F1 Fanatic

Let’s write what we think about the GP3 drivers and who are the top 5:
1. Mitch Evans: Not the best season by him but it was enough for him to win the title.
2. Antonio Felix da Costa: No one was waiting him to fight for the title until Hungary, but in Italy he was unlucky.
3. Daniel Abt: A late counterback could give him the title but he lost it.
4. Tio Ellinas: Always up there but bad luck denied him podiums and wins until Italy where he was the man to watch.
5. Aaro Vanio: He could fight for the championship, but in Italy a penalty made him lose his chances.

My impression:
1. Evans
2. Vainio
3. Abt
4. Da Costa
5. No idea

Interesting to hear Aaro Vainio will be racing in Formula Renault 3.5 this weekend – looks like he’ll step up to this series in 2013.

With Hulkenberg and di Resta possibly moving teams and consequently Bianchi getting a race seat, Evans could end up at Force India doing practice sessions combined with Formula Renault – I hope so.

1 – Tio Ellinas
If the 2012 season proved anything, it’s the imporatnce of joining a good team. If you weren’t racing for Lotus or Arden, you were pretty much nowhere. Hence, Ellinas gets on my list because of his consistently-good performances. He drove well throughout the season, and was duly rewarded with a podium and a win in Monza. I think he has a bright future ahead of him, and I would love to see him in Formula 1 someday.

2 – Robert Visoiu
Perhaps not the most prominent driver on the GP3 grid, but impressive in his own way. Visoiu made up positions in almost every race he finished (and even some that he didn’t). At sixteen, he is the youngest driver on the grid, which makes his feat all the more impressive. He’s got a long way to go, but he’s certainly off to a good start.

3 – Antonio Felix da Costa
I’m actually putting him on this list because of his performances in Formula Renault. Where he was trundling around in a GP3 for most of the year, he was able to jump straight into an FR3.5 car and be competitive from the first race. He was let down by a few patchy race results and the odd retirement, but I think he deserves to be fast-tracked for Formula 1.

4 – Kevin Ceccon
Let’s face it: Ocean have never been the most competitive team about. And when they take drivers like Jorda and Cregan, you have to wonder why they even bother (which is supported by their GP2 driver Nigel Melker, who has said that the mechanics don’t bother sometimes). But Ceccon proved to be quick, if somewhat inconsistent, and his results elsewhere back him up.

5 – Daniel Abt
Even though he was the rank outsider, Abt got himself into the title fight through sheer consistency, which is never a bad thing. It’s always nice to see a driver who hasn’t really featured prominently throughout the season come alive in the final moments. His title loss was a little cruel, but early in the season, I was afraid he was going to go the same way as Pedro Nunes last year – a driver that a team like ART Grand Prix had seriously misjudged.

@girts – Mostly because I have found GP3 to be a series where you really have to be with the right team if you want to succeed, and when you’re talking about a spec series like GP3, any idiot can succeed in the right team. So while Evans is undoubtedly talented, I have to ask myself whether he would have acheived the same things driving for a team like Trident or Ocean Racing Technology.

When I made this list, success wasn’t the only critieria I judged it on. I tried to find drivers who might not necessarily have a plethora of podiums to their name, but who still impressed me with what they achieved. Take, for example, Robert Visoiu: he’s sixteen, comes from a country with no real motorsport infrastructure, and raced for a team that has only had a little bit of success. Compare that to Mitch Evans, who won the title in his second season, races for a team with a very good reputation, and has the support of a Formula 1 driver. Yes, Evans’ resume is impressive, and he is undoubtedly talented … but he was always going to be in contention to win the title (and very nearly lost it – he only won because Tio Ellinas passed Daniel Abt). But Visiou made up positions in almost every single race, and given his background and what he had to work with, I found that much more impressive than Evans’ preveliged season.

That said, Evans would probably be about sixth on my list.