2011 Young Drivers Test preview

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The three-day young drivers’ test starts at the Yas Marina circuit today.

For some drivers it may be the only chance they ever have to get behind the wheel of an F1 car.

For others, it just might be the start of something big. Here’s a run-down of who’s driving for which team, and what’s on their racing CVs.

Red Bull

Jean-Eric Vergne

Jean-Eric Vergne

2011: Second in Formula Renault 3.5
2010: British F3 champion

The latest graduate of Red Bull’s Driver Development programme is Jean-Eric Vergne. He has mirrored Daniel Ricciardo by winning the British F3 title one year, finishing runner-up in Formula Renault 3.5 the next, and now getting to test Red Bull’s F1 car.

He drove for Toro Rosso in last year’s test and has recently started driving for them in Friday first practice sessions as well.

McLaren

Gary Paffett

Gary Paffett

2011: Seventh in DTM
2005: DTM champion
2002: German F3 champion

Paffett has been a McLaren test driver since 2005 and signed an extension on his contract with the team earlier this year.

He races regularly in the DTM but it is unlikely the 30-year-old is under serious consideration for an F1 seat, unless he was to be called on to replace one of the team’s regular drivers.

Oliver Turvey

Oliver Turvey

2010: Sixth in GP2
2009: Fourth in Formula Renault 3.5, one win
2008: Second in British F3, four wins

Turvey made his way through the lower categories with little sponsorship but some support from the Racing Steps Foundation.

He was unable to get a full-time seat for a second year in GP2 and has joined McLaren’s GT racing programme.

Ferrari

Jules Bianchi

Jules Bianchi

2011: Third in GP2, one win
2010: Third in GP2
2009: F3 Euroseries champion
2008: F3 Masters winner
2007: Formula Renault 2.0 France champion

Bianchi’s second season of GP2 fell well short of expectations: he scored just one point more than he had the year before.

He did suffer some misfortune – his car was over-fuelled by 15kg in qualifying for the final race, leaving him 19th on the grid, which ultimately cost him second in the championship to Luca Filippi.

But he also made problems for himself: such being stripped of pole position in Spain for ignoring yellow flags, then crashing into Giedo van der Garde at the start.

He enjoys the backing of the Ferrari Driver Academy and with ART having filled their seats for 2012 it remains to be seen if he can make the leap to F1 as a race or reserve driver, or if he will return to GP2 for a crack at the title with another team next year.

Mercedes

Sam Bird

Sam Bird

2011: Sixth in GP2
2010: Fifth in GP2, one win

Bird started his second season of GP2 strongly with second place to Romain Grosjean in the first race and two further podiums in his next two starts.

But his season went off the rails and he never finished on the podium again. He was particularly unlucky in Monaco, starting from pole position only to be left stranded at the start with a clutch problem.

He headed to the next race still tied for the lead of the championship with Grosjean. But as the DAMS driver tightened his grasp on the title, Bird increasingly slipped back into the lower reaches of the points.

The iSport driver recaptured something of his early form in the final two races at Monza, with a pair of fourth places leaving him sixth in the championship.

During his three-day test with Mercedes he will conduct an early test of the car in non-exhaust-blown diffuser specification ahead of the ban on the technology next year.

Renault

Robert Wickens

Robert Wickens

2011: Formula Renault 3.5 champion
2010: Second in GP3, three wins
2009: Second in Formula Two, two wins
2006: Formula BMW USA champion

Wickens beat Vergne to the Formula Renault 3.5 title this year. It was his second year in the category, the first coming in 2008 when he took a single win for Carlin.

He also drove for Canada in the short-lived A1 Grand Prix series. He took a commanding win in the first of two races in Durban but committed a serious error in the second by hitting a rival while driving against the flow of traffic.

He had his first run in an F1 car this year with a straight-line aerodynamic test for Virgin. The Canadian also drove for them in first practice last weekend.

Kevin Korjus

Kevin Korjus

2011: Sixth in Formula Renault 3.5, three wins
2010: Formula Renault 2.0 Europe champion, nine wins

Korjus became the youngest driver to win the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2010, aged 17. That propelled the Estonian into Formula Renault 3.5 this year with Tech 1, the former home of Daniel Ricciardo.

Still very early in his single-seater career, Korjus is already looking like a name to keep an eye on in the future.

Jan Charouz

Jan Charouz

2011: 25th in Formula Renault 3.5
2009: Le Mans Series LMP1 champion with team mates Tomas Enge and Stefan Mucke
2006: F3000 Masters champion

After winning the F3000 Masters championship in 2006, Czech driver Charouz moved into sports car and endurance racing.

He returned to single-seater racing in 2010 backed by Gravity Sports Management, joining Renault’s F1 driver programme.

However his results in Formula Renault 3.5 have been poor by his own admission: “The whole season did not fulfil our vision,” he said after ending his 2011 campaign with ten points, six fewer than he had in 2010.

Williams

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas

2011: GP3 champion, four wins
2010: Third in F3 Euroseries, two wins
2009: Third in F3 Euroseries
2008: Formula Renault 2.0 Europe and NEC champion

Halfway through the GP3 season Williams’ reserve driver Bottas was tenth in the championship. He had failed to score in the two most recent races at Silverstone.

The Finnish driver bounced back at the Nurburgring where he scored his first victory of the year, becoming the tenth different winner in as many races – which tells you something about how closely matched the drivers were in GP3’s second season.

Bottas, a protege of Mika Hakkinen, added two further wins in the next three races and a fourth at Monza sealed the title, which he won by seven points over ART team mate James Calado. The 16-race season producing a dozen different winners.

However his ART team picked Calado over him to make the graduation to GP2 next year. Calado won his second GP2 race for them in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Bottas will drive on the first two days of the test for Williams.

Mirko Bortolotti

Mirko Bortolotti

2011: Formula Two champion, seven wins
2008: Italian F3 champion, nine wins

Bortolotti won the Formula Two championship in emphatic style at his second attempt, having also raced in the category in 2009.

He raced in GP3 in the intervening year and has also had two tests for Ferrari as part of their driver development programme, most recently in June.

He earned his test with Williams as a prize for his F2 championship triumph.

Force India

Max Chilton

Max Chilton

2011: 20th in GP2
2009: Fourth in British F3, one win

Max Chilton is the younger brother of British Touring Car driver Tom Chilton. He scored seven points in his first two seasons of GP2 combined.

He will drive for Force India on the first and last days of the three-day test.

Johnny Cecotto Jnr

Johnny Cecotto Jnr

2011: 24th in GP2
2008: Third in German F3, two wins

The son of the driver who was Ayrton Senna’s first team mate in F1, Cecotto looks to follow the path of fellow Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado into Formula 1.

But he’s hardly set the world alight in three seasons of GP2, in which time he’s scored just three points.

Sauber

Esteban Gutierrez

Esteban Gutierrez

2011: 13th in GP2, one win
2010: GP3 champion
2008: Formula BMW Europe champion, seven wins

Gutierrez may soon join Sergio Perez as the second Mexican driver in Formula 1.

Having won the GP3 title last year he had an impressive first season in GP2, improving throughout the year, and misfortune kept him from winning more than once. A wheel came off following a pit stop at the Nurburgring, when he had been leading.

But he came out on top in a battle with eventual champion Romain Grosjean to finish second in the Hungary sprint race having started 24th on the grid.

ART have kept him on board for a second season in 2012.

Fabio Leimer

Fabio Leimer

2011: 14th in GP2, one win
2009: Formula Master champion

Aside from a win and a second place, Leimer rarely scored in his second season of GP2, despite taking the seat vacated by last year’s champion Pastor Maldonado.

He triumphed in the sprint race in Spain having started last on the grid for the feature event. He clawed his way up to eighth (boosted by Romain Grosjean’s exclusion for a technical infringement).

That gave him pole position for the shorter race, in which he had Dani Clos easily handled and won by a comfortable margin of ten seconds.

He also won the feature race in last week’s GP2 final at the Yas Marina circuit. The Swiss driver will get one day at the wheel of the Sauber.

Toro Rosso

Stefano Coletti

Stefano Coletti

2011: 11th in GP2, two wins
2010: Ninth in GP3

Coletti’s GP2 season got off to a good start with a win in the second race of the year.

That was followed by a string of anonymous races before he popped up to win another sprint race at the Hungaroring.

In damp conditions he started from 21st on the grid on slicks and moved up to 12th when the safety car came out. When it went back in he took advantage of his warmer tyres to move up six places immediately, and four laps later he was in the lead and on his way to victory.

Disaster struck in the next race at Spa. Coletti suffered compression fractures of his spine when he hit Mikhail Aleshin, whose car had slowed suddenly when his engine went into a “safe mode”.

Coletti missed the rest of the season but the Monegasque driver was able to test for DAMS and Coloni last month. He will drive for Toro Rosso on Tuesday and on Thursday morning.

Kevin Ceccon

Kevin Ceccon

2011: Auto GP champion
2010: Fourth in Spanish F3

Ceccon won the Auto GP championship this year but was helped by his three closest challengers missing two races each.

He also did eight rounds of the GP2 championship, substituting for the injured Davide Rigon at Coloni, making his series debut at the age of 17.

He will drive on Wednesday and in the afternoon on Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

Lotus

Rodolfo Gonzalez

Rodolfo Gonzalez

2011: 26th in GP2
2006: British F3 National Class champion

The Venezuelan driver has made 39 GP2 starts in three years and has just four points to show for it.

He was Charles Pic’s team mate in GP2 last year and was comfortably beaten by the French driver. Pic is testing for Virgin this week (see below).

Gonzalez also drove for Lotus in the young drivers’ test last year.

Luiz Razia

Luiz Razia

2011: 12th in GP2
2006: F3 Sudamerica champion

Razia is already familiar with the T128. He had a chance to drive it in pre-season testing and also in the first practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.

He drove for Lotus’s GP2 team AirAsia this year. He won once in his first season of GP2 in 2009, but hasn’t repeated it since.

Alexander Rossi

Alexander Rossi

2011: Third in Formula Renault 3.5, two wins
2010: Fourth in GP3, two wins

There will potentially be two American races on the calendar in 2013, and Rossi is one of the best prospects for a home driver at the races in Austin and New Jersey.

Rossi won the Formula BMW world final in 2008 and has finished in the top four in the three different series he has contested since then.

HRT

Dani Clos

Dani Clos

2011: Ninth in GP2
2010: Fourth in GP2, one win

Clos fell well short of his 2010 level in in his third season of GP2 – also his second with former champions Racing Engineering.

The Spanish driver has previously tested for Williams.

Nathanael Berthon

After the first test had begun HRT announced Nathanael Berthon would drive for them on the second and third days.

Berthon finished 13th in Formula Renault 3.5 this year.

Jan Charouz

After the first day of the test HRT added that Jan Charouz will also drive for the team.

Virgin

Charles Pic

Charles Pic

2011: Fourth in GP2, two wins
2010: Tenth in GP2, one win
2009: Third in Formula Renault 3.5, two wins

Pic took an astute tactical victory in the GP2 feature race at the Circuit de Catalunya earlier this year. He protected his tyres during the opening stint allowing him to only change two instead of all four at the mandatory pit stop, allowing him to jump team mate Giedo van der Garde and Sam Bird to take the win.

Pic often shone in the feature races which are a good barometer of a driver’s overall ability. He finished second in three of the last four, and had another win in the sprint race at Monaco.

There were a few errors along the way as one, notably at the Nurburgring, where he was disqualified after failing to serve a drive-through penalty.

There have been rumours Pic will replace Jerome D’Ambrosio at Virgin next year.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs

2011: Fifth in GP3, one win

Quaife-Hobbs drove for Virgin’s GP3 sister team for the past two years. He scored his single win at Valencia, jumping into the lead from third on the grid at the start.

He only finished on the podium once more during the season but it was enough to secure him fifth place in a closely-fought championship.

Robert Wickens

As well as driving for Renault, Wickens will also spend a day with Virgin, who he made his F1 practice debut for last weekend.

Tyres

In addition to the teams’ normal allocation of testing tyres, Pirelli are also bringing an extra eight sets of tyres for the team including a mixture of this year’s compounds and 2012 development tyres.

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “We ran some experimental tyres on Friday in Abu Dhabi, and we’ll also be running some new tyres in Brazil.

“Together with the information we accumulate during the young driver test, we’re gathering plenty of data in preparation for next year, where we will see a reduction in lap times between the compounds to hopefully make racing even closer.”

2011 GP2 drivers at the test

Here’s how many of the drivers from F1’s premier ‘feeder series’ will appear at the test:

PosDriverRacesPoints
1Romain Grosjean*1889
2Luca Filippi1854
3Jules Bianchi1853
4Charles Pic1852
5Giedo van der Garde1849
6Sam Bird1845
7Christian Vietoris1435
8Davide Valsecchi1830
9Dani Clos1830
10Marcus Ericsson1825
11Stefano Coletti1522
12Luiz Razia1819
13Esteban Gutierrez1815
14Fabio Leimer1815
15Josef Kral1815
16Alvaro Parente128
17Adam Carroll86
18Fairuz Fauzy185
19Brendon Hartley44
20Max Chilton184
21Michael Herck171
22Kevin Mirocha130
23Pal Varhaug180
24Johnny Cecotto Jnr180
25Oliver Turvey20
26Rodolfo Gonzalez180
27Julian Leal180
28Jolyon Palmer180
29Davide Rigon20
30Kevin Ceccon80
31Stephane Richelmi20
32Mikhail Aleshin70

*Ineligible due to previous F1 race experience.

Following the young drivers test

F1 Fanatic Live will be running during all three days of the young drivers’ test.

A link to the live page will be posted on the home page shortly before the start.

2011 F1 season


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Images © GP2, GP3

Author information

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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47 comments on “2011 Young Drivers Test preview”

  1. I’m defaintely keeping an eye on Kevin Korjus. I think the kid’s got it. I wonder if he has any connection to former rally driver Markko Märtin – Estonians are making a name for themselves in international motorsport (Ott Tänak was sixth on his WRC debut and is also managed by Märtin), and Markko Märtin seems to be at the heart of their renaissance.

    There have been rumours Pic will replace Jerome D’Ambrosio at Virgin next year.

    Perhaps substantiated by the way he was scheduled to drive for Fernandes and Force India at the YDTs, but has sicne been taken off their roster?

    1. Hello mate! I am an estoniana. We love Kevin very much and we hope and know what he wil be the bestest soon. He is doing very good work. He knows Märtin and Tänak but they are not related with formula. And there is more drivers to come soon. ;)

  2. can some explain: are GP2 cars identical technically apart from race setup? so does it even matter what team you are in? why is ART such a preffered team?

    1. Yes, they are all identical. GP2 is, after all, a spec series. However, while the cars are equal, the teams are not – some teams can attract better support staff (ie strategists, race engineers, etc.) than others. There is a pecking order in GP2; Lotus ART, Barwa Addax and Racing Engineering are at top of the pile, with a fourth team that tends to rotate (in 2010, it was Rapax; this year, it was DAMS). Then you’ve got the middle bracket of teams; iSport, Arden, Caterham, and this year, Rapax. And then there’s the backmarers: Coloni, Ocean, Carlin, Super Nova and Trident.

      1. yes but from a strategic point of view, there’s not much to gp2 right? there are hardly any pitstops right? so it’s all down to the driver to drive a straightforward 20/30 lap race…

        1. What Prisoner Monkeys says still holds true, regardless of how deep or shallow the strategy aspect might be it still matters, support staff and good mechanics will always be important. Even if the top team can only help you in 10ths of a second, it’s still time and it still matters if you want to win. Quick pitstops, choosing when to stop, advice, set-up, even down to contacts within F1 teams to progress your career forward.

          More GP2 info:
          http://www.gp2series.com/

        2. Nevertheless, there is still a pecking order in GP2. It may not be as defined as the pecking order, but it exists and it has enough of an influence to make some teams more highly-prized than others.

          Despite being an inherently-flawed series, Formula Two has a very interesting take on this: in order to keep things equal, pit crews and team personnel are regularly rotated between drivers so that no one competitor has an advantage from being in a particular team.

          1. There definitely is a pecking order in GP2 despite being a spec series. Not only that – according to Pete Windsor ART is known to focus on one car so there is often a difference in performance inside team as well.
            Introducing the new chassis can shake the field a bit but after a while top teams again get to the top. Also, top teams tend to attract top talent and having Nicolas Todt as owner doesn’t hurt ART one bit.

      2. Did Arden and iSport used to be bigger? They sound familiar to me. Did Hamilton drive for one?

        1. Hamilton drove for ART in GP2.

        2. Arden has gradually slipped down the grid. They were one of the big teams early on, when they finished second overall with Heikki Kovalainen in 2005, but then they started going backwards – fourth in 2006, then seventh, sixth, eighth, seventh and eleventh from 2007 to 2011.

          As for iSport, their decline has had slightly more dignity. They piqued in 2007 when Timo Glock won the title, and they’ve been in the top five ever since. But unlike the Big Three – Addax, Racing Engineering and ART – they haven’t really broken into the front-running teams on a regular basis.

  3. So many young drivers…but Is one of them would be on the grid next year? I’m not sure. Maybe Virgin and HRT could have but there would be no new face in top teams which means they will be eliminated ASAP.

    1. @eggry – I’d say Pic and Wickens are the best candidates for a drive, and maybe Clos and Bortolotti. Korjus, Gutierrez and Bottas are all viable long-term prospects. The rest probably only stand a chance by paying for a drive or maybe being a Kamui Kobayashi-esque diamond in the rough.

      1. Don’t forget about Alexander Rossi. He’s definitely one to watch.

        1. Based on his performances in the GP2 Final at Abu Dhabi, I’d file Rossi under “maybe in the long term”, behind Korjus, Gutierrez and Bottas, @mpw1985 – he was okay, but I just don’t see the spark of potential in him the way I do Kevin Korjus.

  4. Thanks that F1 fanatic will follow the practice session,any idea at what time will they take place? Not sure what this young driver test have anything to do for Gary Paffett,as I think the rules says anyone who have maximum 3 F1 race start can participate,FIA need to have a age limit,I guess anyone below 22 is a good option.

    1. I would imagine as a long term test driver McLaren will use Paffett to test 2012 developments with someone they are confident in and someone whom they can compare data with their 2011 specifications. I would expect him to be able to provide better data in this respect than a fresh F3/GP2 graduate.

  5. Max Chilton is the younger brother of British Touring Car driver Tom Chilton. He scored seven points in his first two seasons of GP2 combined.

    He will drive for Force India on the first and last days of the three-day test.

    I’m not blown away by Chilton. He strikes me as being like Michael Herck, but with more money – Herck’s father bought David Price Racing so that his son could have a go, and Chilton’s father controls Carlin.

  6. As a Finn, I’m obviously hoping that Valtteri Bottas can go on to big things in F1. He’s already got quite a lot of media exposure over here, with one newspaper I happened to read suggesting he could be a viable option for a Williams race seat next year. That seems highly unlikely – I think the seat will be taken by a certain other Finnish driver – but a few appearances in Friday practice will do him no harm at all, and I’ll be eager to see how he does over the course of this test.

    1. I don’t think he will get a drive before at least a season in GP2 but Williams look like they are investing in him for the future.

  7. Young drivers test…

    Gary Paffett…

    the 30-year-old…

    That shouldn’t be allowed. :P

    1. It is a misleading name for the test! It should probably be the “Driver’s-with-no-F1-experience-looking-to-put-themselves-in-the-shop-window-and-Gary-Paffet’s-customary-annual-3-day-test-test”…but that doesn’t sound as catchy as “young driver test”!

      1. GP2-and-GP3-drivers-and-random-dudes-test-for-possible-race-seat-plus-Gary’s-Traditional-3-Day-Cruise

  8. @Keith Coletti won the second Turkey race this year, didn’t he?

  9. Keith, Wickens was 2nd overal in GP3 in 2010, not GP2. Just a clarification.

  10. As excited as I am about upcoming young drivers ready to replace old (Rubens) slow (Liuzzi) and boring (Sutil) F1 drivers, it’s a little irritating to read so many comments about how “driver x is definitely worthy of an F1 seat” – at least provide some history and reasoning as to why you think a driver has what it takes instead of stating unsubstatiated opinion, or you could say anything!

    I think that Sir Jack Brabham and Sir Jackie Stewart should come out of retirement and race in F1 again to show all these young punks how it’s done. No need to reason as to why, it’s just my opinion!

    See what I mean?

    1. And Stirling Moss! neeeeeeawwwww!

  11. @victor and @mpw1985 Changed both, thanks.

  12. I’m disappointed not to see my compatriot Giedo van der Garde at least land a drive at this young driver’s test. He had a disappointing end to his GP2 season, and that won’t have done him any favours. Nevertheless, there are other drivers in the test who haven’t shown any kind of promise in GP2, so one can only assume they brought more money, and/or have better connections. It must be extra painful for him to see, for the second year in succession, his team mate make the jump to F1 (if the rumours surrounding Pic are true). Perez is proving himself to be a big talent, but Pic he could just as easily have finished in front of (e.g. by not having Bianchi run into him at Barcelona and Monaco).

    1. Giedo van der Garde has said he’s talking with three teams for a drive next season. Running in the young driver tests isn’t a prerequisite for a drive.

  13. Er Keith, I believe that Rio Haryanto won twice in this year’s GP3 season!

    1. So he did – have tweaked the text.

  14. Hispania are also running Nathanael Berthon. He’ll be driving tomorrow.

    1. @prisoner-monkeys I already added it to the article.

      1. Huh. I’m not seeing it. Maybe I need to do a forced cache refresh.

        1. Not sure what happened there, I did definitely put it in. Have put it back again now.

          1. yes, its in there now.

      2. Are you sure its there @keithcollantine? It doesn’t show for me either.

  15. I was just reading on twitter about the young driver test and the fact that the race cars are packed up ready for brazil. Does this mean all of the teams have built a third chassis just for the ydt. This seems like a massive waste of money with just one race left in the season? Surely it would make more sense to have the test after the last race and use a race chassis, or have I missed something? (I know Abu Dhabi was the last race in 2010)

    1. The teams usually have a spare chassis lying around, one that they can strip for parts if a car needs to be rebuilt.

  16. Charles Pic has a sort of Prost look about him…

  17. The best presentation of the young test drivers.

  18. Regarding Cecotto,

    But he’s hardly set the world alight in three seasons of GP2, in which time he’s scored just three points.

    To be fair it was two seasons and 3 races. But although I like him he isn’t worthy of an F1 drive.

  19. Vergne, Bianchi, Wickens, Korjus, Bottas, Gutierrez, Leimer, Coletti, Ceccon and Rossi are the one’s I’ll keep an eye on. I’m somewhat disappointed teams chose drivers from GP2 who finished in the bottom of the standings, when Filippi and Vietoris are not being tested.
    I didn’t think Leimer was good enough until the Monza rounds of GP2. He performed well there, in the post-season tests and in Abu Dhabi last weekend. It’s too little to consider him for an F1 seat but I think he can challenge for the GP2 title next year.
    Coletti has not got particularly good results in his palmares, but as he changed series frequently, (2011 in GP2, 2010 in GP3, 2009 in FR3.5) I think he’s a good talent.
    Ceccon under-performed in GP2, but let’s not forget he did a few races and without previous experience. If he won Auto GP he must be quite good. Before he is considered seriously he needs to do well in GP2 next year, if he gets a seat.

  20. As a Canadian, I’m hoping Robert Wickens impresses. I live just 5 minutes away from his hometown!

  21. I will follow Mirko Bortolotti, He will do a very good job in the Williams (anyway as good as you can do in a current Williams).

    He has become something of a forgotten man in recent times despite his achievments but I believe he is better than many other young drivers who constantly get mentioned.

  22. Some truly awful results above but clearly the teams think they’re worth a shot at F1. Fair enough!

    I hope Pic doesn’t replace D’Ambrosio. Virgin have really no justification in doing so. Nothing against Pic but I think D’Ambrosio is worth another season.

Comments are closed.