In a young drivers racing category as wild and unpredictable as the GP2 Series, opportunistic overtaking and crazy racing are often at the centre of a fascinating grand prix weekend.
Over the last couple of seasons it seems like the man at the center of this kind of driving is Johnny Cecotto Jr., the 23 year old Venezuelan who is the son of former Formula 1 driver Johnny Cecotto. Last weekend in the Monaco GP2 feature race it all came to head.
Having started the weekend in fine style with a pole position on the streets of the famous principality, it took just seconds to undo all that hard work come race day where he ploughed into the side of Fabio Leimer and caused a fourteen car pile-up in Turn 1. The way his car was positioned side by side with the Racing Engineering driver, it was clear he wasn’t even heading in the direction of the corner and was always going to end up in the barriers.
His punishment post-race was a one race ban served in the sprint race of that same weekend. Many in the paddock however questioned why it was only now that he had seen such a punishment from the stewards after two much more deliberate attacking moves already this season.
His attempt on Sam Bird during qualifying in Malaysia was nothing short of vicious, displaying a clear intention to force Bird off the track at a considerable speed, and this as a result of Bird unintentionally blocking Cecotto on a lap.
In a similar display of aggressive, almost irresponsible driving in Barcelona just two weeks previously to the Monaco race, Cecotto again found himself in a fit of anger at Sergio Canamasas getting a surprise overtake on the inside line. Flicking the front of his car into the side of Canamasas from the outside line, the Arden driver proved once again that when it came to attacking drivers with his own car, he had no qualms. Most worryingly about this incident was that the stewards failed to impose any kind of penalty at all.
Cecotto is clearly quick, but all too often erratic. His weekend in Monaco was probably a good summation of his kind of driving: incredibly quick with the pole position, but then dangerous during the race.
There is no doubt pushes hard, and pushes the limits of the car: sometimes to great wins. The problem he has is that the eyes of the F1 paddock are watching, and regular incidents such as this will do him no favours in one day gaining that top flight drive. His antics in Monaco is only the third incident in the history of GP2 racing to result in a driver ban, and it will no-doubt be a black mark against his record. But in reality it probably won’t deter him. His ban was served during the sprint race where he was unlikely to even score points due to being the first retirement in the feature race, so realistically Cecotto didn’t lose a whole lot.
So does Cecotto push the limits? Yes. Does it always work? No. Is he a dangerous driver? Well that is less clear cut. Perhaps not all the time, but he is probably the most dangerous and reckless driver in GP2, and this kind of driving really is inexcusable. If the stewards do not kerb this kind of racing with harsher penalties soon, we could see a more serious accident in future races.
Image: paddockscout
