Felipe Nasr

The latest Brazilian to enter Formula One is Felipe Nasr, who is from the capital Brasilia. Admittedly, he is not from the usual motorsport heartlands of Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but he is not as far out as Antonio Pizzonia.

He has had some impressive championship results over the last couple of years - 4th and 3rd in the last two GP2 seasons. He was also runner up in the 2011 Macau Grand Prix, as a faster team-mate to Kevin Magnussen. His last three seasons in GP2 paint a picture of an outstandingly consistent driver - from 19 GP2 finishes last season, 18 were points scorers, 16 were top 6 finishes.

However, that is where the questions arise with Nasr. His first GP2 win only came in the sprint at Barcelona last year, and of his four GP2 victories only the win in Speilberg was a feature race. He also lost a big lead over Stoffel Vandoorne for a 2nd place in the championship that looked to be his.

Having said that, is a sporadically brilliant driver what Sauber need? Their non-score in 2014 can be attributed to the fact that they were not around to pick up points when others failed. This would seem to be Nasr's speciality. He is a driver who brings sponsorship, of course, but it would seem that he is far less likely to stupidly bin their only chances of points as Gutierrez did in Monaco, for example.

In less important news, Nasr has chosen to take the number 12, a number associated with Ayrton Senna's title victory in 1988. I suppose it is fitting that a Brazilian would take the number in the new system.
 
Beat me to this one teabagyokel but better article than I would have done anyway.

I think its probably fair to say Nasr deserves to be in F1 but its a bitter pill to swallow that he gets a seat whilst Jolyon Palmer, who beat the hell out of him last year in GP2 both on the track and mentally, doesn't.

Nasr has some great speed but always seems to leave it to late to use it and last year showed that when things don't go his way he has a tendency to sulk.

Still he is a driver with a lot of skill and a sound head for race craft so jumping up to F1 could be the making of him. Looking forward to seeing how he does.
 
Hmmm, Nasr has always almost failed to not impress me. He's been a "meh" driver. Having watched a lot of his career I'm expecting him to continue to be mediocre and I hope that if this is the case the revolving door spins him out at the end of the season.
 
So Sky F1 seem to have rechristened Nasr as 'Fred' to avoid confusion with Massa.

I think Nasr has shown himself to deserve a spot on the grid so far. His race results have been better than his quali but he has even got the Sauber in the top ten on occasions.
 
That's Brundle's fault, what an ignoramus and a quite insulting thing to do, "I can't be bothered to learn how to pronounce your name properly, I'm so lazy that I pronounce it Nassa so now I'm going to call you something that isn't your name."
Cock.
 
He does go out of the way to point he is in F1 because of his ability and not the money he bought in because he's been backed since he was a teenager

Unfortunately it will not detract those who feel Jolyon could do just as good a job if not better
 
I think we all agree Palmer should get a shot but that doesn't mean Nasr should be on the grid too. He's impressed me more this season than he did all the way through GP2. A very clever driver.
 
No. You're wrong. His backing has helped him along the way but ultimately his talent has secured him his backing. Just because other people with talent have not secured the same type of backing doesn't mean he is only in F1 because of the money. Every driver on the grid has had backing through the different tiers of the sport and on to the F1 grid because thats how the sport works. Because the sport works like that it does mean that some of talent don't get to the top but that does not make those that do anymore deserving.

Nasr has been at the top of every category he's raced at so frankly its idiotic to try and suggest that in his rookie year he is only on the grid because of the money. There are dozens of drivers out there with the same backing (if not more) as Nasr but not so many with the talent. Hence why he's at Sauber.

Lets not throw accusations around just because we're a bit upset Palmer is not on the grid eh? Not Nasr's fault the sport is the way it is. Nasr and Palmer should both have been on the grid this year.
 
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well he's showing Ericsson he's the better driver overall

so far at least he has not crashed into a lot of people like Pastor which should help his reputation

It's unwanted tag not helped by Sauber's plight and handling of its contracted drivers
 
Team may need the money from the driver but in that case team must be able to analyse who's the best driver of those who can bring the amount of money they need. Sauber has done that right in Nasr's case.
 
comparing Nasr to Maldonado I'd say Sauber have made the right decision compared to Lotus on their return on investment

Its not Nasr's fault how badly Sauber handled the Van Der Garde situation
 
He gets a lot of stick in some quarters because he come with sponsorship but I think Nasr needs to get the plaudits he deserve for his drive in Brazil just gone. I can't imagine a driver being under more pressure knowing that keeping it on the grey stuff in appalling conditions,whilst keeping your rivals behind you, could make the difference between hundreds of people you work with having jobs next year or not.

Top drive from a very under-rated driver.
 
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