10. CHARLES PIC
Where is he from?
Charles Pic is a seventeen year old driver from France, born May 15 1990
What Has He Done?
Charles only moved up from Karting in time for the 2006 season. His first attempt in cars came in the Formula Renault Campus France Championship were he finished third after taking one win.
2007 saw him race in two championships. He was third in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup taking one win and fourth in the Formula Renault 2.0 French Championship.
What is He Doing Now?
Charles makes the jump to World Series by Renault in 2008. After he tested so successfully in December he signed with the Tech 1 Racing Team and that carried Alvaro Parente to the championship in 2007.
His career so far has included 40 starts, two wins and eighteen podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
It is becoming a tradition that I take a gamble with the driver I put at number ten. I will be honest before the start of December 2007 I had never heard of Charles. At that time I was in the process of writing the follow-up version of the 2007 “Stars of Tomorrow” and was taking an interest in the World Series by Renault testing times to see if any of my 2007 selections showed up there.
At this point I noticed that a driver by the name of Charles Pic was in the top four on each one of the three days on his debut in a World Series car, and I was impressed. I was even more impressed when I did some research about him and I was even more impressed when I discovered that he was only seventeen years old.
Now I will admit that I am not really a fan of the World Series by Renault, I feel that it is not on the standard career ladder and only for drivers who cannot get a seat in GP2 but former champions include Fernando Alonso (1999), Heikki Kovalainen (2004) and Robert Kubica (2005) it is a path into Formula One as the winner is given a Renault F1 test.
Last year I predicted that Romain Grosjean will be Frances next Formula One driver, at it came true, now I am predicting that Charles Pic will be Frances next, next Formula One driver.
9. JULES BIANCHI
Where is he from?
Jules Bianchi is eighteen years old, born August 3 1989 in France
What Has He Done?
He has only had one year as a car driver and his debut came in the 2007 Formula Renault 2.0 France championship where he took the championship after five wins out of thirteen starts.
What is He Doing Now?
In 2008 he moves to the Formula Three Euroseries as a rookie where he joins the four-time champions ART as one of their four drivers.
His career so far has included just nineteen starts but five wins and eleven podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
It is only his second season in cars and his first in the Euroseries Formula Three championship, so I am not expecting great things from Jules in 2008 however if he can take a race win this year and get a solid top ten finish in the championship he will enter 2009 as the lead ART driver, after team-mate Nico Hulkenberg make the inevitable jump to GP2 or even a race seat in Formula One. As the lead driver he will be the championship favourite in 2009 and then his career will boom.
France may have been without an Formula One race driver for the last few years but in the years to come prepare for a French Invasion on Formula One.
8. EDUARDO MORTARA
Where is he from?
Eduardo Mortara is a twenty-one year old from Italy who also races under the French flag. He was born on January 12 1987.
What Has He Done?
He has only had two years in cars but has won the “Rookie of the Year” award in both.
2006 was his first year in his native Italy where he was fourth in Formula Renault 2.0 Italy.
The large jump for Formula Renault to Formula Three Euro series happened in 2007, but it was a great success. He was eighth in the championship and took two wins.
What is He Doing Now?
In 2008 his run of “Rookie of the Year” awards will end as he is remaining in Formula Three Euro series for a second year, remaining at the Signature team where he hopes to challenge for the overall championship.
His career so far has included 51 starts and just two wins with seven podiums
My Prediction for the Future
You don’t get to be Rookie of the Year in two championships in your first two years of car racing without having some real talent. He wants to win the Formula Three Euroseries in 2008, however I think that the championship trophy already has the name Nico Hulkenberg on it, but Eduardo should win a few races through out the year and if he can be near the top of the standings come the end of the year he could attract the attention of one or two GP2 teams for 2009.
7. SAM BIRD
Where is he from?
Samuel Bird is a twenty year old British driver, born on January 9 1987 in Roehampton, and he is the oldest driver on the “Stars of Tomorrow” list for 2008.
What Has He Done?
Sam joined the Formula BMW Championship in 2004 where in his rookie season in cars he finished twelfth.
He returned for a second attempt at the series in 2005, where after dominating most of the he let it all slip away in the last few races and despite winning six times lost the championship by just three points in the very last race of the season. As a result of his good performances he took part in the BMW World Final and finished in fourth place.
After that disappointment he remained competing on the BTCC support package by switching to the British Formula Renault championship. He took four wins on his way to fourth in the championship.
In 2007 he moved in to British Formula Three. He was over shadowed by the dominance of Marko Asmer but still managed to take ten podiums and two wins on his way to another fourth place in the championship. Late in 2007 he made his Formula One debut in a test with the Williams team.
What is He Doing Now?
In 2008 he leaves Britain for the first time in his career as he is moving to the Formula Three Euroseries. He is driving for the Manor Motorsport team that first brought Kazuki Nakajima to Europe to race in the 2006 championship.
His career so far has included 85 races, twelve wins and 29 podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
I have admired Sam Bird for a few years, ever since I personally saw him racing in Formula BMW at my home circuit of Croft back in 2005.
Since that very hot July day in North Eastern England I have watched Sam progress with great interest. At the time I felt that moving to Formula Renault for 2006 after finishing second in Formula BMW would be a mistake, especially when he could only finish fourth, but Formula Three came for him in 2007 and he made the step up with ease, now he has another step up racing in the Euro series of Formula Three.
Before 2007 I had said for many years that Lewis Hamilton will be the next British Formula One World Champion, and with very little British talent waiting to be discovered Sam may follow in his footsteps and become the next British Formula One star. He has a chance to start that off by winning the same championship Lewis won in 2005.
6. ATTE MUSTONEN
Where is he from?
Atte Mustonen is a nineteen year old Finish driver, born September 16 1988 in Heinola.
What Has He Done?
After a successful career in Finnish and European Karting, Atte moved into cars in 2005 with his participation in the Formula Renault 2.0 German Championship where following one win he finished ninth. His work continued during the winter in the Formula Renault 2.0 Italian Winter Series after the very short four race series he was champion after taking a win.
The Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup was his next step up the ladder for 2006. He finished ninth in the series that also included GP2 regular Sebastien Buemi.
In 2007 he made is debut in Formula Three, choosing the British Championship for his first attempt. It was a very good first attempt as he finished seventh in the championship and was ahead of the older Sebastien Hohenthal who made the “Stars of Tomorrow” list last year.
What is He Doing Now?
He remains in the British Formula Three Championship for 2008. He will again compete for the Raikkonen-Rosbertson team (also known as Double R). The team is part-owned by Formula One World Champion Kimi Riakkonen and past drivers include GP2 drivers Mike Conway and Bruno Senna.
His career so far has included 80 races, three wins and fourteen podiums
My Prediction for the Future
Double R are one of the top British Formula Three teams and without Marko Asmer dominating the season for Hitech there should be an interesting three team battle between Hitech, Double R and Carlin for the championship in 2008. Atte has the talent to become the “leader” of the Double R team and be their main championship challenger. Even if he has a good season and finishes in the top three or four in the championship this year I do not think he will be ready for GP2 in 2009 but he will have his pick of Euroseries Formula Three or World Series by Renault teams.
5. BRENDON HARTLEY
Where is he from?
Brendon Hartley is an eighteen year old driver from New Zealand; he was born on November 10 1989 in Palmerston North and becomes the first driver form Oceania to make it on to the “Stars of Tomorrow” list.
What Has He Done?
Starting in his native New Zealand in 2004 Brendon made his car debut by finishing second in the Formula Ford New Zealand championship. In 2005 he competed in the Toyota Racing Series New Zealand championship finishing third with three wins.
2006 saw him move to Europe with drives in both the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC. He was thirteenth in the Eurocup and tenth in the NEC.
He remained in the Formula Renault Eurocup for 2007 where he followed in the footsteps of Kamui Kobayashi and Filipe Albuquerque by winning the championship with four race wins. In a busy year for him he also finished third in the Formula Renault 2.0 Italy championship and finished fourth in the Master of Formula Three race at Zolder in his first ever race in a Formula Three car.
What is He Doing Now?
Following his success at Zolder in 2007 he will make the permanent jump into Formula Three when he competes in the British championship that has produced so many Formula One Champions in the past, as well has making his A1GP debut for Team New Zealand at his home track of Taupo.
His career so far has included 86 races, nine wins and 29 podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
It was his fourth place in the Masters of Formula Three that first made the name Brendon Hartley known to me. All the Formula Three championships from around Europe have big grids of very talented young drivers and to beat all but three of them in your very first race in a Formula Three car shows real talent.
Now that he is racing in Formula Three full time it will be interesting to see if he can put in performances like that week in and week out because competing against the number of seriously talented drivers in the British championship this year will prove weather or not he has what it takes to make it to the top.
4. CHRISTIAN VIETORIS
Where is he from?
Christian Vietoris is an eighteen year old from Germany. He was born on April 1 1989 in Gonnersdorf.
What Has He Done?
Like most German drivers he started out in Formula BMW ADAC in 2005. A disappointing season saw him finish a distant seventeenth place in the championship.
A year later he was back, where he became champion taking nine wins, nine pole as sixteen podiums from the eighteen races. He followed up his dominance by taking victory in the Formula BMW World Final. 2006 also saw him make his A1GP debut, as a regular rookie driver which included making one start as part of Germanys World Cup winning team.
In 2007 he moved up into German Formula BMW, taking two wins on his way to fifth in the championship. He also participated as a test driver in the winter but was overlooked for the regular test driver job for the 2008 season
What is He Doing Now?
He started as A1GP Team Germanys regular driver in the 2007-2008 season as Germany attempted to defend their title, he competed in the opening two rounds of the season before replaced by Michael Ammermuller for the next two rounds. He came back at Taupo and won the feature race
In 2008 he will be competing in the Formula Three Euro series for Mucke Motorsport.
His career so far has included 62 starts, thirteen wins and 26 podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
With Nico Hulkenberg now in a Formula One test seat at Williams, the next big thing form Germany is Christian Vietoris. At just eighteen he almost made it into Formula One himself as a test driver with BMW but was beaten out by Marko Asmer and Javier Villa but a good year in the Formula Three Euro series coupled with consistent mature as A1GP Team Germanys lead driver could see him in the frame should the BMW test driver opportunity come up again in 2009.
3. JOSEF KRAL
Where is he from?
Josef Kral is a seventeen year old driver from the Czech Republic born June 15 1990
What Has He Done?
He started his car racing life in Formula 1400 Czech in 2005 where he finished third in the championship. From this he moved onto Formula BMW spending 2006 in the Formula BMW ADAC championship where he finished twelfth.
In was 2007 where he really made a name from himself. He moved to British Formula BMW where after six wins he took second place in the championship after a season long battle with eventual champion Marcus Ericsson.
What is He Doing Now?
At the time of writing Josef has yet to announce his racing plans for 2008 however with the British and German Formula BMW merging it is expected that he will remain in Britain and graduate in to British Formula Three.
However with nothing for the summer announced he made his A1GP debut for Team Czech Republic at Durban in February and hope to complete the season for the team.
His career so far has included 40 starts, six wins and fourteen podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
While monitoring Marcus Ericsson’s development in British Formula BMW last year I became more and more familiar with Josef as he was his main challenger for the championship, he could have beaten Marcus to the championship however he was disqualfied in two races and had a bad run of luck towards the end of the season. Despite that he came second in an extremely competitive championship that had produced so many young drivers.
At the age of seventeen it would be nice if Josef could graduate to British Formula Three but if not a good season in a competitive championship like British Formula Renault could allow him to make the jump to Formula Three in 2009.
2. ROBERT WICKENS
Where is he from?
Robert Wickens is an eighteen year old Canadian driver, born on March 13 1989 in Toronto. With his selection he becomes the first driver from the continent of North America.
What Has He Done?
He is one of few drivers from North America and Canada who have made the decision to come to Europe to compete in World Series by Renault rather than stay in America and condemn himself to a lifetime of driving in circles.
His career started in 2005 in Formula BMW USA where he finished third in the championship taking two wins. He also competed in the 2005 Formula BMW World Final, where he finished in sixth place.
He remained in Formula BMW USA for 2006 where he became champion taking three wins. Again he competed in the BMW World Series final finishing in eighth place.
He graduated to Champ Car Atlantic where he was third in the championship taking a single race win driving for Forsythe Championship Racing. He also did a part-season in World Series by Renault taking on the car vacated by Sebastien Vettel’s promotion to the Toro Rosso Formula One team.
What is He Doing Now?
Instead of making the expected move to the Champ Car World Series with Forsythe Championship Racing he has elected to come to Europe to compete in the World Series by Renault championship again he will by driving for the Carlin Motorsport team.
His career so far has included 58 races, six wins and nineteen podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
The Carlin Motorsport car that he is driving in 2008 almost won the 2007 so he has to start as one of title favourites. His performances for Team Canada in A1GP, including a debut podium in Sepang and second place in Taupo show that he can adapt to new cars very quickly which will be needed now that he is racing in Europe full time.
If he wins the championship he earns himself a Renault Formula One test which may lead to a drive of test seat for one of the smaller teams in 2009, if not then he is still only eighteen and could have another year in World Series by Renault or move to GP2 to increase his chance of getting signed in 2010.
1. MARCUS ERICSSON
Where is he from?
Marcus Ericsson is a seventeen year old from Sweden. He was born on September 2 1990 in Kumla. He becomes the first person to retain their place on the Stars of Tomorrow list, moving from number five in 2007 and is the youngest person on the list for the second year running.
What Has He Done?
He has only had one year racing in cars following a very successful karting career. He won the British Formula BMW championship from a very strong field of very talented young drivers, securing the championship the last round of the season on his seventeenth birthday after taking seven wins.
It later emerged that he will be the last ever British Formula BMW champion and the British series will be merged with the German series to create Formula BMW Euroseries for 2008.
What is He Doing Now?
In 2008 he makes the rather large step up into British Formula Three where he will drive for the same Fortec Motorsport whose past drivers include Heikki Kovalainen, James Rossittier and Mike Conway.
His career so far has included just eighteen starts but seven wins and thirteen podiums.
My Prediction for the Future
If you have read my forum posts recently, you will know that I rate Marcus Ericsson higher than every other junior driver around today making him an obvious choice to fill the number one spot vacated by new Formula One test driver Nico Hulkenberg.
Everybody talks about the future of Formula One and the new “golden-age” that we are about to embark on. Everybody talks about the Hamilton Vs Rosberg Vs Piquet Vs Vettel championship battles we are all going to enjoy in the next five to ten years, but one name missing from that list is Marcus Ericsson.
He may not be in Formula One in 2008 like the other four but at just seventeen years of age all he needs is a good rookie season in Formula Three and the entire Formula One paddock will wake up to the brilliant talent that his waiting for his big break.
Written by Paul Crossling on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:27:49
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