Junior Formula Racing

[Chrill]

https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/02/10/montoya-junior-chosen-for-ferrari-driver-academy/

Sebastian Montoya, 12-year old son of our beloved Juan Pablo, joins Alesi and Fittipaldi (see what I did there?) in the Ferrari Driver Academy. It seems your name really is a shortcut to fame.

[Penfold]

Only at a Danger Mouse convention.  Whereas those sons of ex-F1 drivers have the racing doors flung open.


Matt - Not sure about Jordan King.  Haven't seen him drive and like you said his results thus far are not exactly out of this world spectacular.  What do you make of Spencer Pigot, King's team-mate for 2018?  A quick glance at his 2017 results doesn't suggest he's a top-level talent, would that be fair?

[Matt]

He won every championship of the IndyCar feeder system, and had to because he didn?t bring much funding and needed the scholarships. He had several good runs last year that didn?t end in good finishes, but ECR was generally not that great on road courses last year. It?s too early to say, but he could be a top-level talent. ECR fired their other driver and gave the full-season ride to him (in contrast to the shared car that King now has), for what that?s worth.

[Penfold]

Probably quite a bit.  Cheers for the background info. on Pigot and also ECR, as you can tell I lost track of who's who and what's what in the world of IndyCar.  Right, I'm off to try and familiarise myself with all the liveries....

[Chrill]

Is Estonia looking to join the list of countries with a driver in F1?

https://www.motorsport.com/eurof3/news/german-f4-champion-vips-lands-motopark-f3-seat-1006628/

Juri Vips, reigning F4 champion, is joining Motopark in F3 this season. Promising kid, that.

[Penfold]

Wouldn't hurt to get himself into one of those driver academy set-ups that various F1 teams have.

[Chrill]

https://www.motorsport.com/bf3/news/monger-scores-british-f3-podium-on-racing-return-1020694/

Billy Monger finishes third in his debut Formula 3 race as Swedish rookie Linus Lindqvist wins from P2 on the grid.

Yay.

[Penfold]

Great from the Whizz Kid.  Being a British lad it was on the main news programmes over here - hopefully the exposure will secure him funding to compete throughout 2018.

[Chrill]

Well, if this weekend was anything to go by he deserves a go. This was his debut weekend in F3 and he scored a podium. Not bad at all.

[Chrill]

Are you 12? Are you driving a Formula 3 car? Did you set a lap record with a Formula 4 car last year? Then your name is propobably Juju.

https://supergtworld.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/12-year-old-juju-noda-steals-the-show-at-okayama-tests/

This 12-year old girl tested a Dallara Formula 3 car earlier this year, by far the youngest driver driver to do so. She is the daughter of Hideki Noda, who entered three races for Larrousse in the 1994 F1 World Championship. Could she be the first girl to start a race in F1 since Lella Lombardi way back in the 70s?

[Penfold]

To answer your first three questions: No, no, and no.  She seems like quite a talent - and I like your new take on 'probably'.

Wow, Larrousse... that's a blast from the past.  I remember driving for them in one of Geoff Crammond's F1 games, I believe as team-mate to the amazing Bertrand Gachot.

[Chrill]

https://www.motorsport.com/eurof3/news/ticktum-questions-schumachers-recent-f3-dominance/3182583/

Dan Ticktum, dominating F3 until Mick Schumacher suddenly went from mediocre to world class, is hinting that the Prema cars are perhaps not entirely legal.

I mean, the sore loser isn't saying so outright, but implying that their performance is unusual.

In a way, I agree. I mean, Mick Schumacher hasn't set the world alight in F3 since he joined, but 5 wins in 6 races (and the sixth race a P2 finish) is suspicious. In the first four race weekends of this year, Mick Schumacher finished a best of P3. In the last five race weekends, Mick has won 8 of the 13 races he has finished, and finished on the podium in another two. His worst finishing position in these last five race weekends is P5. Upturn in form, unlocking some potential and therefore gaining confidence can take you a long way. Can it take you this long? I'd like to think so.

[Matt]

But what if you have also been fairly mediocre your entire career? What if Ericsson starts getting podiums every race to end the season?

I doubt the cars are illegal, but I can see why it raises suspicions. Also, very tired of the fact that every comment is just TICKTUM HIT SOMEONE UNDER CAUTION AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXECUTED ON THE SPOT. He was like 15 and it was three years ago. It was a dumb mistake that was ultimately harmless and that he already received a stiff penalty for.

[Chrill]

Ticktum's crash back as a kid was absurd, but he has served the penalty for that and has not done anything similar since returning to racing. That is merely water under the bridge now.

If Ericsson finishes as "best of the rest" for the remainder of 2018 I would perhaps suspect something being wrong there too. During your second season of F3, you should be more likely to locate "the key" to performing at 100% of your capacity. By your fifth season in F1, that key should either have unlocked the door already or the key does not exist at all.

[Chrill]

Schumacher has won the F3 series in his second year of racing there. I mean, he did have an amazing upturn of form but that's all good for him:
https://www.motorsport.com/eurof3/news/schumacher-mick-interview-champion-michael/3194648/

What next? F2 most likely, but he's supposedly an outside bet for a Toro Rosso seat for 2019. He does have the points required now.

EDIT: Oh and a little bit less spectacular, Swedish rising star Linus Lundqvist (you thought the name Marcus Ericsson was bad?) just won the British F3 championship as a rookie.
https://sports.yahoo.com/linus-lundqvist-seals-brdc-british-144328653.html?guccounter=1

I'm hoping to see him in F2 next year, but there's no real budget. Unless of course Ericsson's backers, mysterious as they may be, switch focus. More likely he'll join the new FIA-sanctioned F3 series.