Unfortunately we're at that time of the season. 110 Days until we arrive back at Melbourne. Naturally in this part of the season, many look for discussions about the sport, while I and many others look for reason to discuss the sport. This university project is my way of weighing my own opinions about the world of motorsport that I follow (F1, GP2, GP3, Formula E, NASCAR and Indycar). Naturally I have my personal favourites in each category, however I try to remain as unbiased as possible. I hope to update this blog every Monday.
F1
The dust has settled and the fight ends with Lewis Hamilton taking a long awaited 2nd World Championship. In the years to come, the fans who have not yet begun watching will look back at the 67 point lead and 11 wins that Hamilton ends with and only see this as a sign that this was another year that was dominated by one sole person.
In my opinion, we just witnessed the greatest season ever recorded in F1 history. Yes it did not contain the 7 wins in 7 races of 2012, or the 4 man title decider of 2010 or the complete uncertainty that was 1982. What we got was the fight between friends that has been building for nearly 12 years.
Two of the sports finest racers created the kind of on track chemistry and tension we haven't seen since Senna-Prost. Their motivation and near-desperation to not only be the greatest, but call themselves the better of the prodigies was apparent in all 19 races this year.
That was last year. 2015 is calling.
Next week I'll be giving my opinions team by team of what I believe 2015 holds for each team and driver. Can Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson rebuild the broken Sauber? Can Rosberg let go of a missed opportunity cruelly taken away through no fault of his own? Is Vettel's choice akin to Hamilton's 2012 Mercedes Switch?
GP2/3
This Years GP2/3 championships have been a lot more straight forward than F1. In GP2 the DAMS of Jolyon Palmer took the title 3 races early in Russia after an early challenge from Felipe Nasr. In GP3, Alex Lynn's rivals tripped over themselves allowing the brit to get away to the front and take the championship in Race 1 at Abu Dhabi.
Jolyon's future is not optimistic, with only seats at: McLaren, Toro Rosso and Caterham available. McLaren are set to keep one of their current drivers alongside Fernando Alonso (My views on this next week). Palmer is not on the Toro Rosso Shortlist (Vergne, Lynn, Sainz Jr and Gasly) While Caterham need a miracle to make it to 2015. If palmer wants to keep his goal on Formula 1, it is virtually certain he can only look for a test role, a role he has already started by driving for Force India in the Abu Dhabi test Next week.
In my opinion Lynn will be in F1 next year alongside fellow rookie Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso. Alex Lynn has copied the movement of successful red bull protégé Daniil Kvyat by signing with the Red Bull Junior programme, and then dominating the GP3 scene in his first year. In my opinion his talents outweigh Carlos Sainz Jr (Who's chance may already be gone) and Gasly (Who needs a full year in GP2 to show his worth).
Indycar
Nearly three months have passed since Will Power finally took his first championship at Fontana, Naturally in the middle of the off season news is scarce, however recently next years calendar has been announced with two new races at NOLA and Brasilia, the latter used to host the Brazilian Grand Prix many years ago and it's always exciting to see races on old school circuits.
More changes include the movement of the Sonoma Grand Prix to the end of the season, as well as the switch to move the Toronto race to a single race rather than a double header. The Event at Houston has been completely removed.
It has been reported that 2012 GP2 Champion Davide Valsecchi is to test with SPM Racing next week. In 2012 he had a very intense battle for the championship with Luiz Razia who has since made the jump to the Indy Lights Series. To see these two racing against each other again would be incredibly fascinating.
In the next couple of weeks, I'd like to discuss the driver line-up changes for next year as well as the merge between Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing
Formula E
Formula E is slowly on the rise. The interesting move to remove the formation lap caused a lot of safety and mechanical concerns.
As a series in itself I find Formula E an incredible achievement that has lived to expectations. The star line-up that includes a mix of former F1 and GP2 drivers including: Nick Heidfeld, Bruno Senna and Sam Bird who won this weekend's race is great to see.
My main issue with the series is the tracks. The Beijing and Putrajaya Street Circuits have been uninspiring. I hope the next race at the Punta del Este Street Circuit in Uruguay on December 13th is different
I have written quite a lot on this first post so I hope I have covered enough ground to keep people interested. I'll be back next Monday.
Thanks for Reading
