GP2 Series champion Stoffel Vandoorne remains optimistic about his chances of securing a drive in Formula 1 for next season, but admits that a decision needs to be made about his future shortly.
Vandoorne clinched the GP2 title in Russia last weekend after finishing fourth on Sunday, giving himself an unassailable lead with four races remaining.
The Belgian had been linked with a drive at McLaren, his parent team, in 2016 after the dominant nature of his GP2 championship success. However, the British squad opted to retain its existing line-up of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.
Nevertheless, Vandoorne remains hopeful of securing a seat on the grid in 2016, and is pleased to have the GP2 title sewn up so he can turn his attention to defining his future.
“Hopefully Formula One,” Vandoorne said when asked what his next step would be. “It’s something I’ve been working on for quite some time, and now to have the GP2 title here is a bit of a luxury I would say with two rounds to go.
“The next [race] is in over a month, so I can concentrate on preparing next year which is great.
“Unfortunately, nothing is decided for the moment, but I’m optimistic. I feel there are some chances out there. The next days and weeks are going to be crucial for next year.”
With F1’s driver market remaining largely static for 2016, the only chances of a race seat for Vandoorne come at Lotus (soon to become Renault), Manor or Haas.
However, Ferrari’s relationship with Haas and Mercedes’ new partnership with Manor could put paid to his chances of getting a seat with those teams, leaving Renault as the only feasible option.
The French manufacturer may be keen on bringing in a more experienced driver to partner Pastor Maldonado, though, and McLaren might be wary of letting its great junior talent driver join one of its on-track rivals.
For the time being though, Vandoorne is happy to bask in his GP2 championship success and reflect on a year of dominance.
“I would say from a personal point of view, it’s definitely the best season I’ve had,” Vandoorne said. “I’ve always had the speed since the beginning of my career, but over the years, I wasn’t always putting everything together although I was always finishing quite high in the championships.
“Still, there were always bits I needed to improve on. Even now, there are some things I can improve on! But this year, I was able to put everything together.
“Last year, I think my weakness was the sprint races. I was losing ground there. This year, we managed to finish twice on the podium almost every weekend. I think it’s where I’ve improved a lot.”
Lawrence led all 16 laps of both races after taking the holeshot in the second moto and grabbing the lead from Dylan Ferrandis in Turn 2 of Moto 1. Lawrence claimed a four-second lead in Moto 1 and five seconds in Moto 2, but as dominant as it seems on paper, there were some exciting moments during the weekend. In the second race, Lawrence wanted to build an advantage that would allow him to maintain his pace and he nearly high-sided a couple of times in heavy ruts.
In his second race back from a concussion, Ferrandis finished in the runner-up spot with a second in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. While his finish of second overall goes into the record books, Pro Motocross points are rewarded for each individual race and that meant Ferrandis lost eight points in championship battle to Lawrence. With Sexton failing to mount up for the race, Ferrandis advanced to second in the standings with an 18-point gap to Lawrence. Equally important, Ferrandis gained ground in the SuperMotocross World Championship (WSX) points and now has a gap of 44 over 21st-place Justin Starling.
Cooper Webb is also in his second round since returning from a Supercross injury suffered in Nashville at the end of their season. Claiming results of fourth and second in the two races, Webb earned 40 SuperMotocross points at Hangtown and closed in on Sexton in the WSX battle. Sexton entered Hangtown with a large enough lead that he could not be overtaken, but he is now only 38 points up and could face a difficult decision next week at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado if he wants to hold onto his lead.
Aaron Plessinger had an adventurous weekend in which he seemed to close on Lawrence in his second race before crashing and dropping to fourth. Coupled with a fifth-place finish in Moto 1, he earned 35 points and was credited with fourth overall.
Cashing in on confidence he gained in the final rounds of the Supercross season, Adam Cianciarulo earned his first top-five of the Pro Motocross championship after narrowly missing out last week with a sixth. He earned the distinction with consistent results of fifth in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2.
Hunter Lawrence showed his back to the competition at Hangtown, just as he did the week prior at Fox Raceway. – Align Media
The Lawrence brothers made history last week as the first siblings to win in two Pro Motocross divisions on the same day. Fans should get accustomed to seeing this happen with some regularity as Hunter Lawrence posted identical results in Hangtown to those he had at Fox Raceway in the season opener.
In both races, Lawrence got off to a slow start in Moto 1 and had to claw his way back to the podium. He dominated Moto 2 in both rounds to earn the overall victories.
Justin Cooper did not allow Lawrence to gain much of an advantage in the Motocross points’ standings, however. Finishing second in both motos, the earned only one point less than Lawrence. His modest showing in Round 1 of the outdoor season has him 12 points out of first in the championship standings.
Haiden Deegan scored his first moto win in just his fourth start in the series. In the first race of the day, he had to withstand constant pressure from Cooper, but when his teammate closed in on him, Deegan reached down and found a little more speed. Now that he’s won one of these races, he has his sight set on challenging Lawrence for the title. Deegan is second in the Pro Motocross championship standings with a 10-point deficit to the leader.
Haiden Deegan scored podiums in both Motocross rounds of 2023. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five with a pair of fifth-place results and 32 points for the round. Even though the deficit is a whopping 61 points, Hampshire climbed to second in the SuperMotocross championship standings now that Jett Lawrence has moved to the big bikes.
Jalek Swoll struggled last week and finished 21st overall at Fox Raceway. This week, he finished on the cusp of 10th in both races with a ninth in Moto 1 and 11th in Moto 2. In the SuperMotocross standings, he has a lot of ground to make up. He currently sits 49th on the chart with a 70-point gap to Chance Hymas, who is on the bubble to earn a guaranteed position in the SMX Mains for the three playoff races that will be held on September.
