Does GP2 have too many ex-F1 drivers?

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Giorgio Pantano, Antonio Pizzonia, Timo Glock.

All ex-F1 drivers whose first cracks at the sport didn’t go according to plan. Now they are in F1’s semi-official ‘feeder’ series GP2. Indeed two of them – Pantano and Pizzonia – are being paid for their services, which is almost unheard of in this kind of category.

But is this really what GP2 was created for?

Wasn’t the point of the series to be a kind of finishing school for aspiring young F1 potential?

Pizzonia has had three separate attempts to break into F1. One at Jaguar, where he quickly fell out with the top brass after smashing an X-Type road car into the turn one barriers at Barcelona, upside-down and packed with journalists.

After which he had two unremarkable periods at Williams as a substitute. Three shots at F1 is three more than most racers get.

Admittedly Glock has had only the briefest of periods in F1, is a test driver for the BMW team and deserves a decent shot at the sport.

But I’m not sure Pantano and Pizzonia match the criteria of ‘up and coming stars’ any more.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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One comment on “Does GP2 have too many ex-F1 drivers?”

  1. Pantano and Pizzonia may not be rising stars any more, but if, over the season, the best of the youngsters can’t beat them, then they’re probably not worth trying out in F1.

    I say keep them in GP2, they’re useful in assessing the talent level of the rest.

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