PaddockScout top 50 talents of 2012: 30-21

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Photo: GP3 Media Service

Part 3 of our end-of-season countdown takes a look at the drivers on the cusp of the top 20…

30. Felipe Nasr

Brazil // age 20

Tenth in GP2 Series // Fifth at Macau Grand Prix

Last year’s British F3 champion made the step up to GP2 for 2012, and without a full winter’s preparation nobody expected results to come easily. It was a considerable surprise to see him sixth in his first race in Malaysia, and then on the podium in race two. Then next time out at Bahrain and he qualified third.

His inexperience meant he didn’t always qualify that well, and when he did he was unable to make the most of it, with that Bahrain race ended by an attack from Johnny Cecotto and his front row start in Valencia thwarted by car issues. But when he did find himself down the order and everything was functioning as it should, he produced some stunning drives, like 23rd to sixth in race one at Silverstone, which was followed by a run of three top four finishes. He produced similarly mighty race performances at the Hungaroring and Spa, regularly showing great tyre management despite his lack of previous Pirelli running.

Despite the positives, Nasr was seemingly uncomfortable at DAMS and consequently returned to his British F3 team Carlin for his 2013 title assault. Finished fifth at the Macau Grand Prix with the squad.

Season highlight: Stealing eighth place and the reverse grid pole at Spa out of the final corner, then doing the same for second place in the sprint after protecting his tyres better than fellow rookie and GP3 graduate James Calado.

29. Jazeman Jaafar

Malaysia // age 20

Second in British F3

Having decided to remain in British F3 for another season, Jaafar had to perform in 2012. And that he did, taking his battle with teammate Jack Harvey for the title right down to the wire. It’s easy to put that achievement down to his greater experience at that level, and his failure to ever top qualifying shows he still lacks some outright pace over a single lap, but time and again he put in some fantastic race performances.

It was Jaafar’s consistency that was particularly impressive – excluding a nightmarish Norisring weekend he only finished outside of the top five on three occasions. And when you consider British F3’s slightly barmy reverse grids, it’s proof that Jaafar regularly worked his way through the field and often better than his rivals could do. And despite that aggressive strategy, he was clean throughout and mature for a 19-year-old. He added to his stock with some meritorious guest performances in the Euro Series, including a reverse grid win at Brands Hatch and feature race podiums at Spielberg and the Nurburgring.

While he did master F3 this year, Jaafar’s chances of making it to the top will rest on how quickly he can get the hang of the next step, which for him is likely to be Formula Renault 3.5, quite possibly with Carlin having already tested for them.

Season highlight: Victory, second and third at the penultimate round at Silverstone as rival Harvey hit trouble.

28. Jake Dennis

United Kingdom // age 17

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion // 12th in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0

Dennis began 2012 poised to make a similar impact in his first year of Formula Renault UK as fellow Racing Steps Foundation talent Oliver Rowland. The cancellation of the British series forced him to switch to the Northern European Cup and the greater competition it provided, but he was second only to Stoffel Vandoorne over the opening weekend.

With the Belgian not contesting the full NEC campaign, Dennis soon took charge and was never headed as he added regular podiums and a couple more victories while his more experienced rivals failed to combine speed and consistency as well as he did. He made three apperances in the Eurocup, taking second place in a wet race at Spa on his first weekend and a fourth in the wet-dry season finale at Barcelona.

Last weekend he followed in Rowland’s footsteps and winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, becoming the youngest ever winner of the prestigious prize. Next year he’s likely to be aiming to add a fourth title in as many years, now in the Eurocup.

Season highlight: Hockenheim opener, with three podiums and one victory to start his campaign on the front foot.

27. Esteban Gutierrez

Mexico // age 21

Third in GP2 Series

Despite his disappointing rookie year in 2011, Gutierrez began 2012 as a pre-season favourite in GP2 even though there were competent drivers with more experience. His campaign wasn’t the most convincing and he was constantly outshone by rookie teammate James Calado, but there are still some positives that can easily be overlooked.

For whatever reason he never once managed to put it on pole despite his perceived pace, but he almost always went forwards, even if too many of those charges up the order would end badly. Still, that progress saw him get a double podium in the first Bahrain weekend to limit the early damage being inflicted by Davide Valsecchi’s run in the Gulf, and while pitting early helped him to his two feature race wins mid-season, he had to race aggressively to make up the places on-track. Ended with a positive weekend in Singapore after a couple of dodgy weekends in Spa and Monza.

Even he’s not sure he’s ready for it, but his financial backing has led to Sauber promoting Gutierrez into an F1 race seat for next year. It’s easy to forget though that Sauber – a team with an eye for a talent – originally picked him up purely because of his potential and they still see something in him. It could be tough though.

Season highlight: Valencia victory – it needed leader Calado to be caught out by a safety car, but Gutierrez showed his racing edge by fighting his way to the front of the queue.

26. Nyck de Vries

Netherlands // age 17

Fifth in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 // Tenth in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC

By far the most highly-anticipated car racing rookie this year, double world karting champion de Vries did not disappoint. Amongst a very competitive crop of highly-rated and more-experienced drivers in Formula Renault this year, the McLaren protege starred.

In the Eurocup he finished second in his first race, and although he only repeated that once afterwards he finished a fine fifth overall in the final standings, not only the top car racing rookie but also the top newcomer to Formula Renault against French F4 and Formula BMW graduates. In selected Northern European Cup appearances he claimed a maiden victory on home soil at Assen.

Next year he should return for a Eurocup title assault, and it would take a brave man to bet against him taking the honours. We’ll be hearing a lot more about this young man.

Season highlight: Starting his tally on home soil – a first of many?

25. Luciano Bacheta

United Kingdom // age 22

FIA Formula Two Champion

Bacheta hadn’t done much to trigger our radar here at PaddockScout in the past, but set himself up for winning this year’s F2 title with a superb double victory at the Silverstone season opener, making late moves for the lead on both occasions.

Another two wins followed in the Algarve, and with a 15-year-old the only man (or boy) really putting up a season-long challenge, the destination of the championship never really seemed in doubt after that. Only one further victory followed for Bacheta in a rain-shortened half-points race at Spa, but he consistently finished in the leading positions and stayed out of trouble – a comfortable situation afforded to him by his early form.

A Williams prize test followed, but like previous F2 champions his chances of progressing up the ladder weren’t clear to see. It now seems that his success has led to some well-deserved sponsorship and as a result he’s eyeing up both Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 for 2013.

Season highlight: The Silverstone double.

24. Luiz Razia

Brazil // age 23

Second in GP2 Series

Another man to find another gear in 2012, Razia was on the verge of walking away from GP2 and the F1 dream over the winter. Convinced to persevere by Arden chief Christian Horner, Razia won the season opener in Malaysia and embarked on a season-long duel with fellow series veteran Davide Valsecchi.

But while Valsecchi was simply stringing together the sort of driving we’d seen from him in flashes before, Razia was vastly improved from anything he’d shown in his past three seasons at this level. He was still lacking in qualifying, which probably explains why Malaysia was his only feature race win, but on race days he was one of the best out there. His skill in managing the Pirelli tyres was typified in Valencia when he came from nowhere to steal a famous late win.

After previously buying himself F1 roles without having proven his talent, Razia may now end up without an opportunity in 2013 having finally showed he deserves it. His race chances are slim, but reserve opportunities could still be possible.

Season highlight: That outrageous Valencia win.

23. Patric Niederhauser

Switzerland // age 21

Seventh in GP3 Series

Despite a late effort from Tio Ellinas, Niederhauser finished up as the best of the true rookies in GP3 – i.e. excluding Daniel Abt who made the more sideways step from F3. His outright pace wasn’t amazing – his best qualifying result was only seventh – but on his day his race pace was a match for anyone.

After scooping two top five finishes on his debut at Barcelona, Niederhauser used that pace to win the Valencia sprint from the reverse grid, building up a safe gap over Abt to do so. Then came Silverstone, where he first displayed his credentials in changing conditions, storming from tenth to the lead by lap eight on wets on a drying track, before falling to third as slicks became the tyre to be on. More wet weather success came in the next race at Hockenheim, where Niederhauser passed Conor Daly to win, and the wet-dry Hungaroring sprint where he finished second after starting 16th.

Niderhauser is expected to return next year most likely remaining with Jenzer Motorsport, with his absence from post-season testing down to a hand injury.

Season highlight: Hockenheim win, where he mastered the conditions better than the more experienced and highly-rated Daly.

22. Sam Bird

United Kingdom // age 25

Third in Formula Renault 3.5 Series

2012 may have been one last chance for Bird to show he was deserving of an F1 race seat, and things were looking good initially following his switch from GP2 to FR3.5. A podium at Motorland was followed by a superb victory from pole position at Monaco. That result put him top of a very competitive championship, and his career had some momentum.

He held the lead for the next couple of weekends, but a first lap clash in race two at Moscow saw him fall behind rookie Robin Frijns, which was followed by another off in race one at Silverstone, although he won race two. Set-up troubles, for which his ISR team took the blame, in Hungary left him ultimately with too much to do to catch either Frijns or Bianchi, though the final points gap wasn’t massive thanks to the rivals’ infamous last-race clash.

Bird continues to be very involved at Mercedes in F1, but with Hulkenberg, Di Resta and others still in midfield teams, he won’t be top of the list should a seat come up there in the coming years. And having been beaten by Bianchi in each of the last five years, he won’t be beating the Frenchman to a seat elsewhere either.

Season highlight: His Monaco weekend, even if he did end qualifying in the barriers!

21. Davide Valsecchi

Italy // age 25

GP2 Series Champion

Another man in the last-chance saloon, Valsecchi’s signing with DAMS for his fifth year of GP2 made him a definite pre-season favourite. Razia beat him to round one in Malaysia, but then came Bahrain. Building upon previous successes in the Middle-East, he was untouchable on his way to three straight wins from the double-header. It didn’t look as though anyone would stop him.

But once again he failed to carry his Asian form back to Europe, and a point-less weekend in Valencia set him up for losing the lead to Razia when the Brazilian beat him in both races at Silverstone. The gap stayed fairly static over the next three weekends as both drivers failed to really steal the initiative, but as Razia hit trouble in Monza, Valsecchi claimed a home win in the sprint race – his only victory outside of Bahrain all year – and he wrapped up the title in Singapore. He may have won the title, but at the fifth attempt it needed to be convincing, and it wasn’t.

At Abu Dhabi’s Young Driver Test he topped the timesheets on his one day with Lotus, impressing just as he had for HRT two years earlier, but once again there’s the question mark above him regarding the Gulf factor and his greater speed in hotter temperatures – or rather his relative lack of pace elsewhere. With HRT gone an opening seems unlikely now, so perhaps it’s time to finally focus elsewhere.

Season highlight: Bahrain. No driver has dominated so much at one circuit all year.

Check out the fourth and penultimate part of our countdown next week. Click here to view part one, and here for part two.