Di Grassi at Manor and Grsojean not good enough for Renault!
Discussion
Renault test driver Lucas di Grassi is closing in on a race seat at the new Virgin/Manor outfit for next year, AUTOSPORT has learned, but wants to wait for his current outfit to sort its driver plans first before committing.
Di Grassi has held detailed talks with Manor about a race seat for its debut campaign in 2010, but is also on the shortlist for a race seat at Renault next year - and will join the outfit for one of its post-season young driver test days.
The Brazilian is upbeat about his chances of securing a race seat – and said he hoped the situation would become clearer once the season has finished.
"At the moment it is looking pretty good," di Grassi told AUTOSPORT. "My commitment at the moment is with Renault. There is still one seat to be decided, and I had a very, very successful time here. Renault has helped me a lot, so my commitment is with them.
"At the moment it is deciding which driver it wants, and I know there are new teams interested in me, but it is difficult at the moment to see which one is going to be the best.
"We know some of them are not going to be the best, but which one will be the best package will become clearer in a couple of weeks. That will provide a better view of the whole thing."
Although di Grassi would not confirm how far advanced his talks with Manor were, he did admit that the team looked to be the most attractive option for him for next year.
"From what I understand, it [Manor] has the best package available of the new teams – in terms of technical people who have joined the team, in terms of marketing, and in terms of financial backing. I think is very, very serious, so from my side I rate it very high on the list."
When asked how he would rate in percentage terms his chances of being in F1, di Grassi said: "I would say a good 70 percent. At the moment it will depend on the next few weeks, after the season finishes, and then we will see if it goes down or up."
Renault is understood to favour slotting in an experienced driver alongside Robert Kubica next year, with Timo Glock top of the team's target list. Current driver Romain Grosjean is unlikely to be retained for 2010.
Di Grassi has held detailed talks with Manor about a race seat for its debut campaign in 2010, but is also on the shortlist for a race seat at Renault next year - and will join the outfit for one of its post-season young driver test days.
The Brazilian is upbeat about his chances of securing a race seat – and said he hoped the situation would become clearer once the season has finished.
"At the moment it is looking pretty good," di Grassi told AUTOSPORT. "My commitment at the moment is with Renault. There is still one seat to be decided, and I had a very, very successful time here. Renault has helped me a lot, so my commitment is with them.
"At the moment it is deciding which driver it wants, and I know there are new teams interested in me, but it is difficult at the moment to see which one is going to be the best.
"We know some of them are not going to be the best, but which one will be the best package will become clearer in a couple of weeks. That will provide a better view of the whole thing."
Although di Grassi would not confirm how far advanced his talks with Manor were, he did admit that the team looked to be the most attractive option for him for next year.
"From what I understand, it [Manor] has the best package available of the new teams – in terms of technical people who have joined the team, in terms of marketing, and in terms of financial backing. I think is very, very serious, so from my side I rate it very high on the list."
When asked how he would rate in percentage terms his chances of being in F1, di Grassi said: "I would say a good 70 percent. At the moment it will depend on the next few weeks, after the season finishes, and then we will see if it goes down or up."
Renault is understood to favour slotting in an experienced driver alongside Robert Kubica next year, with Timo Glock top of the team's target list. Current driver Romain Grosjean is unlikely to be retained for 2010.
A911DOM said:
Grassi sounds interesting - whats his form to date?
He's what I'd call solid, but not outstanding.He was strong in F3. He and Paul di Resta (Hamilton's UK karting arch-rival) were team mates at Manor in the 2005 Euroseries F3 season, and he comprehensively kicked di Resta's backside (and finished behind Hamilton and Sutil, but ahead of Vettel). He performed very well at the 2004 and 2005 Macau F3 Grands Prix as well, with his 2005 battle against Robert Kubica well-documented on video (he won the event ahead of Kubica and Vettel).
His time in GP2 have been very good (16th in 2006, 2nd in 2007, 3rd in 2008, 3rd in 2009), but not excellent except in 2008 when he placed 3rd overall after competing in only 7 of 10 rounds. He would have been champion that year if he competed in the full calendar, IMHO. His scalps among current F1 drivers include Buemi, Grosjean, Kobayashi, and Nakajima.
In F1, he tested for Honda in 2008 along with Bruno Senna. Senna was 0.3s off Button's pace, and di Grassi was 0.5s off.
I think that di Grassi is a better bet for F1 than most of the up-and-coming drivers. I'd only rate Senna, Bianchi, and Hulkenberg as maybe/better alternatives. I think he'd be better than Grosjean or Alguersuari.
Edited by Jungles on Thursday 22 October 15:23
Jungles said:
A911DOM said:
Grassi sounds interesting - whats his form to date?
He's what I'd call solid, but not outstanding.He was strong in F3. He and Paul di Resta were team mates at Manor in the 2005 Euroseries F3 season, and he comprehensively kicked di Resta's backside. He performed very well at the 2004 and 2005 Macau F3 Grands Prix as well, with his 2005 battle against Robert Kubica well-documented on video (he won the event, ahead of Kubica and Vettel).
His time in GP2 have been very good (16th in 2006, 2nd in 2007, 3rd in 2008, 3rd in 2009), but not excellent except in 2008 when he placed 3rd overall after competing in only 7 of 10 rounds. He would have been champion that year if he competed in the full calendar, IMHO.
In F1, he tested for Honda in 2008 along with Bruno Senna. Senna was 0.3s off Button's pace, and di Grassi was 0.5s off.
I think that di Grassi is a better bet for F1 than most of the up-and-coming drivers. I'd only rate Senna, Bianchi, and Hulkenberg as maybe/better alternatives. I think he's be better than Grosjean or Alguersuari.
Edited by Jungles on Thursday 22 October 15:11
Based on that, and the fact that he's obviously been on Manors books for a while - he's put himself right in the firing line to land a seat with one of the new boys.
There seems to be a pattern with the birth places of drivers too.
Why do the Brazilians, Fins, Brits, Germans etc get to this stage but other equally (or better) developed countries not have the 'racing stock' to chase for a F1 seat?
A911DOM said:
Jungles said:
A911DOM said:
Grassi sounds interesting - whats his form to date?
He's what I'd call solid, but not outstanding.He was strong in F3. He and Paul di Resta were team mates at Manor in the 2005 Euroseries F3 season, and he comprehensively kicked di Resta's backside. He performed very well at the 2004 and 2005 Macau F3 Grands Prix as well, with his 2005 battle against Robert Kubica well-documented on video (he won the event, ahead of Kubica and Vettel).
His time in GP2 have been very good (16th in 2006, 2nd in 2007, 3rd in 2008, 3rd in 2009), but not excellent except in 2008 when he placed 3rd overall after competing in only 7 of 10 rounds. He would have been champion that year if he competed in the full calendar, IMHO.
In F1, he tested for Honda in 2008 along with Bruno Senna. Senna was 0.3s off Button's pace, and di Grassi was 0.5s off.
I think that di Grassi is a better bet for F1 than most of the up-and-coming drivers. I'd only rate Senna, Bianchi, and Hulkenberg as maybe/better alternatives. I think he's be better than Grosjean or Alguersuari.
Edited by Jungles on Thursday 22 October 15:11
Based on that, and the fact that he's obviously been on Manors books for a while - he's put himself right in the firing line to land a seat with one of the new boys.
There seems to be a pattern with the birth places of drivers too.
Why do the Brazilians, Fins, Brits, Germans etc get to this stage but other equally (or better) developed countries not have the 'racing stock' to chase for a F1 seat?
A911DOM said:
There seems to be a pattern with the birth places of drivers too.
Why do the Brazilians, Fins, Brits, Germans etc get to this stage but other equally (or better) developed countries not have the 'racing stock' to chase for a F1 seat?
Two factors: single-seater racing popularity, and sponsorship.Why do the Brazilians, Fins, Brits, Germans etc get to this stage but other equally (or better) developed countries not have the 'racing stock' to chase for a F1 seat?
Most countries don't have well-developed motorsport culture. And among the countries that do have strong culture of motorsport, many don't have well-developed single-seater, open-wheel racing leagues. In Australia for example, our touring car and motorcycle racing is strong, but open-wheel or other forms of racing is not. Our F3 championship has a small full-time field and most drivers are so budget-strapped that they spanner their own cars. Most of our Formula Ford guys move into touring car development programs.
For sponsorship, drivers need to have viable sponsorship to compete in Europe. And European racing is expensive. You either need a name or business connections. Brazilians have had a glorious history in European motorsport, thanks to names like Senna, Piquet, and Fittipaldi) and Petrobras is very active in motorsport sponsorship. The Japanese are either very rich, or are sent to Europe via manufacturer-backed driver development programs (eg. Sato with Honda, Nakajima and Kobayashi with Toyota). For drivers from other non-European countries. racing in Europe is like jumping over the moon because businesses are not interested in investing money on an unknown, nameless non-European to race in Europe.
Edited by Jungles on Thursday 22 October 15:38
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