Drivers

Dedicated Formula One driver discussions.
A place to put all the posts from all the other threads primarily but love him or hate him, and even for the indifferent amongst us this is the place to discuss the marmite that is Lewis Hamilton, to learn a thing or two about his rise, talk about those controversial, genius or mad moments and something that i am bemused by, the recent articles that suggest something quite different to my perception of what's going on. Any experiences of meeting LH? Brundle had to write a Lewis Hamilton article recently and in my tweets (which were probably ignored) I asked him to talk about LH the driver not LH the personality. It seems that you can't have one without the other. So as a starter for ten, here is a fairly recent LH article. Posts...
…….and finally Williams confirm that Valtteri Bottas will be in the race seat for the 2013 season. As I’m seen on here as his biggest fan I thought I better get an article written and a thread started for the lad. Born 28th August 1989 in Nastola Finland he currently resides in Oxford. His single seater career started in 2007 with a 3rd place in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC series, he followed that up in 2008 by winning the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC series and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup series. In 2009 he stepped up to the Formula 3 Euroseries coming 3rd but winning the Maters of Formula 3 one off race a feat he was to repeat in 2010. 2011 was the year he suddenly jumped to everyones attention when he cruised to the GP3 championship...
So a fan favourite is no longer in the series so Lando is drafted in to soften the blow for all the hardcore fans........but enough about Star Wars we're here to talk about F1. Yes the only other Lando you know will make his F1 debut with McLaren this year and if McLaren aren't already in talks with Disney about a special Star Wars promotion on the car for some races this year then they really are out of touch with the world. Lando Norris (cue FB posting a pic of Norris from Coronation Street) is a 19 year old whizz kid from Bristol. I've watched him quite a bit over the years and from the very first moment I saw him drive the words 'next Lewis Hamilton' floated into my brain. He has won championships in every series he has raced...
Sergio Perez Mendoza also known as 'Checo'. 21 years of age and 12 Grand Prix under his belt. Already has a contract for Sauber for next year, is part of the Ferrari driving acadamy, current favourite to replace Massa but what he didn't have was his own thread on Clip the Apex so I thought I'd sort him one out. Won British Formula 3 at 18. Finished 12 in GP2 at 19. Finished runner-up in GP2 at 20. Made his GP debut at 21 and finished in the points only to be DQ'd later due to both Saubers breaking car regs. Had a big accident at Monoco and even chose to pull out of the Candian GP after realising he wasn't back to 100%. Has had 2 points finishes so far this season with his highest being a 7th place at Silverstone. Has been quite highly...
I noticed young Daniel didn't have his own thread so thought I'd give him on as sure he'll be around for a good few years. Born in 1989 (that makes him 22 before you do the maths) this aussie started karting at the age of 9 and in 2005 entered the Western Australian Formula Ford Championship as a privateer driving a car that was 15 years old at the time and managed to finish 8th. He won a scholarship to compete in Formula BMW Asia the following year. As we all know he eventually became involved in the Red Bull young driver programme after winning the British Formula 3 championship in 2009. Became Red Bull's test driver and has now stepped up to drive for HRT. Has been really hyped as the next big thing by the Red Bull team and the...
Suprised there's no thread (although I had one for his blogs), so i'll start off: A double world championship vs Raikkonen and then Schumacher in 2005 and 2006 respectively elevated Alonso's status but, apparently, no one told his rookie teammate at his brand new team of a theoretical 'pecking order' the following season ... and the Spaniard was 'seen off' by the young Englishman, Hamilton, into two years of Wilderness while both Hamilton and an even younger Vettel began to make their mark through '08 and '09. Arguably, Alonso was in the Top 3 of all the Formula One 'Aces' in the 2000s following Hakkinen's retirement - up there with either Schumacher/Raikkonen and, then, Raikkonen/Hamilton - and remains so in the early 2010s along...
At the start of the 2016 season the two drivers I considered deserved to be on the grid most that weren't there were Stoffel Vandorne and Esteban Ocon. I'm very happy to say that both have now got their shot. At just twenty years of age Ocon certainly has the pedigree and the time to become one of the best in the sport and hopefully now has a shot in the Manor to show that potential. Ocon was the European F3 champion in 2014 and the GP3 champion in 2015 beating fairly strong opposition along the way to do so, most noticeably Max Verstappen. In both of his championship years he was face with opposition that was in better form than him and who had their machinery hooked up better than him, How did he do it? Well consistency was the name...
2015 sees the arrival of the youngest driver ever to sit in an F1 car. Max Verstappen was born on 30th September 1997 and, assuming he makes the grid in Australia, will only be 17 years and 167 days, beating Jaime Alguersuaris' record by 1 year and 323 days (assuming my maths is correct). How can such a young man be ready for F1? As the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen Max started racing karts at 4½ years old. In 2006 he won the Belgian Minimax Championship in the KF5 category and in 2007 he won both the Dutch and Belgian titles as well as the Belgian Cadet Championship. In 2009 he won the KF5 Flemish Championship and moved up to International Karting. In 2010 Max finished 2nd in the KF3 World Cup, won the Euro Series and...
Lots of threads have alluded to having a discussion about the current world champion so lets get it all off our collective chests (oooeer!) Lots has been has been written about this young man from his testing debut with BMW Sauber in 2006 aged just 19 - he then progressed to the the toro rosso team for his first full race season in 2008 - the memorable race being his drive in the wet at Fuji where he managed to rear end his future team mate Mark Webber who said ""It's kids isn't it... kids with not enough experience – they do a good job and then they :censored: **** it all up." - Little was Mark to know he would be paired with the "Kid" just 2 years later. His maiden win came at the 2008 Italian GP where he qualified up from, the race...
Who is George Russell asked Titch - well he's is 21 year old from Norfolk who the latest Brit on the F1 grid. For once I can actually say I've watched this kid all the way up the ladder. I first saw Russell in BRDC F4 (thank you ITV4) and he stood out then because in a field full of kids putting everything on the line for a win he was the only one who had the brain to think about the championship race and realise getting a decent haul of points was sometimes more important than chucking it in do or die style for the win. Low and behold he won the title. I next see him in European F3 in a field containing Felix Rosenqvist, Antonio Giovanazzi and Charles LeClerc. He was mostly midfield that year but spent a lot of time wheel banging with...
He only signed for Williams a few days ago but there has already been a large amount of discussion about Lance Stroll. It was suggested he needed his own thread so here it is. Lance Stroll first came on to my own radar when watching the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand during Jan 2015. Often used as a warm-up for young talent pre-season to get them used to proper car racing its always close racing. Lance was the tender age of 16 and part of the Ferrari young driver program. He was also massively impressive with 10 podiums (4 wins) from 16 races in a car he'd hardly driven and tracks he'd never raced on. He was the eventual champion and I mentally stored him as someone to watch out for. From the Toyota series he went straight into...
Thought I'd write an unexpected thread for an unexpected debutante. Giovinazzi's performance in his late call up seems to have impressed everyone and so he is a very worth add to the CTA Formula One Drivers section. Born in Martina Franca, Italy he is the grand old age of 23. To make some of us feel old Alain Prost had already won 4 titles and retired (twice) before he was born. Started the usual way with success in Karting and winning some trophies there (Italian and Euro), moved on to British F3 (runner up in 2013), European F3 (runner up in 2015) and GP2 (runner up in 2016). Along the way he's also had a couple of races in DTM and a go at Le Mans last year. He's certainly held his own in every series he has entered. Personally I...
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