Analysis: GP2 mid-season Review

With Formula One's absence from TV screens continuing, as does the sport's feeder series, the GP2 World Championship.

There have been many graduates of GP2 in F1, such as Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, and the series continues to churn out strong talented drivers. However some are lucky enough to bypass the series altogether, such as Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull and Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen.

In fact, every GP2 champion since it's inception in 2005 has participated in F1 in some capacity. However only 2006 champ Hamilton has won the biggest prize in motorsport.

The one currently setting GP2 alight is Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne. A McLaren protege similar to the way Lewis Hamilton was a decade earlier, Vandoorne is curently running away with the title, he commands a whopping 85-point lead.

Vandoorne finished runner-up to Jolyon Palmer last season, and looks set to go one better in 2015. With GP2 weekends having two races, a feature and a sprint, it presents more of an opportunity for drivers to impress.

Sprint races give them the chance to demonstrate their pure speed and ability, whereas feature races provide them with the chance to show how well they can manage tyres and handle pitting strategies that - in the modern era - are dynamic throughout the race.

Vandoorne dominance so far

The first meeting of the season was in Bahrain, as the undercard to the F1 race held on the same weekend. Vandoorne took pole for the feature race, won it, and set the fastest lap as Indonesian Rio Haryanto won the sprint race and kept Vandoorne modest in the feature, finishing in second.

Vandoorne went on to win the next three feature races too in Spain, Monaco and Austria. However since then, the last two race meetings haven't been as fruitful. Picking up 37 points from a possible 80 has seen Haryanto close in on the Belgian.

The thing about GP2 is it offers a refreshing change of pace to Formula One. F1 currently is dominated by Mercedes, and only two or three teams occupy the podium places. GP2 has had six different winners and despite Vandoorne leading by a big margin, the racing and competition is still there.

Vandoorne, Haryanto, Sergey Sirotkin, Alex Lynn, Richie Stanaway and Nobuharu Matushita have all taken respective victories this season and many of the drivers in the top ten of the championship standings have been linked to F1 at some time or another.

Three drivers to look out for

Raffaele Marciello - The Italian is currently a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and is immensely talented. Marciello is also Sauber's reserve driver this season and sits seventh in the GP2 standings. His best finish this season is a pair of second placed finishes in Monaco and Britain. However it won't be long until he's in Formula One if he can live up to his great potential.

Stoffel Vandoorne - As evidenced above, the Belgian is certainly destined for big things. There's currently rumours that Vandoorne is to replace Jenson Button at McLaren for 2016, and as these rumours will inevitably gather pace, it's key to note that Vandoorne is ready for the step up. He's quick and knowledgeable on the track, making him an ideal candidate.

Alex Lynn - The young Brit is Williams' test driver and will inevitably be in Formula One shortly. As we look like losing one Brit in Button, another comes along in Lynn. He's quick, handles the car well and has a couple of victories to his name this season so far. He's also kept team-mate Pierre Gasly in check, beating him in the championship.

Current GP2 standings

The key point non followers of GP2 can take away is that Formula One's talent pool is in extremely good hands.