Le journaliste britannique Paul Crossling cherche à deviner quels sont les dix pilotes en devenir qui ont le talent voulu pour accéder un jour à la formule 1.
Ne peuvent pas être cités ceux qui sont déjà inscrits pour courir en 2009 en GP2 ou en GP2 Asia. Sont également exclus les pilotes essayeurs officiels en F1, ce que n'est pas à proprement parler Paul di Resta puisqu'il n'a piloté la McLaren qu'occasionnellement et davantage pour être évalué que pour améliorer la voiture.
updateF1 a écrit:
Stars of Tomorrow 2009 Part 1
Writing the 2009 version of the Stars of Tomorrow has been by far the hardest yet.
No fewer than twenty-nine different drivers were short listed as potential inclusions fighting over just ten places.
My job was made easier when Earl Bamber, Ranger Van Der Zande, Mika Maki and Chris Van Der Drift were all called up to race for GP2 Asia teams at the season opening race in Shanghi, China. Racing in GP2 or GP2 Asia invalidates a driver for inclusion on the Stars of Tomorrow.
From the remaining drivers the top six basically wrote themselves leaving me with the difficult situation of having nineteen drivers to deserved a place on the list based on their performances in 2008, but only having four places to fit them in.
Somehow I managed to eliminate fifteen of them to make my final ten, I just hope I have made the right decisions and selected the next Michael Schumacher and not the next Yuji Ide.
The chosen drivers will be reviled to you over the course of the next week – two every day, starting tomorrow with numbers ten and nine. Enjoy!
10. GABRIEL CHAVES
Where is he from?
Gabriel Chaves, better know as “Gabby” is from Colombia, born on July 7 1993. With his inclusion this year at the age of fifteen, he becomes the youngest person ever to appear on the Stars of Tomorrow and the first from the continent of South America.
What Has He Done?
Gabriel started his car career, like most people from the Americas racing under the stewardship of Motorsport legend, Skip Barber. He started of in the Skip Barber Mazda MX5 where he took part in one race, and won it setting fastest lap in the process. He also did one race in Formula Renault 2.0 Colombia here he also won setting fastest lap but this time he did it from pole position.
His main championship in 2007 was Skip Barber Eastern Regional Series in ten races he won five races and a total of seven podiums on his way to second in the championship.
In 2008 he moved about a bit, in the Skip Barber Western Regional Series he competed in two races, winning both with a pole and a fastest lap as well. In the Skip Barber National Series he won three of his five races and was fourteenth after competing less than a third of the series.
His most successful spell was in the Skip Barber Southern Regional Series, where his record speaks for its self, ten races and ten wins and his way the title. He also finished fourth in the Formula BMW Pacific Championship, finishing fourth with three podiums and no wins. His success earned him a place in the Formula BMW World Final where he finished fourteenth.
His career statistics: 53 race starts, 22 wins, 30 podiums and eight poles.
What is He Doing Now?
Formula One works mainly in Europe so a young driver needs to get their attention racing on their doorstep as soon as possible, although he has not announced a drive for 2009 he will hopefully race in Formula BMW in Europe and then move to Formula Three in 2010 once he reaches the minimum age limit.
My Prediction for the Future
Number ten is traditionally becoming the number where I stake my reputation with gambles. In 2007 we had a driver that I did not rate highly and in 2008 and drive that I admitted that I had never heard of, but 2009 is the biggest gamble of them all.
As stated above Gabriel is only fifteen years old and still racing in National Championships in Colombia, therefore the is still the great possibility that he will move north into America and go oval racing in the Indy Racing League.
Hopefully he will decide to move north-east to Europe and compete in Formula Three, but whatever he does after watching videos on his website I am convinced that he has the talent to become a mega-star.
Gabriel still has a very long way to go before he can take Europe by storm (in fact he is still under the minimum age to race in Formula Three) but a strong 2009 then a move to Europe will set him on his way
9. ALEXANDER SIMS
Where is he from?
Alexander Sims in a twenty year old British driver born on March 15 1988.
What Has He Done?
His car career started in 2006, where he only did four races in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series he scored one podium and took ninth place in the championship.
2007 saw him move to the main Formula Renault 2.0 UK series where one win and three podiums gave him eighth place in the series. He also raced in the Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 four races gave him nineteenth in the championship
He started 2008 as the favourite to win the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, but after two wins and ten other podiums he was narrowly pipped for the title and was forced to settle for second, despite scoring more outright points and only losing out because of dropped scores.
After his successful year in Formula Renault he was awarded with the highest honour available to a young British racing driver, as he was voted the McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year. His prize includes a test in a McLaren Formula One car and £50 000 to fund his racing career.
His career statistics: 64 race starts, three wins, 16 podiums and two poles.
What is He Doing Now?
At the Autosport Awards where he won his Young Driver of the Year Award he announced that for 2009 he would be racing in the Formula Three Euroseries with Mucke Motorsport working alongside his team-mate fellow British driver, and Star of Tomorrow, Sam Bird.
My Prediction for the Future
The Formula Three Euroseries is traditionally a series that takes two years to win, so a solid year this year will put him in a great position to challenge for the title in 2010. Although he is with the front running Mucke Motorsport race wins would be asking a bit much of him, his targets for 2009 should be a top ten championship finish and, of course, beat his Formula Renault 2.0 UK and Autosport Awards rival from 2008, Adam Christodoulou, who also makes the step up.
Written by Paul Crossling on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:16:32
updateF1 a écrit:
Stars of Tomorrow 2009 Part 2
Day two of Stars of Tomorrow 2009 gives you number eight and seven, possibly the next Kimi Raikkonen and the next Mario Andretti
8. VALTTERI BOTTAS
Where is he from?
Valtteri Bottas is yet another great Motorsport talent coming from Finland hoping to follow in the footsteps of Kimi Riakkonen, Mika Hakkinen and countless rally drivers. He is nineteen years old and was born on August 28 1989 in Helsinki.
What Has He Done?
Valtteri started in racing career in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series where from four races he took four podiums, including three wins however he was not eligible to score championship points due to the fact that he was not a MSA licence holder.
In 2007 he raced in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC two wins gave him third in the championship, on a return to the series in 2008 he dominated it taking twelve wins out of fourteen races. If that was not enough he also raced in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup taking that championship as well after five wins from fourteen starts.
After his Formula Renault success he was offered a place in the Renault Young Driver Development Programme that have helped drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Romain Grosjean and Lucas Di Grassi move up the Motorsport ladder, however he turned it down.
What is He Doing Now?
On January 1st he quoted in Autosport Magazine as saying that he was “99 per cent certain” of a drive for the multi championship winning ART Grand Prix in the Formula Three Euroseries, his drive for ART was confirmed just a few days later on January 6th.
His career statistics: 48 race starts, 22 wins, 32 podiums and 22 poles.
My Prediction for the Future
Finland have a strangely great record of proving top level motor racing and rally talent, Valtteri Bottas could be the next one, turning down the Renault Young Driver Development Programme could hold him back in the short term, but long term in could be a good decision.
Renault already have two of their drivers in their Formula One seats in Alonso and Nelson Piquet and with Grosjean and Di Grassi stuck in GP2 with little change of getting a seat, staying away from this will give him a better opportunity to Formula One with a different team rather than joining a long queue for a Renault seat.
For 2009, his ART Grand Prix seat will give him the chance to win once his is acclimatized to Formula Three racing as Jules Bianchi proved during 2008.
7. ALEXANDER ROSSI
Where is he from?
Alexander Rossi is a seventeen year old American, born on September 25 1991 in Auburn, California.
What Has He Done?
In 2006 Alexander started his career at the world famous Skip Barber School of Racing, winning the Skip Barber Western Regional Series after taking eight wins in twelve races and then wining three races on his way to third place in the Skip Barber National Championship.
His performances earned him a place in the Skip Barber Southern Regional Run-Offs where he finished seventh after starting on pole position.
2007 saw him move up to Formula BMW USA another strong season saw him finish third in the championship again after taking three wins, however he failed to finish at his first attempt in the Formula BMW World Final.
He became the Formula BMW Americas Champion after taking ten wins from fifteen starts, before going on the win the Formula BMW World Final at the second attempt.
His career statistics: 71 race starts, 29 wins, 37 podiums and 30 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
He says that it is still too early to tell which series he will be racing in, in 2009 but he has taken the time to deny rumours stating he has agreed to drive for Euro International in European Formula BMW Series
My Prediction for the Future
When Red Bull wanted a young American driver in Formula One they gave us Scott Speed, the difference between Red Bull and BMW is that BMW have found one with great talent and potential.
His prize for winning the Formula BMW World Final is a test in a BMW Formula One car, likely to take place at the end of the 2009 season, but if he is going to keep his momentum going he needs to move to Europe and race in one of the top Formula Thee Championships during 2009
Written by Paul Crossling on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:04:14
updateF1 a écrit:
Stars of Tomorrow 2009 Part 3
Mid-week gives us the middle of the list, oen just missed out on the top half in sixth and another just sneeked into fifth.
6. OLIVER TURVEY
Where is he from?
Oliver Turvey is from Penrith in Cumbria, Great Britain. He is twenty one years old and was born on April 1 1987.
What Has He Done?
He started car racing back in 2004 competing in the Formula BMW UK championship where he finished seventh wining one race, he took a step backwards in 2005 when a return to the championship dropped him to eighth place with no wins, and twenty-second place in the Formula BMW World Final.
2006 was a better year, his third in Formula BMW UK where after five wins he was second in the championship, his improvement continued during his second attempt at the Formula BMW World Final, where he finished in sixth place.
He had another disappointing year in 2007, where he competed in three different championship but failed to win a race, he was ninth in the Formula Renault 2.0 Italy championship, eighth in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup championship and when he made his Formula 3 debut in the Asia Pacific championship, he did three races and was seventh overall.
A full time move to Formula Three followed in 2008 as he drove for the Carlin Motorsport team in the British championship. He finished second despite leading the championship for most of the season and then rounded off the year with seventh place in the Macau Grand Prix.
His career statistics: 109 race starts, ten wins, 37 podiums and 13 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
He is yet to announce his plans for 2009, however he hopes to gain the second seat at iSport in GP2, alongside confirmed Bahraini driver Hamad al Fardan. However it appears more likely that he will move to World Series by Renault and link up again with the Carlin Motorsport team that he ran with in British Formula Three in 2008, working again with 2008 team-mate Jamie Alguersuari.
My Prediction for the Future
Oliver is quite old (in comparison to other “Stars of Tomorrow drivers”) so if he does not get a top GP2 a drive or a championship winning car in World Series by Renault he could struggle to move up.
A lack of budget has held Oliver back so far in his career so hopefully he will be find enough money to find something competitive for 2009
5. MARCUS ERICSSON
Where is he from?
Marcus Ericsson is an eighteen year old from Sweden. He was born on September 2 1990 in Kumla.
What Has He Done?
He has only had one year racing in cars following a very successful karting career. He won the British Formula BMW championship from a very strong field of very talented young drivers, securing the championship the last round of the season on his seventeenth birthday after taking seven wins.
It later emerged that he will be the last ever British Formula BMW champion and the British series will be merged with the German series to create Formula BMW Euroseries for 2008.
His 2008 season was a mix of success and failure, in his twenty-two races he finished on the podium five times during the season and although he failed to take his maiden win he came close, including spinning off the track while leading at Brands Hatch.
Despite all that he still finished fifth in the series as the second best non-Carlin runner. A switch to Carlin for the Macau Grand Prix should have brought success but he was involved in a first lap accident and retired.
His career statistics: 41 race starts, seven wins, 18 podiums and 13 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
For 2009 Marcus is going to Japan, instead of racing for the all dominant Carlin team in British Formula Three. He will be racing for another all dominant team, Toyota Team TOM’s, a team that have guided many drivers to the Japanese Formula Three Championship and Macau Grand Prix wins.
My Prediction for the Future
Marcus is back for a third year in a row, but he has dropped from his number one spot from 2008 to number four, but another poor decision that worries me, in 2008 he was given the opportunity to join eventual champions ART in the Formula Three Euroseries and decided to join Fortec in British Formula Three. This year he was offered a seat at the dominant British Formula Three Champions from 2008, Carlin Motorsport but he has chosen to join multi-title winning Toyota Team TOM’s in Japanese Formula Three.
To keep his career on track he ideally needs to win the title, as many TOM’s drivers have in the past, and then win the Macau Grand Prix to keep in the attention of the top European GP2 teams over the preferred move in 2010, however the last Japanese Formula Three Champion to make it to Formula One was Adrian Sutil in 2006, and before that it was Pedro De La Rosa back in 1995
Written by 6 on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:06:40
updateF1 a écrit:
Stars of Tomorrow 2009 Part 4
We are now getting very close to the end, the top two will be announced tomorrow but first it is time for numbers four and three.
4. JULES BIANCHI
Where is he from?
Jules Bianchi is nineteen years old, born August 3 1989 in Nice, France. He is the is the grandson of Mauro Bianchi who is a 3 times World Champion in the GT category, and the nephew of Lucien Bianchi who won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed in nineteen Grands Prix in Formula One, and scored a podium finish in the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix.
What Has He Done?
He has only had one year as a car driver and his debut came in the 2007 Formula Renault 2.0 France championship where he took the championship after five wins out of thirteen starts.
His second season in cars made his a house-hold name among Junior Motorsport experts. It all started in August when he beat his more experienced ART Grand Prix team leader, Nico Hulkenberg, in a straight fight to win the Masters of Formula Three at Zolder.
This win helped him towards a total of two wins and seven podiums for the season that saw him finish third in the championship.
His career statistics: 41 race starts, eight wins, 19 podiums and eight poles.
What is He Doing Now?
For 2009 Jules is remaining in the Formula Three Euroseries with ART Grand Prix taking over the mantle of team leader now Nico Hulkenberg has moved on, where he aims to follow his team-mate in becoming champion.
My Prediction for the Future
Last year I said Charles Pic would be the next big French star after Romain Grosjean, I was wrong, as you can tell from my follow up of the Stars of Tomorrow from 2008 I still think that Charles has a huge future but Jules will be the new big hope for the nation (despite also qualifying for Italian citizenship).
With Nico Hulkenberg heading to the GP2 series, Jules will be the ART Grand Prix hope for the Formula Three Euroseries title, but following Nico and Lewis Hamilton who have both dominated for ART/ASM he has some very big shoes to fill, 2009 will be a big year for him to see if he can handle the pressure.
3. JAMIE ALGUERSUARI
Where is he from?
Jamie Alguersuari was born on March 23 1990 in Barcelona, Spain, and just eighteen years old has been likened to Renault Formula One driver Fernando Alonso as the next big hope for Spanish Motorsport.
What Has He Done?
Despite his young age, Jamie has a long career history. It all started in 2005 when he raced in Formula Junior 1600 Italy taking third in the championship after two wins.
He improved on this during the winter when he won Formula Renault 2.0 Italy Winter series taking four wins and four poles out of four races. He spilt his time in 2006 with poor results as a result. He was tenth in Formula Renault 2.0 Italy and twelve in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup.
In 2007 he stayed in the same to championships and did slightly better. He was second in Formula Renault 2.0 Italy after taking three wins, while he was fifth in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup.
2008 was his best year, he moved to Britain to race in Formula Three, and walked away with the title, becoming the youngest British Formula Three champion in history, after a long fight with Carlin team mates and fellow Stars of Tomorrow, Brendon Hartley and Oliver Turvey.
Through out the season completed in the two big Formula Three races, he was eighth in the Masters of Formula 3 at Zolder and tenth in the Macau Grand Prix.
After his championship glory he was given another huge honour in December when he was invited to participate in the Race of Champions. He was part of an All-Star team with Moto GP rider Troy Bayliss, replacing the injured Mark Webber.
His Race of Champions adventure did not go according to plan. He was beaten by David Coulthard in his heat of the Nations Cup before losing to NASCAR racer Carl Edwards in the first round of the Champion of Champions event.
His career statistics: 107 race starts, 17 wins, 35 podiums and 17 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
He has yet to confirm plans for 2009, however a reunion with Carlin Motorsport who he won the British Formula Three Championship with in 2008 in World Series by Renault seams all but announced.
My Prediction for the Future
As stated above Jamie is expected to be the next big hope for Spanish Motorsport following Fernando Alonso, turning down the GP2 seat for 2009 could be the best thing he has ever done.
A lot of drivers with great potential since 2005 have seen their careers stall or subside due to spending a year in GP2 in uncompetitive cars; a prime example would be another Spaniard by the name of Andy Soucek. Jamie was offered a seat at Arden International, Trident and Ocean Racing Technology but turned them down.
For a young driver it is important to win and win big every year, Jamie is realistic to know that neither of the three GP2 teams that wanted him would give him a shot at the title, so going to World Series by Renault and staying with the Carlin Motorsport team he is very familiar with gives him chances to win and compete for the title, GP2 can wait until 2010, a good year in World Series by Renault could lead to him getting a drive in a top team.
Written by Paul Crossling on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:00:04
updateF1 a écrit:
Stars of Tomorrow 2009 Part 5
It is now Friday!, after a long week counting down you have seen eight drivers named, now it is time for numbers two and one.
2. ESTERBAN GUTIERREZ
Where is he from?
Esterban Gutierrez is from Argentina, born on August 5 1991 in Buenos Aires.
What Has He Done?
Esterban started in career racing in America in Formula BMW USA where he was second after claiming four wins leading to a place in the Formula BMW World Final, which resulted in a disappointing twenty-fifth place finish.
For a South American to be successful in Formula One he needs to move to Europe as soon as possible, Esterban made that move for 2008 and began racing in the new Formula BMW Europe created by the merger of the British and German Formula BMW championships.
He won half the races during the season taking seven out of fourteen possible wins and in the end cruising to the title that he had lead since the second weekend.
He ended his season with another appearance in the Formula BMW World Final finishing third this time.
His career statistics: 38 race starts, 11 wins, 22 podiums and 13 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
On January 5th it was announced that Esterban would be stepping up to the Formula Three Euroseries for 2009, he is joining champion team ART Grand Prix as one of their four drivers, another two already being featured in the 2009 Stars of Tomorrow and the other (Adrian Tambay) only just missing out on a place in the top ten.
My Prediction for the Future
For a long time Esterban was going to be number one, and I am sure he would have been a very good number one but, then McLaren Formula One entered into a working relationship with Force India and as a result he was pushed down to number two (see below).
Throughout his great season I have become more and more impressed with him and after fifty years, Argentina finally has a new guy that can be successful in single-seater Motorsport. He has to move to Formula Three in 2009, his decision as to which championship and which team will go a long way to deciding his long team success.
1. PAUL DI RESTA
Where is he from?
Paul Di Resta was born in West Lothian, Scotland on April 16 1986, at the age of twenty-two he is the oldest driver in Stars of Tomorrow history, some seven years older than the youngest.
His cousin in Scottish racing driver Dario Franchitti, the former Indycar and Indianapolis 500 Champion winning both in 2007.
What Has He Done?
Paul is now well known for his touring car racing with his DTM exploits but his career started in Formula Renault 2.0 UK back in 2003. He won a race in that year and was seventh in the championship. He followed that up with four wins and third place in 2004.
He then made the move to Formula Three Euroseries finishing tenth in his rookie season but an impressive fourth in the Masters of Formula 3 still held at Zandvoort at this point.
In 2006 his won the championship with five wins and the Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort, a perfect year could have been capped off with victory in the Macau Grand Prix, however he failed to finish the race.
With no GP2 seats becoming available for him in 2007, he was force to move to the German Touring Car Championship, known as DTM he finished fifth in his first year with no wins and then second in 2008 with two wins and was just pipped to the title in the last race of the season.
During his Formula Three Euroseries days, and even during his time in DTM he was a sporadic and rare test driver for the McLaren Formula One team, but was never officially given the job of test driver.
His career statistics: 104 race starts, 13 wins, 34 podiums and 15 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
With the McLaren “agreement” with Force India in Formula One is was expected that Paul would be placed in a race seat with the team or a GP2 team, Current Force India drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil both appear to be safe so Paul is expected to become a Force India test driver in 2009 with a drive in GP2 thrown in.
My Prediction for the Future
OK, so this may be cheating at bit. We all know how highly rated he is by McLaren and with their working relationship of Force India a Formula One drive seams as if it will come sooner rather than later for Paul, with at least a GP2 drive expected this year.
However he has not raced in GP2 or Formula One, despite many testing days in both categories and (according to the official McLaren Formula One website) he is not an official test driver for the team, therefore he has not invalidated himself for selection on this list, so technically it is not cheating to include him although you all read this list to find the next big unknown superstar.
Written by Paul Crossling on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:41:49