The rookie class of 2011
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This year we will start the season with 4 rookies (5 if someone can pay HRT 10 milion for a drive). the rookies are Jérôme d’Ambrosio, Sergio Pérez, Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado. How will these rookies perform during their first f1 season?
Jérôme d’Ambrosio is a driver who already did some friday driving for virgin last year. His racing record might not be impressive but at Virgin they choose him over Van Der Garde and Di Grassi despite Van Der Garde bringing more sponsor money. they were impressed by the belgian because he has speed and a good technical background.
He also has a good relationship with renault team boss Eric Bouiller who helped him seize the deal. How he will perform this year is quite uncertain.
Sergio Pérez is the GP2 runner-up of 2010. He is backed by Mexican telecom giant Telmex. He has already brought big sponsors to sauber, so he is bricking in his releationship with the team. He has potential but it has yet to show itself.
Paul Di Resta is the 2010 DTM champion and he was force indias 2010 reserve driver, so he already knows the team. His role as reserve driver was actually the best that could happen to him ass DTM isn’t exactly a step up point to F1. His showings during firday practice were impressive and a verry good reason to dump liuzzi.
Pastor Maldonado is the GP2 champion and is sponsored by oil company PDVSA. He has shown good driving, but has quite a list of complaints against him. His record before last years GP2 season isn’t quite impressive. His challenge will be to give team mat barichello some more resistance and to defeat the drivers around him
The last available seat at HRT might go to the Valsecchi and Razia but they are going to lotus as reserve drivers, so the names De La Rosa, Heidfeld, Di Grassi might return in 2011, or HRT team boss Collins can turn another rabbit out of his hat.
what are you expecting from the rookie class of 2011
Good thread. I’m expecting, in order of impressiveness, Di Resta > Perez > Maldonado > d’Ambrosio.
The Williams pairing will be interesting to watch, especially if Maldonado puts Barrichello under pressure like Hulk did last year.
I’m not really excited about any of the rookies, no one has done anything special in the lower classes. Seems like after Rosberg, Kovalainen and Hamilton GP2 really hasn’t had a “superstar”, rather the field is very close and any one of the top 5-10 drivers can win a race.
D’Ambrosio (btw, how are you supposed to pronounce his name? Is it “dambrosio” or “de ambrosio” or something else?) will struggle wit the Virgin, but at least he’s got a seat. Most likely wont feature much in the TV pictures, but a good performance might land him a better drive next season.
Perez had some good drives in GP2, but he lacked consistency at times.
And di Resta? Getting used to F1 after four (?) seasons in DTM might be hard, but he certainly has the most potential for rookie of the year. If Force India gives him a good car, he should score some solid points.
Maldonado spent four seasons in GP2, which is way too many in my opinion. However, being alongside Barrichello should help him a lot, so he might be an okay driver after all.
BTW, it’s nice to notice that all the rookies are 21-25 years old. A few years ago it looked like the average age of F1 grid was going down fast with one driver after the other being youngest ever to do this or that.
Di Resta>Maldonado>>Perez>d’Ambrosio I think. actually, I believe None of them except Di Resta would show fair performance. of course the most important factor is car and it seems like Di Resta and Maldomano have more powerful car.
you prenounce it ass dambrosio
I reckon Di Resta will take to it the quickest, and that Maldonado will prove impressive but inconsistant, similarly with Perez. Don’t think D’Ambrosio will be anything more than a repeat of Di Grassi last year…
Di Resta should be the best and that Perez will be quick at times but won’t be consistent. I think Pastor will be consistenly slower than Rubens. I think Jerome might actually surprise and put in a decent showing once in a while.
It will depend on the car their final position in the standings. I think Di Resta might get some 5th places, Perez some 6th places, Maldonado too, and D’Ambrosio 18th. But regarding the ability of the drives, I think Di Resta > Perez > D’Ambrosio > Maldonado.
I hope Perez performs the best, I’ve been waiting to see him race in F1 since 2008. Di Resta will probably be on Sutil’s pace, and Maldonado and D’Ambrosio I don’t really expect anything special from them.
I would expect di Resta > Perez > d’Ambrosio > Maldonado but I think Maldonado may actually do better than the Belgian, given he’s been around racing longer.
But we all know Kobayashi will be the best rookie /satire from last year’s discussion!
I think the consensus seems that Di Resta is going to be the fastest, and I agree. I think D Ambrosio cannot be judged that easily, coz the Virgin is going to be stinking up the field again. The other three rookies will have cars of a similar competitive nature. I expect Di Resta to be the best .. followed by Maldonado(only becoz he has a more experienced teammate to learn from), and the Perez.
di Resta > Perez > Maldonado > d’Ambrosio
All of them will make Narain Karthikeyen look like a novice, mind.
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