Getting to Formula 1 these days is a complicated business. There are a plethora of confused (and confusing) championships and drivers must judge where it is best for them to be as they try to work their way up the ladder to F1. The news that the Formula 2 Championship has disappeared is actually good news because it clear the way for a bigger and better Formula 2 in 2014. The current model was thrown together in a hurry and while the concept of it was good, the cars were not quite right. What is needed, and what the FIA will soon be working on, is a Formula 2 that provides the right stepping stone into Formula 1 at a sensible, cost-effective price.
Back in the 1990s and early 2000s there was a very successful Formula 3000, which provided the perfect stepping stone for youngsters from all the different regions. If you could cut it in F3000, you were good enough for F1. Teams charged a lot of money to run cars and, as happens in many formulae, greed eventually weakened the series. At that point in stepped a punch of buccaneers with a series called GP2, which they claimed would bring costs under control and blah, blah, blah. It was all pretty cheap and nasty at the start with some embarrassing mechanical troubles early on because of the thrown-together nature of the beast, but once these were sorted out and GP2 won the right to accompany F1 races (not hard given that the buccaneers involved included Bernie Ecclestone) the series became the place to be. It helped that its coverage was often “bundled” with F1, which meant that TV stations had to carry it.
But greed is never far from motor racing and soon enough the monopoly on parts supply was being exploited in pretty outrageous fashion, with wild overpricing, way above the market value of the parts. CVC Capital Partners, being into moneymaking and caring nothing for the sport, bought the business and integrated it into the F1 empire but the exploitation continued and gradually the back end of the grid has been taken over by pay-drivers with little or no chance of ever getting to F1. Renault offered a better alternative in its World Series and now many of the best drivers go that way. GP2 produces some decent racing and the top guys are pretty good, but it is now far too expensive.
The challenge for a new Formula 2 is to create a TV package that can stand on its own two feet. CVC is not going to give up GP2 unless it is forced to do so. It is a nice little cash calf alongside F1. The situation is indicative of the problems facing all non-F1 motorsport these days. The answer, probably, is to bundle F2 with other major championships, such as the World Sports Car Championship and the WTCC. This way getting crowds and better TV coverage becomes easier. To make it more attractive the new F2 will need to have the best of the best youngsters and to get them it will need to provide the right training for F1 and, at the same time, be sufficiently cheap to make it affordable. If that happens the lure of GP2 will weaken.
joeblogsf1 
On another note, it is quite saddening that Kobayashi is crowd sourcing money for a ride and Grosjean’s actions raised questions about “driver quality control” in F1, while the (mostly European) racing market is over-saturated with minor open-wheel single-seater racing series.
The change to turbo engines for F1 may make a successful and relatively cheap F2 more doable. There will be an advantage to drivers who can cope well with the characteristics of a turbo engine and turbocharging is a relatively cheap way to lots of power from a control engine. A 1 or 1.2 litre turbo 4 cyl. engine revving to say 12,000 should be reliable and cost no more than €40-60,000. 400 BPH would not be unreasonable. I would like to see more than one control chassis to introduce an element of competition for the engineers and designers, who need to be trained as well as the drivers. I think there should be a choice of wings, so that you can go for high cornering speed or charge past everyone down the straights. A pass to overtake button with a limited number of pushes, controlling the waste gate, is much cheaper than DRS but would have the same effect.
Tyre warmers or not – difficult question. Adds a lot to expense but if you want to mimic F1, they may be required. To be good training, there need to be lots of things the drivers can alter in the cockpit to build up multitasking capacity. I feel that this is where many GP2 drivers come unstuck, coming from the fast but relatively simple GP2 cars to F1, where the steering wheel looks like something from a spaceship. My Ralt F2 car had two levers to control the roll bar blades, a knob to alter brake balance and as it was being used for Euro hill climbing, a secret knob to change the rev limit/engine map and that was it.
Wilson
It would be too much to hope that a new F2 could be more along the lines of the old F2 or early F3000 formulae? Multi chassis manufacturers (March, Ralt, Lola, Toleman, etc) and engines (BMW, Hart, Honda, Ferrari, Mugen etc).
The current F3 formula allows this, even if it dominated by Dallara.
However, I fear times have changed and one-make formulae are the present and future.
I think that if you a want new series to take on GP2 and all the rest it needs to be truly global. Not just a series in Europe. What i would do is have one world series and each continent (or region) gets its own series with all identical equipment to make a transition from the continental to global series easy and desirable.
Joe,
In a perfect world, would you like the next incarnation of F2 to be the breeding ground for potential F1 talent, or a series where known young entities (F1 reserve/test drivers) can perfect their racing craft while waiting to land the F1 race seat? Or both? I guess ideally the F2 championship would support a series that doesn’t clash with F1 weekends. Could the FIA create an incentive for all F1 teams to to become affiliates of F2 teams, place their young drivers with them, and have it become a ‘junior’ F1 series? I know I’d follow that over the other series.
In (my) old days it was not unusual for F1 drivers to also compete in F2 races on the same day (and even sports cars and Touring cars as well (eg Clark with Lotus)). Thus new drivers could pit themselves against the best (and sometimes won) and received much more publicity in the process. Though this is never likely to be revived there are more ‘F1’ drivers now (coming and going, and coming back) who would not only give the fans and new drivers more to watch but would also enable them to keep their hand in – a 1,000 kilometres of testing is nothing for a driver compared to actually racing…
But I understand current regs. prevent such drivers pitching into the second tier formula. Maybe this could be looked at rather than simply adding more regulation like forcing F1 teams to also run F2 teams. Live and let live…?
In those days drivers also trotted off to race Le Mans as well; sportspeople in general were less professional (the equivalent era in British football was all about heavy drinking and smoking) but modern F1 drivers are expected to keep themselves in top form and avoid taking risks.
Certain characters on the grid still do off the top of my head :
– Raikkonen, whose antics haven’t yet got him hurt despite racing snowmobiles and power boats (whilst dressed as a gorilla and entered as “James Hunt” iirc);
– Montoya, who injured his shoulder in what I remember being reported as officially an injury whilst playing tennis, but everyone seemed to believe it was due to a fall from a motorbike;
– Kubica, whose extra-curricular activities have seriously impacted his career after crashing in a rally.
Fans love the drivers doing silly things (who can’t love a man who races powerboats while dressed as a gorilla?) but the teams must hate it.
Montoya’s injury arguably cost McLaren the constructor’s title that year (they were 9 points behind Renault in 2005) as he missed two races and followed them with three of his worst finishes that year.
Kubica’s injury (aside from depriving the sport of one of its most talented up-and-coming drivers) left Renault barely clinging on to fifth place in the constructors’ championship in 2011, with less than half the points that they scored in 2010.
I completely agree with you there Joe. It seems that there is no clear route to F1 these days. It seems to be a case that if you’ve raced in GP2 or RWS and have a bag full of cash then more likely than not you’ll find your way into F1 whether deserving or not.
If you look back at how the likes of Button, Webber, Hamilton, Vettel got into F1 it is a completely different story. I’m pretty sure Button’s route was karting, British Formula Ford, British Formula 3 and then F1. Where are the great championships like F-Ford and F-3 today!!
I would say that a new F2 championship should follow F1 in every regard; in that they travel to every circuit, every F1 team has to have an F2 team and their test/reserve driver has to race in the F2 race, which could be held on a Saturday to give more entertainment to the paying fans, and they can have the option of a second or third car for other younger drivers to get the experience and training they need that should they make it into F1 they are ready.
Also the young drivers should receiving coaching and training when handling the media etc.
The cars could be a set standard like in Formula Ford and Formula Renault so that it doesn’t come down to who has the fastest car but who is the best driver.
I have seen some fantastic racing in the Formula Renault series that accompany the British Touring Car Championship and think some of these drivers won’t ever see F1.
Unless I missed a meeting, FFord isn’t (yet) a “set standard”.
(Or YAFOMF- Yet Another F****** One Make Formula as I like to think of them)
I think if JT wants to leave a legacy to motor sport he could not choose a better one than to create a clear path from the bottom to the top.
I seem to remember quite differently about F3000 as a stepping stone in the 90s, much less early 2000s – besides Fernando Alonso, who participated in 2000, the series has no other WDC and precious few GP wins to show for.
On Formula 2: It served its purpose, mainly crowd-sourcing young Mr Palmer’s next step up the career ladder, so its demise couldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. I just wish this had been achieved without the tragic loss of Henry Surtees. RIP.
Am I correct in thinking than other than Damon Hill and Fernando Alonso, no F1 WDC has any past history of participation in the “second tier” (GP2; F3000; the old F2) since Niki Lauda won his third title in ’84?
Lewis Hamilton as well, of course.
To put it another way, of the last 13 F1 WDCs only 3 so much as started a race in the second tier.
Really? The last 13 WDCs…
Vettel – FR3.5
Button – F3
Hamilton – GP2
Raikkonen – FR 2000
Alonso – F3000
Schumacher – F3, Sportscars, Japanese F3000
Hakkinen – F3
Villneuve – F3 and IndyCar
Hill – F3000
Prost – F3
Mansell – F3… and if you want to ruffle American’s eagle feathers… CART
Senna – F3
Piquet – F3
So that’s 3 of the last 4 competed in a genuine feeder to F1.
I think Mansell did at least one F2 race.
In the olden days it was said that if you hadn’t been picked up by the time you finished F3, you probably would never be.
Yes, an early Ralt-Honda V6 at Silverstone, I think. Which year though? 1978 or ’79 perhaps.
Martin
FR3.5 was hardly an F1 feeder at the time Vettel competed in it; it was seen as a feeder for GP2 back then. I don’t count F3 since it’s meant to be below the second tier. It seems to me that most F1 champions have been of sufficient talent early on in their careers to skip the second tier entirely. If Bottas turns out to be as good as the hype then this will apply to him as well.
3 of 5 that should be. Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso.
Don’t forget Villeneuve’s snowmobile racing that he used to do in the CART off-season…
To APASASA… thanks for that… I appreciate it when somebody does their homework and teaches me something…
Teaching is only good if the audience is listening.
When another visitor here teaches me something, that is much more rare than when you teach me something. You’ve taught me a great deal, and I am grateful for that.
I’m afraid that I pretty much take it for granted. Would you get tired of thank you’s? Or have you never had the opportunity to find out?
No prob. I like finding out the facts and checking things for myself, easier to connect dotes if you know you can trust info.
Not saying I don’t trust others, however being able to know is the first step in agreeing or disagreeing.
AS the kitchen cynic said, F3 -> F1 used to be considered normal.
And as with most things, it helps to provide a bit of context with each assertion, of which most people may know but I’ll go through some, and if someone knows anything else I can add to it.
Vettel – FR3.5 – Funded by Red Bull. FR3.5 a (then) less pathed 2nd tier to f1
Button – F3 – a bit of a jump, was up against a F3000 runner for the seat. Lack of experience questioned.
Hamilton – GP2 – Funded by McLaren. GP2 then a new 2nd tier to F1
Raikkonen – FR 2000 – Inexperience was the general feel about his announcement. Crazy races before showed his natural ability. 2nd tier wasn’t needed
Alonso – F3000 – 2nd tier.
Schumacher – F3, Sportscars, Japanese F3000 – Endurance racing would help his career his manager said. Choice not todo anything more than Japanese F3000. Funded by Mercedes after sportscars with Merc.
Hakkinen – F3 – Also test driver. See Kitchen Cynic
Villneuve – F3 and IndyCar – IndyCar is somewhat of an unorthodox 2nd tier to F1
Hill – F3000 – 2nd tier
Prost – F3 – F3 was a normal step then to F1. If you had what it takes then you could easily be chosen then. Context different to currently, so comparisions aren’t the most accurate.
Mansell – F3… and if you want to ruffle American’s eagle feathers… CART – As with Villneueve.
Senna – F3 – See Prost
Piquet – F3 – See Prost
So the general movement I see happening is that apart from the odd ball that is Raikkonen, and to a smaller extent, Schumacher, generally different have come from similiar backgrounds. It used to be F3, with Hill being the oldest on the list to have done more. Hill being a weird case being older anyway. Hakkinen was test driving a bit with McLaren. Still F3 as with the past.
Button is a bit older and harks back to similiar thinking, although obviously more ??? was made of it as the context changes.
Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel being left (Raikkonen already being accounted as the expcetion rather than the rule). Alonso went through the biggest feeder series. Hamilton too with McLaren funding. Red Bull prefers FR3.5 and funded Vettel through it. Him going with FR3.5 over GP2 isn’t a sign of talent moving, but instead of Red Bull wanted him to go funding wise.
Just one thought… are you saying Nigel Mansell used CART as a stepping-stone to F1,,,? I thought he went to CART afterwards…
Indeed. My error.
For some reason I wrote similiar to Villneuve and was thinking of Montoya both with USA prior to F1.
Mansell was CART 93′. F1 WDC in 92.
He did do European F2 though, in addition to F3.
Though he did return to F1 (a bit) after CART, I thought that was what you were alluding to.
I hope it works!
“(GP2) is a nice little cash calf alongside F1”
over £25 million
It was estimated to have cost CVC £150 million 2007. There’s a difference between cash flow and profit as you know. Do you know how much it is actually worth in profit terms to CVC?
I think I know the answer to this one, but could F2 be structured in such a way that it would also produce teams that had the potential to step up to F1 without as much of a struggle?
It might also be good for there to be an F2 series that is desireable enough to provide a gap year for talented drivers left out in the cold by the driver market so they have the potential to re-emerge later if they’re good enough and provide a comparison to new up and coming drivers.
Is the cancelation of the championship next year evidence of Gerhard Berger’s influence as part of his new role with the FIA?
You have raised an important issue here – how to survive alongside the all-dominating F1. I grew up with an interest in all motorsport which included, to a lesser extent, motorcycling. My scrapbooks from my youth show amongst others sportscars, saloon cars, rallying, Indycars, F2 and, of course, F1 – with F1 drivers competing in other categories. To me F1 has always been the top of the tree but over the years as assumed an almost unnatural precedence in the motorsport hierarchy thanks to BE and others’ clever marketing and they’ve got be congratulated on that. The bar has been raised. Many people will only know of F1 and nothing else. The up side is obvious but seems to have left other categories struggling for recognition.
I don’t actually think the methods used justify congratulations. Every popular formula that was watched regularly on tv was systematically duplicated by a new FIA equivalent, to which the FIA had exclusive rights and Bernie’s tv company, (IST was it? Or something similar) the tv rights. Circuits were obliged to run only the FIA series. The non-FIA series therefore disappeared. The new FIA series were either not televised, greatly restricted or for pay tv only, this eventually ensured that F1 was the star/cash cow being shown on FTA tv.
We used to have a lot of motorsport on UK tv, every weekend there was motorcross from Brands or Lydden. Sports1600 and 2000. FF, Renault 5 F3, etc, not to mention the rallying. All this was killed off to ensure that F1 had no competition. Had a German Truck racing series not been the subject of a legal challenge, the EU commission would not have told the FIA to shed itself of the commercial rights. Which they did, for a pittance to Bernie.
Still at least the BTCC is not an FIA event and we can see it FTA together with a full program on ITV4. But what is the deal for F1 on tv next year with the BBC?
I’m not against a world-wide controlling body like the FIA – otherwise it’s chaos. However, I consider the FIA have been largely incompetent in the way they have handled F1 (and other branches of the sport) leaving the way clear for entrepreneurs like BE to make fortunes for themselves and companies they represent. Although I’m hardly a fan he’s organised F1 to the level it is today, a world-class sport watched (even though I don’t believe the figures most of the time) by millions.
I was one of those people who used to brave all sorts of weather at Lydden to watch Rallycross (occasionally de-frosted by teas from the tea bar) and club and international events at Brands so I know where you’re coming from, as they say. Yes, bravo to ITV4 for their Sunday afternoons. But there’s really nothing stopping the BBC doing the same thing if they could get over their fixation with blooming cricket and football.
I’m assuming BBC’s coverage of F1 for next year will stay the same but I fear for the future of terrestrial broadcasting of F1 unless Sky’s coverage starts to unravel. If Danny Cohen, the current controller of BBC 1, would stop wasting millions of pounds on hopeless programmes like ‘The Voice’ maybe F1 fans might get a better deal.
There is a rumour of Suzi Perry (ex MotoGP since when its never been the same. Plus own leather jacket range) taking over from Jake the peg. If so Joe may see her on his travels, since she also lives in France. I had expected Lee McKenzie to be anchor but maybe she is not happy under pressure all the time. BTW, its about time the BBC or whoever provides the sound feeds, heard about noise cancellation circuits. Invented by Lotus some 20 plus years ago so hardly new tech. Lee has a knack of finding the noisiest spot in the pit lane!
I agree, Suzi Perry is top notch. Also, maybe Lee extracted a bit more being a ‘lady’ – I noticed even MS didn’t mind being interviewed by her.
Good idea. Bring on Suzie.
Martin
Sorry, noise cancellation not invented by Lotus, first used in aircraft (helicopters) in the 1950s.
Not everything high-tech comes from F1. 😉
i really like the ladder series’ in the states. There’s USF2000, Star Mazda, and Indy Lights, same race weekends you can see them all (like the Baltimore race). There’s a very clear progression for racers when it’s all controlled by a single body and even on Indycar’s website you can see results and tidbits about the lower series. It would be great if F1 could do something like this.
Ahem, F1 is already doing just that with GP3, GP2 and F1.
Of course, GP3 is a questionable entry in the F3-like class of series and a true ‘first’ monoposto series has been missing since BMW pulled out, but clearly, the makings are there.
Now, the state of US single-seaters may not be something F1 would like to emulate, either.
Ahem, GP2 and GP3 are simply money-making machines for the Formula One group. They are not what the FIA wants.
Sure, but isn’t that the very basis of every enterprise, trying to move money from accounts you don’t control into accounts that you do, a.k.a. money-“making”?
Asking people to put on series based on any other principle would be silly, or, to people with similarly juvenile prejudices, suitably French.
Juvenile as it might seem, the FIA wants the sport to be open to as many people as possible and not just to rich kids willing to pay absurd amounts of money to get seen by F1 team bosses. Thus creating more cost-effective junior formulae is a strategy that is best for the longterm development of the sport as a whole. If that means that profiteers no longer profit then “tant pis pour eux”
Absolutely. If a formula could produce the ‘best of the best ‘ so far as is practicable to do so rather than the ‘best of the rich’ surely that would be a better and fairer result
It’s always seemed to me, and that’s a heck of a long time now, that Bernie gives not a toss where the next generation of drivers comes from. It could be F3, F2, F3000, F Renault or the Wacky Races, the drivers he needs will always materialise somehow, from somewhere.
I have never noticed that he has done anything to support motor racing at a sub-F1 level.
So, good for the FIA.
And if it’s “tant pis” for Bernie, CVC etc, “c’est un bon idée pour les jeune pilotes”
Martin
P.S. Didn’t I read somewhere recently that this is an English language blog?
Right, unfortunatelly though the harsh reality is that a season in European Formula 3 (Berger’s child) costs way more than a season in GP3.
Maybe I’ve missed something ‘proesterchen’ but “trying to move money from accounts you don’t control into accounts that you do” – we normally call that stealing. I’m speaking as someone who lives in France of course, but it might be different where you live.
Surely that all depends on whether one gets caught or not? In 2007 those pesky Wall Street types were being held up as models of entrepreneurship and business icons – until they got caught of course … a bit like a few F1 ‘names’ of the past few seasons?
Unfortunately most haven’t – yet.
how much is a season in GP2? If the 40million budget idea for F1 were used for F2 could that work?
GP2 drivers are being asked to provide around $2 million per car per season.
Anywhere from €2.0 – 2.5 million, depending on which team you end up with.
Star Mazda? Are you sure about that?
Star Mazda is part of the Road to Indy ladder system. The series is for sale. It will be sold (a buyer already has been located) and it will continue. Star Mazda drivers in the IndyCar Series include Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, and James Hinchcliffe.
And, with apologies to Steinman, ‘two out of three ain’t bad’.
Mazda today announced a buyer for the series and a commitment to the 2013 season. On the same day, Star Mazda champ Hawksworth was promoted to IndyLights. Mazda’s champions get funding for a season at the next level.
I think F1 needs to look at what the MotoGP championship is doing. They have Moto2 which replaced the 250cc category and the Moto3 which replaced the 125cc category. You can see a clear progression through the series up to the full-blown MotoGP series. Next season we’ll have a British rider (Bradley Smith) who has worked up and earnt his place in MotoGP so why can’t F1 do something similar. Many of the MotoGP teams have smaller fractions that run riders/bikes in Moto2 and 3 and it gives their riders progression up to the full team; similar in a way to Red Bull’s drivers coming from RWS to Toro Rosso and then possibly onto the RBR team; so surely the other teams should do something similar.
Maybe FOM and FIA could offer incentives to make it financially attractive to teams.
I also think F1 should do something similar to the CRT ruling that was introduced this year to see more cars on the grid!! I think it was a mistake banning customer cars as we saw the demise of teams such as Super Auguri that ran previous season Honda cars.
I think that gerhard Berger is doing this.
So what’s stopping the “fast cars” adopting the motorbike model? Running the lower formulae on the same circuits on the same weekends, a slightly more engaging multi-formulae 3-day TV package, ability for fans to see the new talent coming through, a more gentle progression for drivers into the media spotlight, more cross-over between teams, at least between team people… There’s a lot going for it.
The only 2 downsides I see are putting all the eggs in the one huge basket financially, and the physical logistics of an even larger travelling circus. Are those two hurdles too large? Or is the biggest blocker the politics of getting it all going to start with?
Joe, with the GP2 series ending at the Singapore GP, there is 6 races without a junior support formula. Is there no way that the FIA can convince/agree with FOM to add F2 into these races, in addition to whatever else series they support. Is there no sence of taking F2 to Japan, Korea, India and Abu Dhabi, given they follow each and aren’t too much of a great distance and keep cost low(er).
(Laughing) It is easy to convince FOM to add things to the support races. You just have to give them a load of money.
And that would ofcourse negate the “be sufficiently cheap to make it affordable” part.
Point taken.
By “buccaneers”, you mean Bernie and Flavio?
Unrelated: what of Auto GP? Anyone taking that seriously? The cars sounded good at Sonoma but they’ve introduced a new model for 2013, and dropped the Americas from their schedule to concentrate on Europe.
It was never serious.
Must be a good money-maker for Enzo Coloni, however. Otherwise, why bother?
I think that what is also missing is a way to go thru the ranks without paying IF YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH……. lets say Gp2 (or equivalent) gives a free full season seat to the top 3 Gp3… gp3 gives a free full season seat to the top 5 in lower formulas etc….
that way you just have to start out and if youre good enough you will end up close to F1..
Indycar has a similar scheme but all the champions get is a 1 one day TEST and thats it, they have to find the funding..
What we are really missing is GP2 teams doing a proper job of finding money besides whatever their drivers bring. In Moto2/Moto3 many teams are managing just that. In GP2 only Racing Engineering ever made that effort.