2012 Formula Renault 3.5 drivers and teams
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- 10th February 2012, 12:43 at 12:43 pm #130904Keith CollantineKeymaster
Here’s who’s been announced so far.
With his experience, Bianchi’s got to be in the hunt for the title, but Korjus is handy too so that should make for an interesting partnership.
Similarly’s Carlin’s pairing of Stevens and Magnussen is one to watch.
And for those wondering Arthur Pic is the brother of Marussia F1 rookie Charles Pic.
Tech 1
Jules Bianchi
Kevin KorjusCarlin
Will Stevens
Kevin MagnussenP1 Motorsport
Walter Grubmuller
Daniil MovePons Racing
Yann Cunha
Zoel AmbergFortec Motorsport
Robin Frijns
Carlos HuertasDAMS
Arthur Pic
Lucas ForestiArden
Alexander Rossi
Lewis WilliamsonISR
Sam Bird
Jake Rosenzweig15th February 2012, 10:28 at 10:28 am #192331Keith CollantineKeymasterAdded Alexander Rossi at Arden. Big year for him, he’s got to be fighting Bianchi for the title.
15th February 2012, 11:20 at 11:20 am #192332Joel HollandParticipantWahey, a 3.5 group!
So many good drivers in there: Rossi, Williamson, Frijns, Magnussen, Stevens, Korjus, Bianchi. GP2 hasn’t a patch on it, really.
Should be a really epic battle for the title. Someone is going to get their reputation hurt at Tech 1, and I think Stevens is going to be seriously humbled by K.Mag at Carlin. Frijns should be right on it too – Fortec ran Rossi to third last year, and Robin has won the last two championships he’s entered. The best F1 feeder series – just a shame its reigning champ can’t get near grand prix racing because of money.
15th February 2012, 12:12 at 12:12 pm #192333Keith CollantineKeymasterjust a shame its reigning champ can’t get near grand prix racing because of money.
Agreed, a real shame for Wickens. Doesn’t reflect well on motor racing when that sort of thing happens.
15th February 2012, 12:20 at 12:20 pm #192334EnigmaParticipantVery glad there’s a group for that series – with GP2 never shown on TV here, I watched Formula Renault 3.5 on Eurosport many times last year and really enjoyed it.
Line-up is fantastic too – Bianchi and Korjus will be fantastic to watch, specially as team-mates. Is Nick Yelloly racing there this year, or GP3? He was incredible in the few races he did.
And it’s indeed a big shame for Rob. The biggest problem for him is that there’s not much places he could go to – GP2 would be a loss of time as it’s next to impossible to be fast there right away, and what’s the point of doing another year of a series he’s just won? I hope he gets something like Bianchi or Bottas in F1…
15th February 2012, 15:30 at 3:30 pm #192335Keith CollantineKeymasterLucas Foresti joins Arthur Pic at DAMS:
16th February 2012, 12:40 at 12:40 pm #192336Felipe BomenyParticipantNot very impressed by DAMS’ line-up. Tech 1, on the contrary, have the best pairing on the entire grid. Carlin have a reliable duo in Stevens (who is Ross Brawn’s protegee) and Magnussen, but I expect the latter to be the dominant of the two. Arden has Red Bull’s Lewis Williamson, who had a handful of noteworthy performances in GP3; and Alex Rossi, last year’s top rookie in this series.
If Charouz stick with their pre-season testing line-up of Marco Sørensen and Richie Stanaway, they could take the fight straight to Tech 1 and Arden. Rival Czech outfit ISR always has at least one quick driver in its line-up: Esteban Guerrierri in 2010 and Dan Ricciardo last year confirm this. Team boss Igor Salaquarda previously expressed interest in Robin Frijns, but with the reigning FR2.0 champ at Fortec, there is a lot of anticipation regarding ISR’s line-up.
Lastly, I think André Negrão could do very well this year and “do a Canamasas” (although his rookie season was better than Sergio Canamasas’s rookie season). I think it is widely agreed that as the line-ups stand, Pons has the weakest.
16th February 2012, 13:36 at 1:36 pm #192337Joel HollandParticipantGravity have already announced that Stanaway will do 3.5, though they’ve not said who with. Presumably it will be Charouz. Another big talent to add to the field. Though it would be cool to get Sorensen in there too, maybe an experienced driver – perhaps even one of Hartley’s veteran status – would be a good team-mate for the rookie Stanaway.
Pons line-up is poor. Same goes for P1 with Grubmuller (daddy owns the team) and Move (the eternal 3.5 driver). Their experience should see them pick up some points though. DAMS line-up is average, but Pic and Foressti are both capable enough.
18th February 2012, 18:18 at 6:18 pm #192338NicholasParticipantHey I’m a bit new to this whole formula renault thing and I was just wondering if there is a place where I could see a person’s opinion on how good each driver is, background on each driver, and just info like that? I know a little about Rossi, Bianchi, and Magnussen. Thanks!
19th February 2012, 1:23 at 1:23 am #192339Prisoner MonkeysParticipant@arjona216 – the best place for backgrounds is probably Wikipedia. Each driver has a page of his own, which details his career and results.
I’d say that the drivers to keep an eye on are Korjus, Rossi, Frijns and maybe Williamson. Daniil Kvyat, too, if he gets a 3.5 Series seat; he’s a part of the Red Bull program and was pretty competitive in the 2.0 Series last year.
22nd February 2012, 15:25 at 3:25 pm #192340Joel HollandParticipantKvyat is confirmed for another year in 2.0, which he really has to win if he’s not to look a bit rubbish. Given his form last year, his team and his backing you’d expect him to make light work of it.
23rd February 2012, 9:43 at 9:43 am #192341EnigmaParticipantAleshin and Yelloly have both got seats for this year. Aleshin is coming back after GP2 I think, he won the 3.5 championship in 2010. Yelloly’s shown some incredible performances in only a few races he did, and finished 2nd in the season finale at Barcelona.
Two great additions to the grid.
23rd February 2012, 10:20 at 10:20 am #192342Joel HollandParticipantYeah, great to see Yelloly on the grid after his performances last year. Hopefully he can get something out of Comtec as they had a woeful 2011.
Think Aleshin is only back because he’s skint and KMP want a big name Russian (which he is at this level, as a past champion). But can’t see him winning it again, given the competition.
24th February 2012, 11:04 at 11:04 am #192343Keith CollantineKeymasterSam Bird joins Jules Bianchi in defecting from GP2 to Formula Renault 3.5.
He will race for ISR alongside Jake Rosenzweig:
GP2 race winner Sam Bird will join front-running World Series by Renault team I.S.R. for an assault on the 2012 championship title. Sam will also continue his duties with the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team in Brackley and during the Formula One race weekends.
Team I.S.R. have recent history with Formula One reserve drivers, having last year run Daniel Ricciardo, who has now graduated to a Formula One race seat at Toro Rosso.The Prague-based team have enjoyed much success since entering the World Series by Renault Championship two years ago, having finished Vice-Champions in 2010 and the 3rd in 2011 in the Team Championship and having won multiple races along the way, including Monaco last season.
Igor Salaquarda (I.S.R. Team Principal): “I am very happy to have Sam in my team. He has experience of both Formula One and GP2 and I feel confident that his talent will help us on the way to more success. We will do our maximum to prepare the best cars for both our drivers and dearly hope to win our first World Series by Renault Championship title with them.”
Sam Bird: “I am extremely pleased about this opportunity to drive for I.S.R. in World Series by Renault. World Series is a great Championship in which numerous Formula One drivers have shone in the past, and this year’s field seems to be particularly competitive. I.S.R. have a proven track record and I am really looking forward to joining forces with them.”
24th February 2012, 13:34 at 1:34 pm #192344Joel HollandParticipantWonder how Birdy will adapt to 3.5. He has moments of brilliance but he’s been average on enough occasions too… can see him winning races but the title may be a stretch. Should deal with Rosenzweig though, and his continued association with Mercedes can’t be a bad thing.
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