Calado says having a slow team mate is hurting him
- This topic has 12 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 7 months ago by
.
- Posts
Interesting point here from James Calado on his difficulties this year:
My team-mate [Daniel Abt] is very, very off the pace and I’ve got no comparable data. I do my free practice, I go to a computer expecting to see places where I can improve and there’s nothing there because he’s nowhere near me at the moment.
I believe Abt said that he had confidence in the car and that he pushed it to its limits, only to find he qualified dead last. So yeah, I can definitely see what Calado implies.
I haven’t been following the series all year but man, for a guy who came second in GP3 by two points last year, Abt seems like he’s struggling in his transition to GP2.
(edited – Evans won the title last year, not Abt! ><)
@rjoconnell You must have been watching a different GP3 Series to me then because Mitch Evans was the champion, Abt was second.
@robk23 Welp…..shows how much I know. D’oh!
Abt is a guy that needs some time to get up to speed though, so I would expect him to be a bit faster next year and up for a title shot in year 3. A bit like Max Chilton. This could be a reason however that ART have struggled to remedy their car handling problems, having half as much feedback as the other top teams would severely hinder them. I thought that with the GP2 cars remaining the same for so long that the team would have all the setups worked out, maybe the Pirelli tyres have changed this. Calado is right though in that without comparable data, you are on your own.
I know personally that not having a quick team mate is hugely detrimental if you’re with a inexperienced team. However, ART probably have more knowledge in this sport than any other team, so I don’t think its actually hurting him quite as much as he says it does.
Not to mention the fact that at this point last year, he had less points than he does now, with Gutierrez as his team mate at the time. So no, this is just him trying to come up with an excuse as to why he hasn’t improved much from last season.
I know that Abt is still his competitor, but thats just being an ass. It seems more like Calado’s trying to glorify himself, and gain pity from others. For me, it isn’t working.
@fastiesty Yes, but how much time? If Abt ends the season with points in single digits, I don’t think Nicoals Todt will be too inclined to keep him in the team, given that two of his three drivers in GP3 are currently first and second in that championship.
@polishboy808 There is some sense in what you say. I hope Calado doesn’t turn out to be another di Resta, because that would be detrimental for Force India.@polishboy808 I wanted to say something along those lines but I feared I would be laughed at – but your post gave me courage! In fact, he says his setups are based on Bianchi’s from 2011, not even from his own or Gutierrez’s from last year, like to suggest Bianchi was stronger than he was, but he does not have the courage to admit this. Furthermore, in a series like GP2 where the most experienced drivers have three seasons under their belt, it should be Abt trying to copy Calado’s setups and learn from him, not the other way round. Nasr, Coletti and Leimer are doing quite fine with under-performing team mates, and they don’t publicly insult them. Abt is not even a pay driver and his GP3 season last year was great, but he started performing only halfway-through – 2014 should be a better season for him. He’s driving for ART, i.e. he’s there for the talent and not for the money. Calado should know this.
From the telemetry, probably only that last few tenths.. but it’s whether that telemetry comparison would give you leads on car setup, what direction to go in etc. unless you can get this right yourself from your own basic feel/instinct on the tyres etc. Interesting to use the 2011 Bianchi rather than his own 2012 setups, when did the current tyres come in? The car is the same apart from that I think.
I didn’t think of that, I thought Abt had big backing (rich family/motorsport background etc.). If that’s the case then I would expect at least one to be in GP2 next year, if not both drivers.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.