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Gutierrez is a good bet and Valsecchi and van der Garde will be there but I wouldn’t rule out Eriscsson either. He was only ever slightly off Sam Bird’s pace last year and if Bird was in this years field I think he’d be a clear favourite.
Coletti has shown great race pace in the past too so he should be up there as well. After that I expect Chilton to finally put a season together and Calado, Nasr and Dillman to be getting near the podium at the end of the year. An interesting season but far from what it could have been if FR3.5 wasn’t so popular.
I’m sure the hard working mechanics at Caterham have a different nickname than ‘Speedy’ for him! Valsecchi and van der Garde are good drivers but this has to be their last chance. Gutierrez showed glimpses of being a great talent last year so if he is going to make it to F1 then he needs to be competing for the title.
I’m looking forward to following Calado this year, he should be aiming for regular top 8 finishes considering the field he’s up against. I wouldn’t rule out Chilton or Palmer either though, both have showed glimpses of pace in the past so in the 3rd and 2nd years in GP2 it’s about time they were competing for wins. Palmer looked good in F2, yes he was beaten by Stoneman but it was close..hardly a trouncing!
Is still such a shame that FR3.5 has several drivers who would be favoured above all of these drivers for this years GP2 title.
@Joel Holland Teixeria has no business being in a formula as prestigious as GP2 and he wasn’t even the worst driver at the test today! There are some great prospects in GP2 this year (the GP3 graduates and Nasr particularly) but the series loses a lot of respect when you list the drivers that should be competing this year but aren’t.
With Sky giving GP2 great coverage it is a fantastic platform for young drivers (and sponsors) but it loses a lot of the shine. I’ll still look forward to the races but i’ll keep a closer eye on FR3.5. Van der Garde, Valsecchi , Ericsson, Gutierrez and Colletti should compete for the title and hopefully the likes of Calado, Chilton, Palmer and Nasr can get in the picture too.
GP2 had a chance to be special this year but it’s spoiled by the ludicrous expense of it. FR3.5 used to be the poor cousin of GP2 but this year it’s field is comfortably better. Money has always bought average drivers a seat in the lower formula (and F1) but a few teams this year stand out as missing a trick. In particular Marussia not promoting Robert Wickens to GP2 is such a shame after the great year he had. Haryanto has had 2 average seasons in GP3 so they’ve taken the money over genuine talent. Caterham are also disappointing in taking Gonzalez and all his cash over Rossi. Gonzalez will never get near F1 on talent but Rossi genuinely could. Such a shame.
Add to those two, Roberto Merhi who will probably end up in DTM, Marco Wittmann, Valteri Bottas, Sam Bird, Jules Bianchi, Kevin Magnussen, Richie Stanaway, Lewis Williamson and Alexander Sims who should all be in GP2 and most would be if they had the budget. That would be a proper feeder series for F1.
