Junior Formula. Discussion of F2, F3, F4, Formula Renault, TRS, W-Series, Indy Lights, etcOpen Wheel
- Thread starter twitcher
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- Hammerhead Garage
Another famous name will be appearing on the GP3 grid in Barcelona this weekend.
Any guesses who?
Any guesses who?
Here's a hint: their father was a World Champion.
Another hint: their father was a multiple World Champion.
And another: their father was a multiple World Champion in another discipline.
Hint the fourth (and fifth, if you're sharp): their father was a multiple World Champion in another discipline, just as the father of another junior driver was himself a multiple World Champion in another discipline.
One more: both famous fathers competed in the same discipline.
Give up yet? That other junior driver is Carlos Sainz, Jnr.
Who is it?
Well, if you haven't visited Wikipedia yet, it's ...
Valentine Loeb, the daughter of Sébastien Loeb.
- 9,401
- Western Sydney
- mustafur
I genuinely went to the bottom of that lol.
- 6,515
- Southampton
- RacingAtHome
I googled her for research purposes and got lots of pictures of her at Rallies. Clearly liked the tarmac ones.
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- Hammerhead Garage
As it turns out, she's not competing in Barcelona. She's talking with Jenzer, but it seems to have been a mistranslation of an article that suggested that she would race.
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I doubt it. Leclerc had him covered until the pitstops and suspension issue, and Albon waa turning similar lap times towards the end despite having significantly older tyres. Rowland probably wouldn't have finished on the podium were it not for the safety car intervention.
He's still unnecessarily dangerous in close quarters. He doesn't leave other drivers enough room.
- 13,050
- United Kingdom
After one incident...
Seriously, sort your act out. you see a driver do one crap thing an instantly hold it against them for the rest of eternity. Look at Carlos Sainz. The first two impressions I had of him were two boneheaded moves in GP3 in 2013.
This one at Silverstone
And another similar one at Abu Dhabi I can't find on YouTube at the moment.
Do we see you throwing crap at Sainz for those moves? No we don't. Your evidence for Rowland's "incompetence" is one misjudgement at Hockenheim. GP2/F2 is filled with drivers making idiotic mistakes like that. Your bestie Sirotkin spent the first half of last season bouncing off everyone and everything, yet I don't see similar levels of hate for him from you. Be consistent with your judgement because when you're not talking about drivers, the stuff you add to these theads is really good an useful.
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I would agree with you if it were a Formula 4 race and Rowland were an inexperienced rookie. But it was a deliberate move in a top-flight feeder category by an experienced driver.
Because ART stripped the car down and found a problem with the clutch. They rebuilt it and his qualifying performances improved immediately, taking him away from the usual suspects in a first-lap melee.
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- Hammerhead Garage
There's a big difference between spinning on your own and deliberately chopping across someone else and forcing them to take evasive action.
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Reckless, sure. Dangerous, maybe, but certainly moreso than any other racing incident of its like. But not deliberate or calculated like Rowland.
In F2, Leclerc. I always like quick rookies; Vandoorne was the same. I like Markelov because he's pulled off some stunning moves, but then the red mist descends (though I haven't seen him do anything calculated).
GP3 is harder to pick because most of the grid gets refreshed each year, so I have only seen a lot of them race in Barcelona. Anyone who spends more than two seasons there isn't really worth following beause they're not going to move too far forward. Of the returners, Maini looks pretty handy; of the newcomers, I'm keeping an eye on Pulcini and Boccolacci.
I don't follow FR3.5 anymore. It was worth watching when it was of a similar level to GP2, but only one series was every going to survive and it's very definitely F2. These days, FR3.5 is a bit of a career graveyard.
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Seriously? The guy who's spent the last few years doing things worse than Rowland's ONE mistake on multiple occasions? Please be consistent with your criteria or don't get involved.
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- 51,243
- Australia
- SpacedustDaddy
I normally dont watch. So, I'm unfamiliar with the drivers. Battle for 4th place. The 5th place driver, made a pass on the last turn. So close, the 4th place driver had to give up the spot.
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- Hammerhead Garage
You should. The series frequently produces some brilliant racing. Even if Formula 1 is dull, Formula 2 usually makes up for it. Some of the battles between Pierre Gasly and Antonio Giovinazzi last year were titanic.
That was Artem Markelov (I suspected it was him when you first said it). He's got a reputation for pulling off moves that defy everything you think you know about racing. About eighteen months ago, he did one at Turns 11 and 12 around the Hungaroring (but the best Markelov moment came when he started humming the Imperial death march on the formation lap at Silverstone last year). He's also got a reputation for losing his head when the red mist descends, but he's kept his cool this year.
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- Hammerhead Garage
I doubt it. He had everything under control in the feature race until he had that problem with his suspension. Rowland didn't start turning the kinds of lap times that Leclerc did and hasn't been able to match him all year. I don't expect that to suddenly change.
DesertPenguin09
(Banned)
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- DesertPenguin09
Formula 2/GP2 is great for the announcer alone. I have no idea what his name is but the guy that speaks ridiculously fast. It sounds like a soccer commentary but in English. That constant fast talking making everything exciting is great for the sport. And there were even overtakes! At Monaco!
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Davide Valsecchi
DesertPenguin09
(Banned)
- 7,398
- Long Island, New York
- DesertPenguin09
Now I get why people love watching soccer. When the commentary sounds like that you want to watch anything they're commenting on.
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- pezzarinho17
Davide is great, at first I thought he was way over the top but he is just very passionate! Whilst a shame he isn't busy driving an F1 car, he is a great addition to the commentary. Is it Alex Jacques the regular commentator for F2 along with GP3 duty? Not a great fan...
Leclerc seems to be doing a similar job to Vandoorne in 2015 with dominant weekends so far. Really felt sorry for him in Monaco, despite being a Ferrari academy driver as well! A part of me wonders whether the field makes Leclerc look better though, I'm unsure about Rowland's Championship contender status and drivers like Markelov and Matsu****a have had long enough to adapt to the cars to do a Palmer even.
Leclerc seems to be doing a similar job to Vandoorne in 2015 with dominant weekends so far. Really felt sorry for him in Monaco, despite being a Ferrari academy driver as well! A part of me wonders whether the field makes Leclerc look better though, I'm unsure about Rowland's Championship contender status and drivers like Markelov and Matsu****a have had long enough to adapt to the cars to do a Palmer even.
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Yeah, Alex Jacques is the lead host. It used to be Will Buxton, who was brilliant; he frequently lost patience with Johnny Ceccotto Jr. and Sergio Canamasas who both have a reputation for being brainless. But then Buxton got promoted to cover NBC's Formula 1 coverage, and Jacques got the GP2 job. He's not great because he frequently gets distracted by what the British drivers are doing.
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- pezzarinho17
Yeah, Will Buxton always did a fantastic job and I was really disappointed to hear he was moving onto NBC's Formula 1 coverage - Not only because he wouldn't be covering GP2 and GP3, but because we don't have NBC feed in the UK! He is very genuine, like you had a mate commentating and a real fan of the sport.
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Have you read his blog? He doesn't update that often, but when he does, it's pretty good. Not like certain other bloggers who start frothing at the mouth because other journalists are more popular, but less qualified.
