Drivers

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...

Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat or Danny Kvyat to you and I seemed to come as a shock to some as Toro Rosso's choice for a race seat that prompted all sorts of money accusations however if people had been paying attention then it might have been less of a shock. With Ricciardo being promoted to the A-Team it was only logical that Toro Rosso were going to promote one of their youth squad to the race seat and whilst Kvyat was not at the front of the queue in the fame stakes he certainly got there in the results stakes. At the begining of 2013 he was third in line to the throne sitting firmly behind the ever popular 'oh-my-god-he's-a-future-world-champion' Felix Da Costa and the 'oh-my-god-he's-the-talented-son-of-a-rally-driving-champ'...

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...

2018 sees the much talked about Charles Leclerc make his debut in F1 in the Sauber. Its fair to say there is a good bit of excitement around that. He was born in October 1997 (no really) in Monaco and does race under the Monegasque flag. He was a childhood friend of the late Jules Bianchi. His father Herve Leclerc was also a racing driver, taking part in Formula 3 but unfortunately passed away last year at 54. I'm sure both these connections will make his F1 debut a bit bittersweet as they both should be there. I first saw Leclerc racing in European F3 and instantly made a joke about Napoleon's brother-in-law and General of the same name. As soon as I made the joke I realised not many people know who that is and therefore the joke is...

Carlos Sainz Jr (is he dropping the Jr now?) may be the first rookie to come into F1 already demoralised and thinking his team do not believe in him. Sainz was number 1 in the Red Bull Driver programme and completely aced his season in WSR 3.5 and pretty much cruised his way to the title. Despite all of this it must have been a crushing blow to him when it was announced that Max Verstappen, who had been in the Red Bull Driver Programme for 2 weeks, was announced at Toro Rosso F1. Sainz was not happy and his form did drop off probably out of pure frustration. However Vettel's sudden departure to Ferrari opened up another space in the Toro Rosso team but even then Red Bull waited a good 3 months before announcing Sainz in the seat. In...

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...

Alexander Albon makes his debut in F1 in 2019 with Toro Rosso having started our as a Red Bull junior and then being dropped before being welcomed back at the end of last season. Marko has not been very complimentary about Albon in the past so his recall is very much a U-turn on the management front. Albon races under a Thai licence and is a practicing Buddhist but is actually half British as he was born in London and grew up in Ipswich. His junior career is pretty good without being outstanding. Why? Well mainly because he has followed Charles LeClerc up the ladder. To his credit Albon has always pushes LeClerc to perform better and personally I think he is well deserving of his spot in F1. He might have pushed LeClerc a bit more in...