Goodbye F3000 hello Formula GP2
Discussion
Autosport said:
Formula 3000, the main feeder category into Formula 1, will be replaced by a new series called Formula GP2 from 2005. The new category will feature Dallara chassis and Renault engines.
The Formula GP2 Series will feature a completely new chassis and engine package, which organisers have described as "more sophisticated" than the current F3000 Lola-Zytek package. Renault will design, build and service engines producing 600bhp for the series, while Italian constructor Dallara will produce the chassis.
The series will take F3000's support slot at F1 events. In a release, organisers of the new series said: "Bernie Ecclestone has been very helpful in this new formula and said that this will be a very good way for drivers, engineers and mechanics into F1."
The decision to re-brand the F3000 championship has been expected for some time. The series has recently struggled to attract a full grid, and has suffered in the face of competition from the Dallara Nissan World Series and the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup.
F3000 was introduced in 1985 as a replace for the existing Formula 2 championship. In 1996, the series was converted into a one-make formula, featuring Lola chassis and Zytek-built engines. Past F3000 champions who have gone on to win races in F1 include Juan Pablo Montoya, Jean Alesi and Olivier Panis.
Re-branding excercise, F3000/GP2 will still be largely ignored.
Absolutely, you would then have F1, F2, F3 rather than the ludicrous plethora of "lawnmower races" that we have now. Formula this, Formula that......etc etc. If that was the case, you may even find drivers dropping out of poor drives in F1 to claim good drives in F2 if the promotion and spectacle was comparable.
v8thunder said:
Indy car also feeds a few drivers into F1.
Where they discover things like corners and gearboxes and shuffle back to indycar!
That might apply to IRL, but I don't think you could level that accusation at CART. They've always had a good mix of oval, street and circuit races. The cars have big power, wide slicks, steel brakes and manual gearboxes (at least they did last time I checked). Sounds like an ideal recipe for close racing if you ask me! Certainly beats narrow grooved slicks, semi auto gearboxes and electronic driver aides.
If anything, I'd say series like F3000/Nippon and F3 are becoming feeders for the US series rather than F1, which is in danger of pricing itself out of the market. You get a few drivers switching to F1 from the US series (Montoya and Villeneuve spring to mind, but both of them initially went to the States from alleged F1 feeders), but we're seeing more and more drivers viewing IRL/CART as a viable career move - Kenny Brack, Alex Zanardi, Chistian Fittipaldi, Christiano De Matta and Gil De Ferran are a few that spring to mind who have quit F1/F3000 for the States with a high degree of success, and many up and coming drivers are viewing the US as a viable career move - Darren Manning, Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Mark Taylor are the most recent examples. With all due respect to the likes of Minardi and Jordan, would you rather race in the States with a good chance of success, or have to find millions of pounds just to tool around getting in the way in F1, only to be dropped when someone else with more money comes along?
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