Formula Virtual's mid-season driver ratings begin with the bottom ten. Featured here are two drivers still yet to race, a pair of rookies, a former title contender and a driver everyone expected considerably more from. 30. Enzo DomenicalliThe dream was big when Enzo Domenicalli was announced at Meteor. The team had new Italian owners, and Domenicalli was the returning home hero veteran ready to lead the team into a new age. But that dream quickly became a nightmare. In a woefully uncompetitive car, Domenicalli's only competitive track action has been pre-qualifying sessions and only rival has been his team mate. On all five occasions that both drivers set times in pre-qualifying, Domenicalli was the slower of the two, albeit not by much. After the British V-Prix, the Italian decided he'd had enough and has refused to drive since, being replaced by compatriot and reserve Giani Ledesma. Tensions are frayed to say the least, but it seems likely we've seen the last of Domenicalli in a Meteor. For a team fresh from losing one court case against a former driver, they can't afford to be falling out with another. 29. Daniel ZientekDaniel Zientek was always going to be up against it with Highwind for his rookie season. The Pole - a product of the Phoenix young driver academy - was fresh from finishing as runner-up to Matteo Zetticci in the 2021 VWRS Series, but driving for a team who'd just finished last in the Constructors' Championship having only raced 7 times in 32 attempts. Not only that, but he has Thierry Xylander as a team mate, the Belgian having started to turn some exceptional performances with Phoenix last season. Nonetheless, failing to qualify at all in the opening five races while Xylander made the grid for nearly all of them (and would have done in France too had the team not missed the strategy deadline) and turned in more exceptional performances, is disappointing to say the least. Since the team have been clear of pre-qualifying from the British V-Prix however, Zientek has turned things around. He has outqualified Xylander in both races he's done since - suggesting he struggles to extract the maximum from the car in the short pre-qualifying sessions. A poor tyre strategy cost him at Silverstone but he did beat a handful of rivals home, and was only two seconds behind Xylander in Germany with a strong run. The fact he was replaced by Alexander McLaughlin for the Czech Republic V-Prix is no reflection on his performance, but he needs to continue the recent upwards trajectory into the second half of the season if he's to secure himself a race seat for 2023, with current team Highwind departing at the end of the year. 28. Will HoskinsWill Hoskins returning to Franklin was supposed to be the redemption story everyone wanted after he was denied the 2014 Drivers' Championship by the team, however much like Domenicalli and Meteor, things fell apart fast. The team were operating on a skeleton crew from the start of the season, and the car looked way off the pace too. After a difficult season in 2021 where he was trounced by Felix Perez at FIRST, Hoskins needed to assert some authority over new team mate Danilo Forini, but has failed to do so. Last on the grid in Japan highlighted Franklin's plights, though the car fared better in race trim, but Hoskins has been largely unable to match his team mate and looked nowhere near a points finish. For now, he's on the side-lines for the first time in his career with the team departing mid-season, but it looks increasingly likely he'll join former FV stalwarts Elroy Wagner and Adrien Simon in retirement, albeit quietly disappearing rather than the fan-fare retirements the two former Champions left - and will surely leave - to, respectively. 27. Felix BeyerFelix Beyer has failed to qualify for a race for 28 races in a row. In the same time span, his team mates - between them - have qualified for four races. While that isn't spectacular, he's looked off the pace for a while, and it was somewhat of a surprise to see him retain his seat at Meteor. The Dutchman has rewarded that faith this season however, as much as is possible in a car that's hopelessly off the pace. He's seen off challenge from Enzo Domenicalli comfortably, and since the Italian has been replaced by compatriot Giani Ledesma, Beyer has been quicker than him in every competitive session so far too. While Meteor still look to be some way off making a race at present, it seems that if any of their drivers is going to do it - Beyer is by far the most likely. 26. Oleksandr ZozulyaOleksandr Zozulya was last in Formula Virtual full-time in 2019, where he finished only 10 points behind team mate Felix Perez, and the Mexican has gone on to become one of the most highly rated younger talents on the grid. He was definitely unfairly dropped, though FIRST noted at the time this was due to his qualifying performances, and those continue to plague the Ukrainian on his return this season. So far, Zozulya has failed to outqualify Finn Schnyder at a single race, and while Schnyder is highly rated in the paddock, it's fair to say he isn't ranked amongst the top echelon of drivers. It's difficult to say Zozulya has even been close. His average qualifying position of 22.6 is 6.9 lower than Schnyder's, the biggest gap between any pair of team mates. Luckily for him and AMR, he's lost none of his race craft however, and despite starting much further back every time, has beaten Schnyder to the flag on two occasions. This was most notable in France, where he ran a soft tyre strategy from 20th on the grid to finish tenth, and claim AMR's first point of the season. He picked up another at the most recent race in the Czech Republic as a result of dramas ahead of him, but Schnyder was 7th and the team must be wondering what could have been had Zozulya qualified where the car is capable of on a track that proved impossible to overtake. He needs to step up his one lap pace in the second half of the season, and if manages that - more points positions could be in the works if he maintains his race performances. 25. Sergio AlvarezSergio Alvarez is possibly one of the biggest shocks on this list. The Argentine driver had spent three seasons at Phoenix looking every bit the future superstar before tailing off slightly in 2021, but even then big things were expected when he made a big money move to Lopez. Admittedly, the car hasn't been what either him or the team would have wanted, however to compound that, it would appear Alvarez has struggled to find his pre-2021 form too. Even then, it was widely expected he'd comfortably have the measure of Max Meyer as a team mate, but the South African has surprised and Alvarez has often found himself struggling to keep pace. He's beaten Meyer in qualifying just the once, but the cumulative gap between the pair is only just under three tenths, the second smallest on the grid. Thankfully for Alvarez, he's found better form in race pace, besting Meyer on three of the five occasions both have made the finish, and since Lopez have slipped into pre-qualifying he's looked the better driver in that session too, only failing to progress when the team missed a strategy deadline, whereas Meyer has failed to qualify on merit. Alvarez is ahead in the Championship thanks to a strong strategy call and result at the opening round in Japan, but it's not unfair to say this season has been disappointing for the Argentine driver. He'll be hoping to start turning performances around in the second half of the season as he gets more comfortable with the car. 24. Stefan KlienStefan Klien has waiting a long time for his big break in Formula Virtual. Vice Champion in his final VWRS season back in 2019, Klien has filled the role of reserve driver at FIRST for the previous two seasons as Perez and Hoskins picked up a multitude of podiums and points between them and FIRST contended towards the front. It's fair to say then that it would understandable for Klien to be somewhat disheartened by the fact the team have taken a considerable dip in form just as he's finally got his hands on a race seat. Nonetheless, he's ploughed on and done a solid job, though where his team mate has put himself in a position to benefit when things have gone chaotic in front - picking up points in both Malaysia and the Czech Republic - Klien has been unable to do the same. He's outqualified Perez the same number of times he's been beaten - the only pair of team mates to be level at the midway point of the season - and the cumulative qualifying margin between the pair is one of the smaller in the field too. The race stats are misleading though, as the two times Klien has beaten his team mate to the flag, Perez was involved in incidents that cost him considerable time. Klien has by no means disgraced himself so far, but does need to step up his race pace. Ironically, FIRST now find themselves with a driver who appears to be a polar opposite to Zozulya. 23. Max MeyerWhile it isn't unfair to say team mate Alvarez's performances have been disappointing in comparison to what was expected, huge praise should be given to Max Meyer. Very few expected him to hold a candle to Alvarez, much less to actually beat him - but Meyer has really stepped up this season. He had the measure of Alvarez in every main qualifying session earlier in the year before the team slipped in to pre-qualifying, but it's clear to see Meyer is another driver who has struggled in the shorter session. Despite his performances relative to a highly rated team mate however, it's difficult to pick out an outstanding moment from Meyer so far this season. He's just gone quietly about his job, putting the car about where it seems to be. Solid if unspectacular has never been a more apt phrase. Now he appears to have found his feet after a rocky first season in 2021 at AMR against Finn Schnyder, it would be interesting to see Meyer in a car higher up the grid. 22. Nick AddisonNick Addison could quite rightly have felt somewhat aggrieved before the season started when he was ousted from Franklin - despite winning two races last year - in favour of Danilo Forini, and moved across to Arrow. However it quickly became apparent he got the better end of the deal. Addison proved way more inconsistent that Forini last season however, and now up against the highly rated Yakumi Takahashi, the Australian has struggled. He got unlucky at the start of the season when he looked most likely to score points with three retirements in a row - none of which were his fault - but while Takahashi has scored points twice since then, Addison has rarely come close. The statistics tell that Addison has beaten Takahashi in races two out of the four times both have finished, but at Silverstone his team mate had a poor tyre strategy, and in the Cezch Republic he got collected in a non-fault incident. The potential initially looked there for Addison and Arrow as a pairing to score strong points, but as the season progresses it's becoming clearer why he was shuffled out of his previous team over his team mate who hadn't won a race. 21. Jules BarclayJules Barclay was beaten relatively comfortably by Tumo Kinnumen last season, but in a poorly performing car and with a team mate who's rated highly, that was somewhat expected, and he earned himself a second chance. Barclay has definitely taken a step forwards - despite the fact the car has gone in the opposite direction - but is still some way off of Kinnumen in terms of pure pace. Like a number of his rivals, the short pre-qualifying session doesn't seem to suit the Canadian - he failed to qualify at Silverstone - but he has beaten Kinnumen on two occasions, and also has the teams best qualifying result of the season, a 17th in Australia - though it should be noted a number of cars experienced issues. All in all, he has been closer to Kinnumen, but with Peugeot taking the team over next season, it's likely they'll want a second driver who's more than just 'closer' to their likely leading driver.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|