Since its inception in 2005, GP2 has become something of a finishing school for Formula 1 with Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg, Nelson Piquet Jr, Timo Glock and Kazuki Nakajima all graduating from its ranks in the past three years.

 

Typically the GP2 champion has been given a race drive the following year (see Rosberg, Hamilton and Glock), while runner-ups and strong contenders can expect to land a testing role.

 

So with just three rounds and six races remaining this season, which of the current leading runners can expect to graduate to F1 in 2009?

 

 

Age: 29

Team: Racing Engineering

Points: 65

 

Don’t be surprised if you recognise the name. Pantano raced for Jordan in 2004 before being replaced by Timo Glock due to a contractual dispute with Eddie Jordan. Since then the experienced Italian has become a GP2 stalwart, with more starts in the series than any other driver.

 

Pantano has led the 2008 championship since his feature race win at the second round in Turkey and has gone on to take victories in France, Great Britain and Germany. However, a retirement in the German sprint race and a below par performance at the Hungaroring have seen his title lead slip to just seven points.

 

At 29, Pantano’s age won’t do him any favours, but it is his experience that has put him at the top of the GP2 leaderboard ahead of younger, more inconsistent rivals. If he wins the title he will have every right to go knocking on motorhome doors in the F1 paddock, but, with only a few teams displaying potential vacancies in 2009, his chances are slim.

 

Age: 24

Team: iSport

Points: 58

 

Another name that you should recognise from Formula 1, but for slightly different reasons. Bruno is Ayrton Senna’s nephew and much like Nico Rosberg, Nelson Piquet Jr and Mathais Lauda, his surname has certainly got him noticed in GP2. However, Bruno has had relatively little racing experience, due to his family putting his career on hold between the ages of 10 and 20 after his uncle’s fatal crash.

 

Senna has had his fair share of bad luck on his way to second place in the championship standings. He retired from the Turkish sprint race after hitting a stray dog and in France a clutch failure robbed him of the lead during the high-scoring feature race. On the plus side wins at Monaco and Silverstone evoked memories of his uncle, while a string of podiums in the last three races have seen him become a serious threat to Pantano.

 

There is a lot of support for seeing the Senna name return to Formula 1 next year and it’s not all wishful thinking. Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger was a good friend of Ayrton and helped Bruno restart his career back in 2004. With Sebastian Vettel’s promotion to Red Bull next year, there is growing speculation that Senna might fill the space at Toro Rosso. Berger recently said: “I run a team in partnership with Red Bull, and shouldn’t mix personal things with business. But if Bruno is clearly the best candidate, then we’ll discuss it anyway. If he’s GP2 champion, it doesn’t matter what his name is.” If that doesn’t come off, then a testing drive elsewhere is surely a certainty.

 

Age: 24

Team: Campos

Points: 39

 

Lucas di Grassi is Renault’s official test driver and was Glock’s main challenger for last’s GP2 year. However, the Brazilian still doesn’t have any junior category titles to his name and has recently lost out on testing time in the Renault R28 to the Frenchman Romain Grosjean.

 

Having only raced in GP2 since the French Grand Prix this year, it is no surprise that the Brazilian isn’t fighting for this year’s championship. His performances at the four rounds he has attended, however, have been from the top drawer and culminated in a brilliant win in the Hungaroring feature race.

As Renault’s official test driver, he should theoretically be next in line for a race seat at the French manufacturer. But it is difficult to see how such an opportunity might come about: Fernando Alonso is the only Renault driver who looks like he might leave, but even then it would be risky for the team to run as inexperienced a line up as Nelson Piquet Jr and di Grassi. Not to mention that Romain Grosjean has fast become Renault’s favourite son in testing.

 

Age: 22

Team: ART Grand Prix

Points: 36

 

As a champion in Formula Renault, the F3 Euroseries and the GP2 Asia Series, Grosjean certainly has the CV to back up his talent. And at 22-years-old he is one of the most promising driving talents to come out of France in the past two decades.

 

Grosjean has been something of a disappointment this year. Having won the GP2 Asia series over the winter (albeit in older spec cars) he looked set to take the main series by storm, driving for the championship-winning ART Grand Prix team. But Grosjean and his team have struggled to get to grips with the new-for-2008 chassis and have scored just one win in the Turkish sprint race.

Renault recently gave Grosjean two full days of testing in Jerez – a considerable amount given the current 30,000km testing limit. Indeed the team’s apparent confidence in him led to speculation that he could even replace Piquet this year if the Brazilian rookie’s form hadn’t picked up. But he faces the same problems as di Grassi in getting a full time drive, although as a Frenchman he would be a popular choice with the company bosses. A further year of Renault backing in the main GP2 Series is another possibility and would give him the opportunity of completing his near perfect CV before entering F1.

Age: 19

Team: Arden

Points: 34

 

The Swiss is the latest star to emerge from Red Bull’s driver development programme, having started his single-seater career in Formula BMW at just 15. Four years on and he is driving for Christian Horner’s Arden GP2 team as well as being Red Bull Racing’s official test driver.

 

Buemi has had a solid if unspectacular GP2 season this year. As a regular points finisher in feature races, he has secured good grid positions for Sunday’s races and has taken wins in France and Hungary. He clearly has potential but has struggled over one lap during Friday’s qualifying sessions.

 

Red Bull is the obvious avenue for Buemi into F1. He has made no secret of his desire to replace Vettel at Toro Rosso and his regular tests at Red Bull over the past two years should stand him in good stead. However, he will face stiff competition for it, not least from the other drivers on this list.