Young Drivers Test 2009 - 1-3 December

With no official F1 testing until February, this will be the only on-track F1 action for a while. However, this test is quite important for a variety of young drivers, especially with the current ban on in-season testing, many of whom will likely end up in F1 during their careers. Also, it gives the teams a chance to test some final parts before they move to 2010.

Firstly, the track


And also, more importantly, the driver line-up, and a brief introduction to each driver.

Brawn/Mercedes:
Driver 1
Name: Mike Conway
Nationality: British
Age: 26
Career Highlights: 2004 British Formula Renault Champion, 2006 British F3 International Series Champion, 2006 Autosport National Driver of the Year, 2008 GP2 Race Winner (Monaco Sprint)
2009: IndyCar Series (17th)

Driver 2
Name: Marcus Ericsson
Nationality: Swedish
Age: 19
Career Highlights: 2007 Formula BMW UK Champion, 2007 Swedish Junior Racer of the Year, 2009 Japanese F3 Champion,
2009: Japanese F3 (1st), Macau GP (4th)


McLaren:
Driver 1
Name: Gary Paffett
Nationality: British
Age: 28
Career Highlights: 1997 Formula Vauxhall Junior Winter Series Winner, 1998 Formula Vauxhall Junior Class B Champion, 1999 Formula Vauxhall Junior Champion, 1999 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year, 2000 British F3 National Class Champion, 2002 German F3 Champion, 2005 DTM Champion
2009: DTM (2nd)

Driver 2
Name: Oliver Turvey
Nationality: British
Age: 22
Career Highlights: 2006 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year
2009: World Series by Renault (4th)


Red Bull:
Driver 1
Name: Daniel Ricciardo
Nationality: Australian
Age: 20
Career Highlights: 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC Champion, 2009 British F3 Champion
2009: British F3 (1st), Macau GP (DNF)


Ferrari:
Driver 1
Name: Jules Bianchi
Nationality: French
Age: 20
Career Highlights: 2007 French Formula Renault 2.0 Champion, 2008 Formula Three Masters Winner, 2009 Formula Three Euroseries Champion
2009: F3 Euroseries (1st), Macau GP (10th)

Driver 2
Name: Daniel Zampieri
Nationality: Italian
Age: 19
Career Highlights: 2009 Italian Formula Three Champion
2009: Italian F3 (1st)

Driver 3
Name: Marco Zipoli
Nationality: Italian
Age: 19
Career Highlights: 2009 Italian F3 Runner-up
2009: Italian F3 (2nd)

Driver 4
Name: Pablo Sánchez López
Nationality: Mexican
Age: 19
Career Highlights: 2009 Italian F3 3rd Place
2009: Italian F3 (3rd)


BMW Sauber:
Driver 1
Name: Esteban Gutiérrez
Nationality: Mexican
Age: 18
Career Highlights: 2007 Formula BMW USA Rookie of the Year, 2008 Formula BMW Europe Champion
2009: F3 Euroseries (9th)

Driver 2
Name: Alexander Rossi
Nationality: American
Age: 18
Career Highlights: 2006 Skip Barber Western Regional Champion, 2008 Formula BMW Americas Champion, 2008 Formula BMW World Final Champion
2009: International Formula Master (4th)

Driver 3
Name: Bertrand Baguette
Nationality: Belgian
Age: 23
Career Highlights: 2009 World Series by Renault Champion
2009: World Series by Renault (1st)


Williams:
Driver 1
Name: Nico Hülkenberg
Nationality: German
Age: 22
Career Highlights: 2005 Formula BMW ADAC Champion, 2006/07 A1GP Champion, 2007 F3 Masters Winner, 2008 Formula Three Euroseries Champion, 2009 GP2 Series Champion
2009: GP2 (1st)

Driver 2
Name: Andy Soucek
Nationality: Spanish
Age: 24
Career Highlights: 2005 Spanish F3 Champion, 2009 FIA Formula Two Champion
2009: Formula 2 (1st)


Renault:
Driver 1
Name: Bertrand Baguette
Nationality: Belgian
Age: 23
Career Highlights: 2009 World Series by Renault Champion
2009: World Series by Renault (1st)

Driver 2
Name: Lucas Di Grassi
Nationality: Brazilian
Age: 25
Career Highlights: 2007 GP2 Series Runner-up
2009: GP2 (3rd)

Driver 3
Name: Ho-Pin Tung
Nationality: Chinese
Age: 26
Career Highlights: 2003 Formula BMW Asia Champion, 2006 ATS Formel 3 Cup Champion
2009: SuperLeague Formula* (1 win, 2 podiums)
*Drove for two teams, and as points are given to teams, not drivers, had no final placing


Force India:
Driver 1
Name: Paul di Resta
Nationality: British
Age: 23
Career Highlights: 2004 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year, 2006 Formula Three Euroseries Champion, 2006 Formula Three Masters Winner
2009: DTM (3rd)

Driver 2
Name: J. R. Hildebrand
Nationality: American
Age: 21
Career Highlights: 2004 SCCA Formula Russell Champion, 2005 Team USA Scholarship, 2006 US Formula Ford 2000 Champion, 2009 Firestone Indy Lights Champion
2009: Firestone Indy Lights (1st)


Toro Rosso:
Driver 1
Name: Brendon Hartley
Nationality: New Zealander
Age: 20
Career Highlights: 2007 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Champion
2009: Formula 1 (Reserve Driver), F3 Euroseries (11th), Macau GP (DNF)

Driver 2
Name: Mirko Bortolotti
Nationality: Italian
Age: 19
Career Highlights: 2008 Italian Formula Three Champion
2009: Formula 2 (4th)


Quite a lot of talented young drivers have been given a chance, so it will be interesting to see how they go, especially as there are still a few F1 race drives left for the taking. Williams are particularly lucky, as they are able to use their 2010 driver.

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X (@ed24f1)



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2009 05:33PM by SchueyFan.

Always good to see the big teams giving youngsters a chance to show their stuff in an F1 car, even if it's just a test, good chance to see what the future of F1 looks like. For Zampieri and Zipoli, it's going to be quite a special outing getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari.

Young driver test and you get someone who's been involved in motorsport for 15 years. Makes a bit of a mockery of it. Technically you could have someone with masses of experience, such as a Loeb or Castroneves or someone. Paffett being involved, and to a lesser extent Conway, is just ridiculous. Well done to Ferrari for doing it properly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2009 11:57AM by gav.

I interpret "young drivers" to mean "drivers with no F1 experience who are being evaluated for possible future race seats", and so I don't see any harm in giving Paffet and Conway a chance to show how quick they can go in relation to the other rookies.

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K*bots UK, specialist providers of 'fun science' Curriculum Enhancement days for Primary and Secondary schools in Britain.
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I forgot to add Mirko Bortolotti, testing for Toro Rosso. He tested for Ferrari last year, and was quite impressive - setting the F2008 Lap Record at Fiorano.

EDIT: Also, McLaren has now added Oliver Turvey to their testing programme, so another young driver will get his first F1 experience.

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X (@ed24f1)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2009 03:44PM by SchueyFan.

You can follow the testing times here

[www.f1today.nl]
[www.motor21.com]

Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:19.534-74v
Paffet (McLaren) 1:19.729-48v
Soucek (Williams) 1:19.738-56v
Conway (Mercedes) 1:19.920-58v
Rossi (BMW-Sauber) 1:20.227-48v
Bianchi (Ferrari) 1:20.247-55v
Hildebrand (Force India) 1:20.537-49v
Hartley (Toro Rosso) 1:21.325-45v
Di Resta (Force India) 1:21.387-16v
Baguette (Renault) 1:22.461-72v

Nice to see Ricciardo bounce back after his disappointing first-lap crash at Macau, especially in his first F1 test.

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X (@ed24f1)

Are williams using a cosworth engine?

I doubt it, because it would be a waste of time to adapt the 2009 car to that engine.

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X (@ed24f1)

I think that Williams are upto something more serious (than others) by running Nico is testing in place of some other young driver.

Nico is running for two days, it will give them a clear picture of what the Cosworth engine is like. I wil not be surprised if williams do 3 race distances in the next 2 days.

I dont see the issue with testing Conway/Paffet.

We know full well the teams have limited test time, so any time available in invaluable.

They fall into the category that allows them to test (testing miles do not count, so long as the driver has not raced.) so there is no issue.

brawn are testing Conway as well as Marcus, its good for Brawn to get a good baseline time/setup to compare against Marcus and likewise with Mclaren. Well done to Mclaren and Brawn for being clever !

We already saw Brendon Hartley bin it this morning...

edit - also...

Mclaren - Turvey won the BRDC award so wins the test.
Williams - Sourcek won F2 so wins the Williams test
Ferrari - Last year didnt they test the top3 finishers from Italian F3 like this year? With one driver getting very close to the record despite the limited mileage I believe (not sure though)
BMW - Didnt Gutiérrez win the testing through winning soemthing with BMW before they decided to quit F1??

edit again - Williams cant run the cossies till Jan 1st can they?? Oh and confirmed they ran 09 tyres.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2009 06:32PM by chet.

Here are the Day 1 results

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Soucek Williams 1m19.158s 87
2. Di Resta Force India 1m19.369s + 0.221s 46
3. Paffett McLaren 1m19.426s + 0.268s 54
4. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m19.534s + 0.376s 112
5. Bianchi Ferrari 1m19.626s + 0.486s 90
6. Conway Brawn 1m19.920s + 0.762s 58
7. Rossi Sauber 1m20.227s + 1.069s 82
8. Ericsson Brawn 1m20.333s + 1.175s 49
9. Baguette Renault 1m20.511s + 1.363s 105
10. Hildebrand Force India 1m20.537s + 1.379s 49
11. Turvey McLaren 1m20.856s + 1.698s 27
11. Hartley Toro Rosso 1m21.325s + 2.167s 69

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X (@ed24f1)

I hope Di Resta gets a drive next year... somehow!


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

I rate Esteban Gutiérrez highly. Not for a 2010 F1 drive, he needs to develop more yet, but I think if he gets into F1 in the next 3-4 years he'll impress a lot of people.

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hans Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nico is running for two days, it will give them a
> clear picture of what the Cosworth engine is like.

Doubtful, seeing as it won't be in the car until February.

chet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I dont see the issue with testing Conway/Paffet.
>
> We know full well the teams have limited test
> time, so any time available in invaluable.
>
> They fall into the category that allows them to
> test (testing miles do not count, so long as the
> driver has not raced.) so there is no issue.
>
> brawn are testing Conway as well as Marcus, its
> good for Brawn to get a good baseline time/setup
> to compare against Marcus and likewise with
> Mclaren. Well done to Mclaren and Brawn for being
> clever !
>
> We already saw Brendon Hartley bin it this
> morning...
>
> edit - also...
>
> Mclaren - Turvey won the BRDC award so wins the
> test.
> Williams - Sourcek won F2 so wins the Williams
> test
> Ferrari - Last year didnt they test the top3
> finishers from Italian F3 like this year? With one
> driver getting very close to the record despite
> the limited mileage I believe (not sure though)
> BMW - Didnt Gutiérrez win the testing through
> winning soemthing with BMW before they decided to
> quit F1??
>
> edit again - Williams cant run the cossies till
> Jan 1st can they?? Oh and confirmed they ran 09
> tyres.

Gutiérrez won it due to his outstanding performance in FBMW. And Rossi was the same reason but another category.

Rossi got it for winning the 2008 FBMW World Finals event

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X (@ed24f1)

There are some "promising" drivers in the test, but IMHO the only guys who are ready (and deserving) of moving into F1 are Paffet, Conway and Di Resta.

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K*bots UK, specialist providers of 'fun science' Curriculum Enhancement days for Primary and Secondary schools in Britain.
Please find us on [en.wikipedia.org] for more information.

Paffet IMO has never really showed any speed. He's been consistant but hasnt seemed too fast.

I think this year Di Resta really needs to find a good drive or good way into F1 because he should have been in ages ago, and next year the two American guys, Rossi and Hildebrand, Ericsson and Bianchi are going to be hot favourites I think.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Day 2 Times:

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1. Paffett McLaren 1m18.718s 80
2. Hulkenberg Williams 1m19.184s + 0.466s 94
3. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m19.243s + 0.526s 93
4. Di Resta Force India 1m19.411s + 0.693s 58
5. Gutierrez Sauber 1m20.190s + 1.472s 68
6. Conway Brawn 1m20.222s + 1.504s 83
7. Ericsson Brawn 1m20.440s + 1.722s 37
8. Hildebrand Force India 1m20.517s + 1.799s 50
9. Bianchi Ferrari 1m20.585s + 1.868s 113
10. Di Grassi Renault 1m20.898s + 2.180s 55
11. Tung Renault 1m21.492s + 2.774s 67
12. Bortolotti Toro Rosso 1m21.761s + 3.043s 69

Good work from the top four in particular, a long way ahead of the rest. In particular, good work by Ricciardo who is the only one of those four not to have track-tested an F1 car before this week.

On the other hand, a bit disappointing for Bianchi, di Grassi and Bortolotti today - but its hard to know what programmes each team is doing.


Also, Baguette is now getting a test for Sauber tomorrow (which seems to have changed names from BMW overnight)

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X (@ed24f1)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2009 05:32PM by SchueyFan.

Bianchi's best time is slower today than yesterday. I assume he made long runs today with lots of fuel in the Ferrari. I think they tested for 2010 a little bit