Ex-F1 Driver Gains F2 Tender
Former Formula 1 driver and commentator Jonathan Palmer’s MotorSport Vision [MSV] company has won the tender to supply and run the FIA’s proposed new Formula 2 series.
Formula 2 was originally replaced in the mid-eighties by Formula 3000, which would later be replaced by GP2, but the category looks set for a revival (Max “The Littlest Perv” Mosley thinks so) with plans in place for it to become a relatively low-cost F1 feeder championship.
MSV have commissioned the Williams F1 team to design the car for the proposed series. The machines, which will be powered by turbocharged engines supplied by Audi (based on the Audi 1.8 litre 20 valve block and head, as used in Formula Palmer Audi), are set to begin testing next month.
It is hoped that a typical F2 annual budget would be approximately €200,000. (And I hope Unicorns become “Soup of the Day” at the Olive Garden, we”ll see who gets what - ed)
“The objective is to make top-level international single-seater racing available to drivers who at present have difficulty in raising enough money to demonstrate their talent,” FIA president Max Mosley said in a statement.
“Formula 1 and other major championships will benefit by being able to draw on a far larger pool of drivers, while competitors from countries which do not yet have an established motor racing structure will find it easier to make progress.
“We hope to reveal talent that might otherwise never have emerged and we look forward to seeing drivers coming into Formula 1 with Super Licenses gained in Formula 2.”
It is proposed that the first season of the new F2 series will begin in May of next year. Event venues are as follows: Valencia, Spain (WTCC support); Brno, Czech Republic (WTCC support); Spa, Belgium (FIA GT support); Brands Hatch, UK (WTCC support); Donington Park, UK (standalone); Oschersleben, Germany (WTCC support); Magny Cours, France (standalone) and the season ender at Monza, Italy (WTCC support) Oct 4th, 2009.
IN RELATED A SALVO ACROSS F2’s [Read: Mad Max] BOW NEWS:
Organizers of the Formula Master (FM) single-seater series have revealed that it will take a slot on the Formula One support card for two events during 2009.
The series, the brainchild of N.Technology team boss Mauro Sipsz, has run alongside the World Touring Car Championship during its first two years and while the majority of events next year will again run with the WTCC, two of the eight races will instead run with F1.
The deal will see the series compete with F1 at the Turkish Grand Prix in August and the Belgian Grand Prix in September, while Brands Hatch, Monza and Pau, France are amongst the venues where Formula Master will run with the WTCC.
Brands Hatch and Monza? Aren’t they also supporting the F2 Series events the same weekends?
Why yes, yes they are.
Wondering now… why would two series, one fledgling and one entering its third year of competition in 2009, with each being touted as “cost effective option[s] for young upcoming racing drivers” go head-to-head on two occasions?
How about this scenario, it’s a fallout over the Mosley sex scandal and Bernie Ecclestone’s vacillation whether Max will stay or go from the FIA?
In simpler terms, GP2 is Bernie’s baby and has done very well supporting Formula One events on its undercard. Max was tweaked (in more ways than one) by Bernie’s occasional tepid support during the scandal and a powerplay is being waged by Max via the F2 series.
Yes, I’m speculating - guessing is closer to the truth - and part of the guesswork is Ecclestone working behind the scenes creating the F2/FM head-to-head match-up trying to sink F2 before it swims.
The Open Wheel ranks are well served by GP2 as an F1 feeder series and F2 and Formula Master are the exact same thing, with a different “set of clothes,” (Toss A1GP into this mix also) as such F2 makes little economic sense to me.
What does make sense, at least to me, is a butting of heads between Open Wheel’s two Grand Poobahs, Mosley and Ecclestone with the battlefield being F1 feeder series supremacy.
And may the best man Gnome or Pervert win. (And may good teams with honorable intentions not lose too much cash as they get caught in the cross-fire)
Max is mad (wow, who’d have thunk) a feeder series to compete with GP2, a car built to F3000 regs, & it’s going to be powered by a 1.8lt turbo?
With FMaster becoming the new GP3 there is a real ladder to F1 to climb, right under the F1 teams noses.
Several Euro F3 & GP2 team owners have openly scoffed at Max’s proposed costs.