But Magny Cours saw the emergence of a third true title contender, in the form of the young Swiss driver Christopher Zanella. When he signed up for Formula Two he did so with much less pomp and circumstance than some of his rivals, whilst clutching a much slimmer CV. He won the 2008 Swiss Formula Renault Championship, but only took two pole positions and four wins along the way. A solid season in F3 Euroseries followed, heralding one podium and a 13th place finish overall, before another decent year saw him claim sixth position in the Italian F3 Championship. Not a disgraceful set of achievements by any means, but when his rivals are able to boast GP3 campaigns, Formula Renault 3.5 victories and Formula One test drives, it’s fair to say that Zanella’s experience is a little lacking.
As a result, his excellent podium finish in the second race at Silverstone was seen by many as a fluke result, aided by spinners on the opening lap and Will Bratt’s disqualification. Indeed, after qualifying second for the first race at Magny Cours in a damp qualifying session, he was again not favoured to be in contention for the race victory, with much of the focus being placed on Brundle, Bortolotti and Monras behind. About ten minutes before the pitlane opened for the race, I put this to him, asking whether he felt the weather helped him qualify higher than expected. He glanced down for a moment in thought before looking me square in the eye, shrugging, and saying ‘no, not really. I always expected to be there or thereabouts’. Two things struck me. Firstly, the fact he had not even considered whether the weather had played a part in his qualifying session. Zanella, it seems, is not interested in the past, not interested in analysing every minute detail of a previous session and speculating about the ifs and buts, he is only interested in what’s coming up next and whether he can win it. His entire approach to Formula Two has echoed this; not getting intimidated by the looming achievements of his rivals, but just going about his work to make sure he gets faster and faster. The second insight was to that of his confidence in his ability. He seems to see his talent as a matter of fact, rather than a matter to opinion. He knows he is a quick driver, and doesn’t feel the need to constantly share that information with anyone who will listen.
This refreshing attitude not only impresses those of us who come into contact with him, but also allows him to just concentrate on the driving, and in a series where that is the primary - and perhaps solitary - focus it could be a crucial factor when it comes to Zanella’s development as a driver. There are perhaps as many as ten of the current Formula Two field that I would have thought more likely to be leading the championship a quarter of the way into the season, but this is the nature of a true single car series; it allows us to really find out who is the quickest driver. So after his dominating lights to flag victory in race two, you can’t help but think this could be a season to add significant weight to Christopher Zanella’s CV.
