that have bred future Fi pilots.
One of the oldest and most well-known is Formula Three (F3). F3 championships are held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia. For many F1 hopefuls, F3 has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone. Typically, it’s also the first time when a driver takes aim at a professional racing career as opposed to being an amateur.
F3 is not cheap. A full year’s racing in the British Formula 3 Championship can amount to well over one million dollars. But it’s regarded as a key investment in a driver’s future. Success in F3 can lead directly to F2, GP2 or even a F1 test or race seat.
Currently, Dallara manufactures the majority of F3 racecars, but their engines are supplied by numerous manufacturers ranging from Mugen to Volkswagen, Mercedes- Benz and Renault. All engines are 2-litre, 4-cylinder naturally aspirated units built from road car engine blocks. No tuning is allowed and very often, all the engines must be sealed by the scrutineers.
Besides the various F3 race series, there are a few highprofile races – the best known of which is the Formula 3 Grand Prix of Macau, which was first held in 1983 and won by Ayrton Senna. Other winners include F1 luminaries Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard.
One up from F3 is Formula 2 (F2). The 2009 F1A F2 Championship, which featured eight double-header rounds, i.e. two races per round, is a revival of the European F2 Championship that was hugely successful from 1967 to 1984.
The F1A restarted this series as they were concerned about the escalating costs in motorsports derailing the careers of many talented drivers.
In September 2008, the F1A awarded the contract to operate the series,
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