Poll Is GP2 hurting F1?

[landogeorgelewis1]

Hello guys.

Well it's a question that has being brought up a lot on other threads but thought i'd start one anyways.

Right is the standard of driving in GP2 hurting F1?

We have many drivers coming up through the GP2 system and the standard of driving in F1 recently has been shocking. We've seen more bumps and broken wings in the last two years than we ever did the years before that. We're seeing Good GP2 drivers like Perez trying to keep his nose clean, but Maldonado and Senna have been taking the absolute biscuit this year along with Grosjean.

Should GP2 change the standard of the racing in that series to make sure when the boys coming through are fully prepared for F1, like i don't like the fact that the GP2 champion can't go back and defended his crown the next season.

What do you guys think?

 

[Brogan]

I wouldn't say it is GP2 which is hurting F1, rather I would say it's inconsistent stewarding and the lack of appropriate punishment for drivers who perform dangerous, illegal, and inappropriate manoeuvres, both in GP2 and F1.

As far as I am aware it's the same stewards for the whole weekend, so they cover GP2 and F1, so quite why the GP2 drivers get away with some of the things they do is beyond me.

 

[mjo]

As Brogan said, the inconsistent stewarding of incidents is, not GP2.

 

[tooncheese]

I thinks its a combination of a few things:

Lower formulae don't discourage aggressive driving as it brings in veiwers to races with little interest.

Senna was reckless and aggressive, and is practically a God now. Almost all current young drivers want to be like him. In the future Schumacher will be the same.

Improved Safety/ Video Game mindset - It gets ingrained into young drivers that they can do whatever and will leave without serious injury, which isn't true.

However it is worth pointing out the careers of Farina, Marriese, Patrese, and de Cesaris as reckless driving is not new.

 

[Josh]

I accidentally clicked yes instead but I meant to vote no!

Anyway the reasons I'm voting no have already been said by Bro and tooncheese. I only wanted to rectify my error

EDIT: Oh thanks Bro!

 

[Brogan]

It's a bit fiddly so I don't do it all the time, but I've fixed your vote Josh.

 

[RasputinLives]

I don't think GP2 is ot blame. Nope. Going to land this one at the door of the media.

When I first started watching F1 it was a treat for us to get television coverage of qualifying on a Saturday and in fact we were happy if we got to see the start if a Grand Prix instead of joining it on lap 5 after the Tennis had finished. Now days you get full media coverage of every moment of F1 - and not just F1 - if you wanted too and I'm guessing some on here do you can spend your entire weekend not only watching every F1 session but also watching every GP2 and GP3 session as well.

Why is that a problem I hear you say. Well it means that drivers are getting more media attention in the lower formula, there getting more sponsorship and with it more pressure to succeed. Look at Danial Ricciardo at his first Grand Prix he was on live telelvision to the world being hailed as a future world champion - how much preassure is that? Look at Jules Bianchi - he hadn't even raced in GP2 and was being touted as the next big thing in F1 and of course the poor boy has crumbled under the pressure of it. The ones that do get there are well aware of the mass crowd of drivers behind them and how little time they have to show they belong in F1 so is it any wonder that some of them crack and drive like madmen? Add to which the fact that as mor emoney is being put up by sponsors on these young guys the pressure to push them forward quicker has never been more than now, meaning that drivers are coming into F1 younger and younger and younger. The youngest age of a world champion record has been broken 3 times in the last 7 years and we have a driver like Jamie Alguersauri who's F1 career is over at 22!

For those of you over 25 I want you to think back and remember how little you knew in your early 20's and how much wiser you are now - is it any wonder these guys are powering into accidents when they haven't had time to learn the consequences? Espeicslly when you think how much is at stake for all of them.

No. Unfourtunatly we live in a sporting world where we expect our contenders to get younger and younger whilst being more and more amazing - and when they can't produce this we criticise them for not being mature enough.

 

[teabagyokel]

No. Not every driver to come through GP2 is reckless.

 

[canis]

I don't think it is GP2 that is hurting F1, but as said the discrepencies between all of the feeder series and the standards expected in F1. What needs to be done is to have a set of standard driver behaviour rules that are applied to every series from karting upwards, with the same standard of stewarding put into place to make sure that drivers learn how to drive in this manner from day one, not from half wa through their driving careers...

 

[Boyle]

No. Rasp pretty much hit the nail on the head.

But I will also add that the recent upturn in overtaking has to be linked with an increase in incidents. DRS and KERS as well as the tyres has resulted in drivers being closer together than before so there is no surprise that there are more comings together. But this is not the fault of GP2.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Shoddy driving has been a part of every feeder series for a long time now right?

I recently got a DVD with some F3000 races on it from 1988, watched two of the most notorious races, Brands and Birmingham, and was quickly reminded that Junior Formulae drivers are apt to make mistakes. Often big ones.

That Birmingham race was a debacle of epic proportions. The road was completely blocked by a pile up when the leaders came back around full bore. I'm gonna try and post some footage from that one.

But I will also add that the recent upturn in overtaking has to be linked with an increase in incidents. DRS and KERS as well as the tyres has resulted in drivers being closer together than before so there is no surprise that there are more comings together.

Maybe this is why they had to sit Grosjean down. His incidents have had nothing to do with KERS or DRS. He just seems incapable of judging the spaces between himself and others at the start. Maldonado's incidents have been largely racing deals with an occasional Practice and Quali scrap too.

 

[Boyle]

Maybe this is why they had to sit Grosjean down. His incidents have had nothing to do with KERS or DRS. He just seems incapable of judging the spaces between himself and others at the start. Maldonado's incidents have been largely racing deals with an occasional Practice and Quali scrap too.

With the exception of Romain obviously. I perhaps should have added that

 

[MCLS]

Well Kobayashi is now 25 and isn't as crash prone as he was in late 2009/10 and has only retired 6 times after Singapore 2010 (excluding the DSQ in Melbourne 11)

 

[Mephistopheles]

I watched the GP2 sprint race on Sunday and the opening lap was absolute carnage the standard of driving in that series is just diabolical, so I think it is hurting F1.

The reason I voted yes is because I think maybe some people are taking the question to literally as if it is saying that the only thing that is wrong with F1 is GP2 where I say it it is just one of the things that's hurting F1 it could easily be solved by putting rookie drivers on a two year probationary period where every indiscretion is punished at maximum sentence until they learn some manners, driving with this knowledge should have the effect of calming them down, if they have not learnt in two years then their super licence is taken away, I believe there is similar scheme for young road users who have just past their tests.....

Josh Hill who's ambition is to be in F1 is taking a different route into the top series and I suspect it is because his dad (Damon.) doesn't want him to be In GP2 and I don't blame him...

 

[RasputinLives]

Mephistopheles you're contradicting yourself a little. You said 'the standard of driving was diabolical'. Its not the feeder series thats coursing that but the drivers themselves and lets remember nearly all these drivers have raced at other levels before GP2 so in actual fact if you blame GP2 you're blaming all feeder series.

What you're saying is that young drivers need to learn the consequence of their actions and that despite how safe these cars are they're not always going to get out and walk away from accidents. That needs to be taught to them far earlier than GP2.

 

[RasputinLives]

Oh and Josh Hill started off in Formula Ford, Went to race Toyota F3 in New Zealand and then moved back to the UK to compete in British Formula Renault. I think if you look at most drivers resumes you'll see most of them have Formula Ford and Formula Renault on their CVs - its how you work your way up to GP2

 

[teabagyokel]

It is more difficult to get into F1 by any other route than GP2. The two ways to do so are (1) Red Bull youth or (2) beat a team-mate in F3, go off to DTM, win the title then reap the rewards when said team-mate turns out to be a genius.

 

[MCLS]

Well let's look at how the champions are in terms of bad driving/crashing

2005-Rosberg Wouldn't say he has been known to crash a lot or cause incidents
2006- Hamilton More so in early years, experience has improved him
2007- Glock Solid reliable set of hands
2008- Pantano Not been seen since so we'll never know, hardly spectacular for Jordan back in the day
2009- Hulkenberg Same as Glock but faster I would say
2010- Maldonado Well, crash magnet without a doubt
2011- Grosjean Same as Maldonado, particularly at the start, but not as bad in the race

Also, Kovalainen, Senna, Petrov and Perez were runners up in various seasons and aren't renowned for bad driving standards or anything like that. So, really you have to take things as a pinch of salt. On the whole, the best racers will rise to the top. But I think in most cases, experience and age tends to wipe out problems like that, which does question are some being thrown into F1 too quickly, as already mentioned, I think drivers should be able to defend their crown if they win the championship.

 

[Galahad]

It certainly isn't just GP2, all the junior series are pretty similar in this respect. The inclusion of more and more overtaking aids probably exacerbates this - F3 races are generally quite processional except at certain circuits, e.g. Macau, and my impression is certainly that there are fewer incidents (F3 cars lack fancy gizmos).

The young kids have always been a bit reckless; my perception is that things have got worse since the 1990s, say, but I haven't got any evidence to back it up. It is possible that I'm more aware of the accidents that happen thanks to YouTube etc.

 

[teabagyokel]

Galahad - Take a look at the Brundle/Senna incident and say there wasn't reckless driving in junior series back then, as an example of what you said.