They haven’t totally abandoned F1, by any means, though. This month, former Autosport editor Anthony Rowlinson and Werner Jessner have compiled an impressive series of interviews with the men that made The Man, i.e. 2010 and 2011 F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel. Included in there are chats with Christian Horner, Helmut Marko and race engineer Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin (the French guy you hear on Vettel’s radio, who is apparently 41, which I didn’t know) of Red Bull Racing, and also other figures from Vettel’s career – former BMW Motorsport boss Dr Mario Thiessen who first stuck him in an F1 car in a race weekend, Toro Rosso’s Giorgio Ascanelli, Vettel’s Toro Rosso race engineer Riccardo Adami with whom he won his first race, Carlin Motorsport’s Trevor Carlin who ran him in the lower formulae, paddock veteran Ann Bradshaw who worked with him at BMW, and the owner of the Michael Schumacher Karting Centre in Kerpen, Gerd Noack, who spotted his enormous talent at a very early age. There’s a nice spread in there of well-known figures in the F1 paddock and those who perhaps don’t get as much attention.

Have a read – it’s a good laugh, it’s not too demanding and you will learn something, even if you’re an F1 expert. For instance, I didn’t know that Helmut Marko was a barrister, or that Christian Horner has his own (strictly unofficial) fan club called the ‘Hornettes’. There’s also loads of stats and the interviews themselves, which are quite revealing in places. So yeah, check it out in the magazine – find out where you can get it on the website, redbulletin.com

For a start, I just don’t see how anyone can automatically assume Sky’s coverage will be awful. Yes, it’s a damn shame Murdoch’s got his grubby hands on F1. But I don’t think that’s a reason to assume we’ll automatically go back to ITV levels of coverage. Sky are going to be competing against the BBC for half the races, so they have to do a good job. If you compare Sky’s football coverage to ITV’s, where they compete for the Champions League final, Sky’s is generally better.

I think Sky are actually more likely to give us what we’ve been crying out for for years – Ben Edwards as commentator, neutral experienced pundits, and balanced professional coverage. It’s the BBC I’m worried about – they are the ones who could both cut back on expense further (coverage from a broom cupboard again?) and/or become ever more sensationalist as they try to get as many viewers as they can for the races they’ve got. Quite a few people have already noticed this year that they’ve been focusing more on the guys at the front and especially McLaren and Red Bull than in previous years. Lotus are the only ones getting a look in at the back. As with Eurosport back in the day, Sky could well become the coverage of choice for the hardcore fan.

But it’s still Sky, which does hurt. I’m lucky enough to have my parents paying for Sky already and I set up Sky Go a few weeks ago so it’s no skin off my nose (if I choose to continue following F1), and I think you have to take all the “I’m not going to get Sky” comments with a pinch of salt as there will be plenty of people who will give in and get it because they “can’t live without it”. But viewing figures will be lower, for both Sky and the BBC. Sky can cope because they make their money from subscriptions, and they’ve now got one of the biggest rivals to football under their control, but I think in a few years the BBC will ditch it completely, once everyone gets used to it being on Sky. As long as Bernie continues to milk his cash cow, they, along with ITV, simply cannot afford F1 any more.

And the thing is this was always going to happen. Take away tradition and the truth is such an expensive, elitist sport shouldn’t really be on FTA anyway, especially when sports like cricket, golf and tennis have all gone the same way. Regardless of its following, F1 always has been and always will be a minority sport for the middle classes and the rich – maybe it’s a sign of my changing interests, but I’d much rather the BBC and ITV spent its budget on the true sport for the people, football.

I had my reservations beforehand. The reviews have generally been very positive but from places with a vested interest in promoting the film or from sources that don’t focus on F1. But safe to say, they were all blown out of the water. It is a very good film for what it is, very moving and powerful

*Spoilers below*

I think it’s particularly good if you’re someone who’s new to F1 and doesn’t know as much of the back story. The film largely deals with the rivalry between Senna and Alain Prost in the late 1980s and early 90s up until Senna’s death in 1994. For me, it’s a bit old hat because the whole Senna-Prost thing is quite cliche in F1 circles, but obviously to someone who hasn’t investigated every nook and cranny in the story it’s particularly interesting

Having said that, while I didn’t really learn anything and it wasn’t really aimed at me, it was still very enjoyable to watch F1 on the big screen for the first time. Because Formula One Management are so strict with the licensing of F1 footage, it’s very rare that you see it outside of live coverage and season review videos. For instance, Top Gear did an excellent feature on Senna last year but from resulting repeats, the segment was cut out because it cost so much to be able to use the footage to broadcast once, let alone several times. Hopefully they will be able to release this on DVD after because I’d like to watch it again

It has been said that the film is quite biased towards Senna and against Prost and I can sort of understand that. Prost has always been considered the “boring” one and Senna the “interesting”, charismatic one, the one who died heroically at the wheel instead of retiring as champion the year before. But while it is a bit biased towards Senna (after all, he is the subject of the film), I don’t think Prost comes out of it particularly badly. The one person who does come out of it badly for me is the then-president of FISA Jean-Marie Balestre, but I don’t think that is unjustified. The one aspect that I think is too biased is the sense that Senna couldn’t play the political game and “the system was out to get him”, because that simply isn’t true, although I don’t think it really matters as it doesn’t detract from the film for me

As a hardcore F1 fan, I would have liked a couple more of the archetypal Senna moments, such as his battles with Nigel Mansell, instead of being tagged on at the end with the credits where no one will see them because they’ve all walked out by then. Mansell, Piquet, Schumacher and some of the other top drivers are pretty much ignored. And I would’ve liked more from the early years, the Toleman season and the Lotus years. But then again, that’s just me as a hardcore F1 fan. I think it does its job quite well without them. I don’t think they’re needed, because some of them wouldn’t necessarily interest everyone. There was enough in there for an accurate depiction of his personality and god-like genius

But there is another side to the film which I think is especially effective. I had heard of people getting quite emotional while watching it. I was thinking it was because they’d show his death in a particularly moving way, and they do, but for me the most emotional part was the funeral, and the thousands of hysterical fans. Because while it’s all very sad for us F1 fans in the West with our comfortable lifestyles and HD TVs to watch every race in minute detail, there are thousands of very poor people in Brazil who pretty much worshipped this guy for what he did, and he did so much for them on and off the circuit. And I think the film portrays that brilliantly. It gives the film its soul, really – it wouldn’t be half as good or powerful without that aspect

In short, for what it is – a documentary aimed at both F1 fans and those who don’t know much about F1 history – it’s perfect. I can understand that it’s not aimed at someone like me, but while I didn’t learn anything, it was thoroughly enjoyable to watch. And I’m glad I read a negative review last week that criticised it for being too biased because it lowered expectations – I think if I’d gone in hearing only positive reviews I might have gone in expecting something else and been disappointed. Yes, it’s a bit biased and selective, but if it wasn’t, it would’ve been bloody boring

As it’s out on limited release, it isn’t out for much longer – I think you’ve pretty much got until the end of the week (or sooner) to see it

Elsewhere, my exams are nearly over so I should be able to get back to writing soon…

My latest race report, on this weekend’s Malaysia GP, can be found here. I will be reporting on every race this season. All my outside articles can be found in the Portfolio section of the blog, including my review of the Australian GP.

Also check out my Red Bull Reporter competition submission here.

More info can be found here if you’re interested

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Red Bull Reporter Launches for 2011 with Formula One Assignment

One budding journalist could be reporting from within the Red Bull Racing team for two months from Monaco to the British Grand Prix

www.redbullreporter.com

Red Bull Reporter returns for 2011 with the most exciting and unique assignment to date. Providing up and coming journalists with the opportunity to kick start their careers in the media, Red Bull Reporter is offering one successful applicant the chance to report for 2010’s Formula One double world champions, Red Bull Racing. For two months the reporter will be working from within the team between Monaco and the British Grand Prix.

The successful journalist will be given exclusive access to the factory, team members and management as they join the team in Monaco and Silverstone as well as report from within the Milton Keynes base for the periods in between races. Writing as an autonomous journalist within the Red Bull Racing editorial team, the Red Bull Reporter will also get the opportunity to have their work published in a national publication.

The reporter’s exclusive access will include full team access at the Monaco GP, including media briefings, access to the drivers’ simulator at the factory, the chance to sit in on media sessions with the drivers, Christian Horner and Adrian Newey and Grandstand seats at Silverstone for the British GP.

This year Red Bull Reporter will be offering up and coming journalists the chance to take part in three unique and exclusive assignments across the year. In addition to the three official assignments, the reporter community will have the opportunity to apply for press passes for Red Bull events, sport fixtures and festivals across the year to boost their portfolios on the site.

Budding journalists can apply by visiting www.redbullreporter.com and creating a profile before submitting examples of work, profiles can be seen by all Red Bull Reporter users who are encouraged to rate and comment on each other’s submissions. Each profile acts as the reporter’s portfolio and will be considered when users apply for specific assignments.

Launched in 2009, Red Bull Reporter gives young talented writers, photographers, filmmakers and presenters the opportunity to report on unique elements of the world of Red Bull by providing unprecedented, behind the scenes access. Last year saw Peter Tweedie shooting some of the world’s best B Boys at Red Bull BC One in Tokyo, Persia Pirelli and Rex Kirby reporting from Red Bull Cliff Diving in Sisikon and Stefani Ernst and Kirsty McAvoy reporting on Red Bull X Fighters in London’s Battersea Power Station.

Video

Of course there can be different interpretations of what is meant by “image”. By this, I don’t mean a picture – I’m referring to the images you see on the TV (or computer) screen. Perhaps “iconic moments” would be better, but I think “iconic images” is more accurate in this case, because these are meant to be very brief snapshots, the moments that F1 fans have their own picture of in their head.

I’ve tried to get a good cross-section of F1 history here. It would be pointless to concentrate on the various “golden eras” we’ve had, so I’ll balance it out. You’ll also notice I’ve not ranked them – to do such a thing would be a bit futile in this case, because it doesn’t really matter. These are just my selected moments, the ones that stick out the best in my mind. You may feel a bias towards the last 20 years, but I can justify that – for one, it’s because that’s when I’ve been watching or have the most videos of, and is also when we’ve had the best TV coverage and, most importantly, when most people will have been watching the sport. While it is my personal choice, I’d like to think that I’m picking what the majority of fans will remember best, in part by thinking of what moments are most frequently replayed on TV or pictured in books. Basically, I’m looking for what people think of when they think “Formula 1″

1979 French GP – Villeneuve dives up the inside of Arnoux

It is still the one that all F1 armchair experts look to, and it’s still the one that provides the evidence for rose-tinted spectacle wearers that F1 was much better back in the “golden era” of the late 1970s and early ’80s. The Villeneuve-Arnoux battle is probably the greatest F1 duel of all time, because it has all the elements that makes a good F1 legend – it was dramatic, it took place over the last couple of laps, the drivers were desperate, and it wasn’t even for the win and so “wasn’t even necessary”. In particular, the moment I’ve gone for is when Villeneuve lunges up the inside of the yellow Renault, smoke pouring off the front wheel, and looking like he’ll never make the corner – that just sums up his bravery and desperation at that moment in time. In fact, you could say it sums him up as a driver in general, really.

While it is a bit over-egged these days, and the most watched versions of the video are speeded up and have cheesy dance music added over the top, it’s still a great watch. It’s still the perfect way of introducing an F1 fan to F1 history – just show them the video of Dijon ’79 and hope they are amazed. But the rose-tinters are a bit silly to use it as an example, because of one reason – this is a special moment. This didn’t happen week in week out, because if it did, we wouldn’t still be talking about it today. It’s a one-off, because Gilles was a one-off, and so is Rene. A generation-defining moment, but because it was unique.

Honourable Mention: 1979 Dutch GP – Gilles driving around Zandvoort on 3 wheels and trashing his car

1985 Portuguese GP – Senna’s first win in the rain

In 1985, Ayrton Senna was still a rising star in F1. He had achieved some remarkable results in his first year in the series with Toleman, including his famous charge to 2nd at Monaco in torrential rain, but it was still early days. For the following season, he joined Lotus. Surely it would be a matter of when rather than if he could win a race. In fact, it took just 2 races.

Again it came in torrential rain, and again it was a remarkable achievement – Ayrton finished the race a full minute ahead of 2nd-placed Michele Alboreto. Total and utter annihilation of the field, in only his 16th start. It was no doubt that F1 had a phenomenal talent on his hands. But the exact iconic image? It has to be the in-lap, after he crossed the line. It is simply a perfect image – that classic black-and-gold JPS-liveried Lotus; that day-glo helmet; tonnes of spray; an overjoyed Senna punching the air like no other driver had ever punched it; red seat belts flailing out of the side of the cockpit. For me, the classic Senna image.

Honourable Mention: 2000 German GP – Compatriot Barrichello cries on the podium after his incredible first win

1986 Australian GP – Mansell’s tyre explodes

As he will tell you every time you mention it, Nigel Mansell worked bloody hard to get into F1. Blood, sweat and tears doesn’t come into it. He came up the hard way. But by 1986, it was all coming good. A year before, he’d joined Williams and finally taken his first wins, much to former team boss Peter Warr’s surprise. The Didcot team were quickly making progress too, and in 1986 both Mansell and Nelson Piquet racked up several wins and mounted a title challenge. The only man that stood between them and the championship was Alain Prost, in the distinctly inferior McLaren but still just about in the title race thanks to the Williams boys taking points off each other.

Mansell was in the box seat, and it was all looking good as he cruised around in the second race at Adelaide, when our iconic moment occurred – his tyre inexplicably exploded on the long back straight at top speed. It was a sudden failure. The massive amount of sparks created, and the remains of the tyre flapping around wildly, only added to the violence of the explosion. Mansell somehow kept it under control but had to park it at the end of the straight. It was game over, both for him and team mate Piquet, who had to pit for the team to change his tyres as a precaution. It meant that the wily tortoise Prost, who had already changed tyres, cruised home to take the victory in the race and his second of four titles. But even today, love him or hate him, you can’t help but feel for Nigel…

Honourable Mention: 1987 British GP – ‘Our Nige’ fools Piquet and slides up the inside of him at Stowe

1989 Japanese GP – Senna and Prost collide

I was torn between this and the incident at the same event the following year, because both are equally significant moments – proves the fallacy of picking just 10, I guess. But I’ve gone for 1989, primarily because it was the first of the two, and because it was less predictable – Senna threatened to take Prost out in 1990, so you could see it coming.

The 1989 collision came out of nothing and was a lot more dramatic. This is the point where the Great Feud went global, and everyone could see it. Not to mention the fact that it was a title-deciding moment. Two white-and-red McLarens, in an iconic livery, coming together while Senna tried to overtake Prost. The image of the two cars sat stationary, quite literally locked together in combat, will be replayed forever. Like France 1979, a generation-defining moment – the summit of another of those “golden eras”

Honourable Mention: 1990 Japanese GP – Ayrton drives into Alain for revenge and for the title

1991 Spanish GP – Mansell and Senna go wheel-to-wheel

At risk of this becoming a Senna/Mansell lovefest, I could not miss this one out – this is another one of those iconic images that will appear again and again, in books, on TV, on the internet. There are two reasons for this. One is that, like several of the events I’ve listed so far, it has everything. It has, on one side, a white-and-red Marlboro McLaren, red number 1 proudly sitting on the front, day-glo helmet sticking out of a hole in the middle. On the other is red 5, a classic-liveried Williams. Sparks are flying, wheels are almost touching, and this is all taking place at near top speed, just coming over a crest. Whoever is bravest will take the place, but it could so easily end in a horrible accident…

In hindsight, perhaps it seems a bit less dramatic than some of the other events here. You could say that they easily had it under control and that they were on a straight so it wasn’t so much a test of outright balls as some of the other great overtakes in F1 history – Hakkinen on Schumacher at Spa in 2000, Alonso on Schumacher at Suzuka in 2005, or Raikkonen on Fisichella in the same race. But what makes this special isn’t necessarily the skill involved – it’s the fact that these two giants of the sport are inches apart, at 200 mph, in iconic cars. The reason this is looking like a Senna/Mansell love-in is because these two were at the top of the sport for so long, and 99 times out of 100, the iconic moments in F1 history involve its biggest names…

Honourable Mention: 1992 Monaco GP – The two legends slide their car around Monaco on the last lap

1994 San Marino GP – The Senna crash

Things take a turn for the bleaker in my post…but there is a good reason why the death of one of the sport’s greatest names should be included here, simply because it is just that. Not only that, but it unfolded live on TV, in front of millions of people worldwide. The thing is, although this isn’t the sort of moment that’s going to be replayed endlessly on TV these days, that’s not to say many thousands of people will not have gone searching for this on the internet. It may well be the most-watched moment out of all of these.

I don’t feel the need to comment specifically on what happened, because I’m sure you all know, but it was a highly significant moment in F1 history not only because of what happened and who saw it, but also because of the implications. It led to massive changes to the safety regulations, yes, but it was also the end of an era – the era of the fighters, the Mansells, Prosts and Piquets. It was the passing of the baton on to a new generation, led by the man who would go on to break all the records…

Honourable Mention: 2007 Canadian GP – Another bad crash, but this time Robert Kubica escapes unharmed

1994 Australian GP – Schumacher and Hill collide

There’s not a single F1 encyclopaedia out there that I have seen that doesn’t have one of the famous images of Michael Schumacher’s blue and green Benetton flying through the air after colliding with Damon Hill’s Williams. It is another dramatic, iconic moment, and especially has significance in the careers of both men. While Hill would spend the next two seasons trying (too hard) to avenge his misfortune, this would be the moment that would tarnish the Schumacher name.

While on this occasion he would officially get away with it, unlike at Jerez 3 years later, the judgement of most observers is that he did it intentionally – and while Senna did the same thing 4 years previously, the German’s reaction was unprovoked, an instant reaction to slapping the wall seconds earlier and (seemingly terminally) damaging his car. It was a last desperate lunge to try and salvage a championship that he had dominated until a harsh 3 race ban mid-season. Fortunately, in the short-term, it worked. Unfortunately, in the long-term, it was very damaging. From now on, the mud would stick.

Honourable Mention: 1997 European GP – Michael does it again, this time to Jacques Villeneuve

2000 Japanese GP – Schumacher wins the race and title

While Adelaide ’94 shows the bad side of Schumacher, Japan 2000 showed the good side. And what a side. The race itself was an incredible battle, beginning much like that race 6 years previously where he and race leader Mika Hakkinen left the field behind, lapping at an astonishing pace, even when it began to spit with rain. In the end, it came down to strategy, and at the last round of stops, Michael was able to use his extra fuel to leapfrog the Finn. From there on, he just had to keep going…

There are two things that make the moment he crossed the line special. One is the sheer outpouring of emotion from a man generally considered to be a bit of a robot. The way he slapped the steering wheel shows a man absolutely beside himself in unadulterated joy (as Murray Walker would say). And the reason for this joy? He had cleared his debt with his team. Ferrari had not won the drivers’ title since 1979, and Schumacher was signed with the specific goal of ending that long drought. Now he had achieved this aim – it was a release of 4 years of tension and frustration. And from here on, there was just no stopping him – the beginning of an incredible era of domination of the sport.

Honourable Mention: 2002 French GP – Michael equals Fangio’s record of 5 world titles

2002 Austrian GP – Rubens lets Michael through on the run to the line

Even when bad moments are obviously going to happen in F1, it often doesn’t take the sting out of them. Austria 2002 fits this perfectly. Rubens Barrichello had dominated the event for Ferrari, and was comfortably ahead of team mate Schumacher, who was by this point well clear in the title race and on course to clinch it ridiculously early in the season. But even so, common sense seemed to drift away from the Ferrari pit wall, as Jean Todt asked Rubens to let Michael through for a win he wasn’t desperate for.

The stubborn Brazilian initially refused, but eventually yielded…only he made it obvious that he was doing so. On the final lap. After the final corner. It was a bit petty of Rubens to do this, but he was rightfully angry. And so were the fans. Even ITV commentators James Allen and Mark Blundell exclaimed in horror as Rubens slowed to a crawl. Ferrari would later renege on this policy somewhat, allowing Rubens to lead Michael home at the Nurburgring soon after, but the damage was done. Team orders would never be the same again.

Honourable Mention: 2005 United States GP – Another epic farce that could only have happened in F1

2008 Brazilian GP – Hamilton passes Glock

It’s often hard to work out what will be considered an iconic moment in F1 history when it’s only happened relatively recently, but there’s no doubting that the final lap at Interlagos in 2008 will be right up there among the classics. A tense race generally, Lewis Hamilton was doing just about enough to win the world title until a late rain shower forced him and others into the pits. But both Toyota drivers, Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, decided not to pit, and stayed out on slicks. Glock jumped Lewis, putting him 5th, right on the cusp of losing the title, and with the rain easing to a trickle, he struggled and was caught by Sebastian Vettel. The German passed him soon after, putting Lewis down to 6th, seemingly handing the title to race winner Felipe Massa, until that final corner…

An incredibly tense finale, it looked like the title had gone to Ferrari, which, in the eyes of many, would have been a travesty due to Hamilton’s harsh penalty at Spa for cutting the last chicane. But equally, there are many Massa and Ferrari fans, not least at the circuit itself, who will have been absolutely devastated by the late change, a change that some observers, including BBC 5 Live commentator David Croft, failed to even spot at the time due to the casual nature of Hamilton’s overtake of the struggling Glock. Though the rose-tinters may not agree, I’d have it down as the most dramatic moment in F1 history…

Honourable Mention: 2009 Brazilian GP – Jenson Button punches the air and sings (badly) as he wins the title

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Let me know what you think – if you agree or disagree with my choices, if you have your own list, or if you just think it’s a stupid idea altogether…

DAMS were the first, as the update to the last post shows. Former Renault F1 driver Romain Grosjean will be joined by Norway’s Pal Varhaug. DAMS once again seem to be resorting to the quality driver + pay driver formula, as Varhaug’s record in GP3 wouldn’t necessarily guarantee him a promotion. Last year, they initially hired Jerome d’Ambrosio and Ho-Pin Tung, only to drop d’Ambrosio halfway through the year for Grosjean. The Belgian then returned with the disappointing Chinese driver suffered injuries in a crash at the Hungaroring, with the team deciding wisely not to rush him back, or in fact bring him back at all.

Next up were Spanish team Racing Engineering, who confirmed that Dani Clos and Christian Vietoris would continue as the team’s drivers in the main series. Both won races last year, with Clos winding up 4th overall just behind Jules Bianchi, and so you’d think that the continuity, something GP2 teams rarely choose to have, may give them an edge. Having won the drivers’ title with Giorgio Pantano back in 2008, who’d bet against another title challenge? Clos certainly has to – it will be his third year in the series, pretty much the last chance saloon as far as GP2 goes.

A side note to that is that in GP2 Asia, Clos will be joined by the young Frenchman Nathanael Berthon. He makes the step up to GP2 level after spending the 2010 season with Draco in Formula Renault 3.5, in which he finished on the podium four times, including a win at Magny-Cours. He is potentially one to watch for the future.

And finally Carlin have just confirmed that their first GP2 line-up will be made up of Mikhail Aleshin and Max Chilton. Neither are strangers to the team. Aleshin, who is still only 23, spent four seasons with the team in FRenault 3.5, culminating in his title victory last year. 19 year old Chilton drove for them in British F3 and his father is reputed to hold a stake in the team. Surprisingly this will be the Russian’s first full season foray into GP2, having only previously briefly substituted for Michael Ammermuller at ART for two rounds, while Chilton competed in 2010 for Ocean. Unlike his touring car star brother Tom, he has raced in single-seaters since 2007, famously making his British F3 debut a day after his 16th birthday.

I should also point out that Razia and Cecotto haven’t been confirmed at Team Air Asia yet, meaning there are 7 seats left to be confirmed (2x Air Asia, 2x Ocean, 1x Trident, 1x Super Nova and 1x Rapax). However, Cecotto was confirmed at Super Nova for GP2 Asia yesterday, with a view to racing in the main series for them.

UPDATE: And now Venezuela’s Rodolfo Gonzalez has been confirmed at Trident alongside Stefano Coletti.

Team owner Vijay Mallya has had a tendency to change his mind quite a lot regarding drivers. Tonio is said to have had a race deal with the team for 2009 in his initial test driver contract, but it seems they couldn’t find a way of getting rid of Sutil and Fisichella – I think he might have got a bit of compensation out of that behind slightly-ajar doors but I’m not sure. And then as soon as he did get his chance, he was out of favour and looked like being dumped in favour of di Resta – I seem to remember the feeling was that it didn’t look that great for him before the season even began, before di Resta had even participated in an F1 weekend.

The problem may be something behind the scenes. Liuzzi was signed thanks to Colin Kolles, then the team boss, who rated him highly, only to promptly get the sack himself – hence why Tonio is being linked so strongly to HRT. And the shift from being in favour to not was quite sudden, which perhaps suggest something sudden behind the scenes.

The other thing with Liuzzi is that while he’s clearly good, he hasn’t really improved at all. The guy’s been in F1 for 5 years, and was doing testing for a while before that too with Williams and Sauber. There have been no flashes of brilliance. And thus you have to doubt his ultimate potential – has he peaked already? Yes, he could win races in a decent car, but so could most of the guys on the grid now. You have to question that F3000 title that, let’s face it, even as someone who thinks positively of him, I have to admit was against less-than-average opposition.

And here’s where he doesn’t compare well with Sutil. Even if you don’t rate him, Adrian has shown he is capable of the odd very good race – the only particularly good race I can think of from Tonio was China 2007, but even then he was comfortably beaten by his team mate. And when you’re a midfield team, particularly one owned by an airline and alcohol magnate who owns most of the companies whose logos are on the car, it’s often better to have the driver who, once a year, pulls a blinder and gets a freak podium, rather than the guy who’s plodding around getting 7ths and 8ths every week – the former is what will get you the headlines and exposure, even if it’s not representative.

This is roughly what happened in 2010 – Sutil just about had the edge anyway, but had a couple of stand-out drives where he finished quite high up, whereas Tonio’s best race was arguably the very first one of the year, and everyone had forgotten about him. Standing out from the crowd, especially in times like this with pay drivers knocking around with massive potential sponsorship deals in their pocket, is what you need to do as a driver.

Either way, there is a question of trust now hanging over Vijay Mallya’s head as a result of this. While I am very much an outsider to all of this, my perception is that I don’t think of Force India as any more or less trustworthy than anyone else in the paddock. Why is Hulkenberg joining them? Because Williams got rid of him despite taking that pole. They wanted to loan him to Hispania, the weakest team on the grid. Williams ethically have been one of the worst teams in recent F1 history, dumping decent drivers because of money several times – remember Wurz “retiring” ahead of the last race in 2007 in order to give Kazuki Nakajima a run? Plus there’s Kimi getting paid by Ferrari off a year after signing a contract extension, Alonso being forced out of McLaren 2 years early, and plenty of other cans of worms to open. I don’t see any teams that could take a moral high ground these days – even Virgin were at it this year not giving reserve driver Andy Soucek any running, and they’ve only been in it a season!

At the end of the day, in F1, and perhaps sport generally these days, contracts are only worth the paper they’re written on. That’s not just Force India – all of them do it if they can get away with it. They may be getting the most attention for other reasons…

There has been a shuffle of the pack teams-wise, with DPR joining 2010 absentees Durango in departing. They are replaced by top British junior team Carlin and Team Lotus (i.e. 1Malaysia) junior team Team Air Asia – that is as opposed to the Group Lotus (i.e. the car company) junior team ART, who have obtained sponsorship from the car manufacturer and will carry British racing green with the traditional yellow stripe. Super Nova have also seemingly picked up some backing from either Group Lotus or parent company Proton, due to the re-signing of Lotus Renault GP (i.e. the Group Lotus-sponsored Renault team…yes, I have to keep doing this) test and reserve driver, Fairuz Fauzy, who drove for the team way back in 2006! What this means for DAMS, who were backed by Renault F1/GP’s owners Genii and part of the Gravity stable, remains to be seen.

Apart from returnee Fauzy, there have been a number of other confirmations around the place, starting with Rapax, who took Pastor Maldonado to the drivers’ crown in dominant fashion last year – you may remember them in their past life as Piquet GP. They have signed up the Swiss driver Fabio Leimer, who drove for Ocean Racing Technology last year and previously won the International Formula Master title in 2008. Driver 2 is yet to be confirmed.

The other big name teams have already completed their line-ups. Lotus ART, the most successful team in GP2 history, have continuity with Ferrari’s test driver Jules Bianchi, and their own GP3 champion from last year, and Sauber test and reserve driver, Esteban Gutierrez of Mexico. Meanwhile, their arch-rivals at Barwa Addax have kept Giedo van der Garde, for yet another shot at the title for the Dutchman, and have signed 2010 race winner Charles Pic alongside him.

iSport, who won the drivers’ title with Timo Glock back in 2007, have also signed up two drivers. Sam Bird impressed with ART last year and will get a second attempt at the title at the British team, and he is joined by Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson. Both have previously tested for Brawn/Mercedes GP. Another F1 tester is Luiz Razia, formerly Virgin’s reserve driver in 2010, who has signed for Team Air Asia and is thus a prime candidate to be Team Lotus reserve this year. He is joined by Johnny Cecotto Jr, the son of the Venezuelan former Theodore and Toleman F1 driver, and touring car and motorbike star. Another with F1 links is former F1 team Coloni. They have signed Belgian-Romanian Michael Herck, previously a staple at DPR, and British driver James Jakes.

The last team with a complete line-up, having just confirmed it today, is Christian Horner’s Arden International team, the powerhouse of the later years of the old F3000 series. They have signed Czech driver Josef Kral, who drove for Super Nova last year, was injured in a spectacular airborne crash at Valencia not unlike that of Mark Webber, and later tested for HRT at Abu Dhabi. Alongside him is another second generation driver, Jolyon Palmer, son of Jonathan and runner-up to Dean Stoneman (who is sitting out 2011 to recover from illness – best wishes to him) in last year’s Formula 2 series. The only other confirmed driver is the Monegasque ace Stefano Coletti, who will drive for Italian minnows Trident Racing.

This leaves 11 of the 26 seats to be filled. With Rapax, Super Nova, and Trident all having one free, Racing Engineering, DAMS, Ocean and Carlin are yet to fill a seat, although there is plenty of time before the series kicks off in May at Istanbul. However, it is worth pointing out that GP2 Asia begins in February in Abu Dhabi, with all of the confirmed drivers participating in the 3-round 6-race mini-series.

There are still plenty of names out there who have not been snapped up yet. Davide Valsecchi may be holding out for a HRT drive alongside Narain Karthikeyan. Talented young Brit Oliver Turvey deserves a second chance but has lost his backing from the Racing Steps Foundation. Spaniard Dani Clos, formerly of Racing Engineering and a race winner last year, will also be knocking around for opportunities, along with his team mate from last year, German Christian Vietoris. Giacomo Ricci impressed for DPR last year, and perhaps the veterans, the likes of Alvaro Parente, Luca Filippi and even Romain Grosjean, could make returns. Plus there will be the inevitable drivers coming with cash – Ho-Pin Tung, Rodolfo Gonzalez, Vladimir Arabadzhiev, Alberto Valerio and others. Last year saw an increasing number of these and a high number of driver changes, often race-by-race, at some of the smaller teams. Let’s hope that won’t happen too often.

But with a bolstering of the grid with two new teams and a new car, GP2 looks in as strong a shape as ever. Its importance to the racing world and in particular F1 is clear with three of its drivers from last year graduating to F1 in 2011 – champion Maldonado with Williams, runner-up Sergio Perez with Sauber, and Jerome d’Ambrosio with Virgin. That brings the total number of ex-GP2 drivers on the F1 grid to 10 out of the 21 drivers confirmed so far, with the possibility of another in the second HRT seat whoever it goes to. Expensive it may be, but Formula Renault 3.5 and F2 are still providing little opposition to GP2′s dominant position as F1′s main feeder series. And with GP3 now firmly established and draining talent and teams away from F3, the future looks bright for Bruno Michel’s burgeoning motorsport empire.

UPDATE: Romain Grosjean will return full-time to GP2 with DAMS this year, alongside Pal Varhaug, a race winner in GP3 last year for Jenzer Motorsport, who will become the series’ first ever Norwegian driver.

GP2 Asia Series Calendar
11/12 Feb – Yas Marina
18/19 Feb – Sakhir
12/13 Mar – Sakhir (supporting F1)

GP2 Series Calendar (all supporting F1)
7/8 May – Istanbul
21/22 May – Catalunya
27/28 May – Monte Carlo
25/26 Jun – Valencia
9/10 Jul – Silverstone
23/24 Jul – Nurburging
30/31 Jul – Hungaroring
27/28 Aug – Spa-Francorchamps
10/11 Sep – Monza