S5000 manager Chris Lambden on coronavirus, “tremendous" fan support, and Australia’s next world champion

Ahead of the 2020 VHT S5000 Championship debut at the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, Highway F1 sat down with Category Manager Chris Lambden.

All talk was on the late announcement that Williams F1 reserve driver Jack Aitken would be joining the S5000 field, with Lambden telling HF1 that Aitken is “literally just finalising his early travel arrangements as we speak, in order to get here for Monday night.”

“It was a relatively [late arrangement], the whole concept only came up a couple of weeks ago.”

“We had to-and-fro'd, as he had to get permission from Williams and the FIA, all sorts of things. It all came together about a couple of days ago know, and he is so keen to drive these cars, it's tremendous.”

The S5000 field is set for the Grand Prix, with Aitken to start alongside F1 legends Rubens Barrichello and Giancarlo Fisichella in the 15-car field. Lambden said he was particularly excited to see Thomas Randle on the grid, who is able to start the S5000 series as his recovery from testicular cancer has meant he has been able to postpone treatment.

Looking beyond the excitement of the Grand Prix, Lambden reflected on the preparations for the rest of the six-round championship, estimating that between 12 and 14 drivers will be ongoing entrants.

“A lot of that's still being finalised as well. There are 3 or 4 internationals who will be going home after the Grand Prix, and we're talking to other young guys about taking over those cars.”

It was impossible to avoid discussing the impact of the coronavirus on the Grand Prix, with Lambden confident that the domestic nature of the series would provide a degree of protection.

“The only concern I would have is that poor old Giancarlo Fisichella is coming from Italy, so they'll probably give him a fair-old going over in immigration.”

With the series making its championship debut at Albert Park after two non-championship events last year, our conversation turned to the direction that the series would take in the future.

“I have always said from the start that I want this to grow to be the Australian equivalent of what IndyCar is to the United States, or SuperFormula to Japan,” said Lambden.

“At the moment, it's early days but it's going reasonably well, and I think as our young guys start to learn that there's more than one way to get yourself into the world of Supercars—where they all think they're going to earn a fortune as a professional—there's more than one way to do that.

“I'm hoping the S5000 will be seen as somewhere where top young drivers can be sourced. I mean this year, Zane Goddard is doing Supercars and S5000, as is Thomas Randle, and there are a couple of other young guys as well. So I think it will provide a pathway.

“Alan Jones, who is presenting the trophy at the Grand Prix for S5000, has just gone on record as saying that he thinks our next world champion will come from S5000. He thinks it's a terrific training ground, something a bit more powerful than Formula 3 and the like, and I think that's a reasonable opinion from someone who perhaps knows what he's talking about.”

With the discussion turning to the development of young drivers, Lambden was confident that S5000 could act as a conduit for new talent, despite recent developments in Australian motorsport such as the end of the national Formula 4 championship.

“Formula Ford is a pretty decent training ground, and if you do Formula Ford I think you've got the basics of open-wheeler at your fingertips. I mean, I'm interested to see how Antonio [Astuti] in particularly goes, from the Formula Ford/Formula 4 guys.”

We won’t have to wait too long to see how drivers manage the jump to S5000, with 2019 Formula 4 competitors Luis Leeds and Antonio Astuti both set to race at Albert Park next week.

“I think it's doable,” said Lambden.

“The young New Zealander who is running, Jordan Michels, is last year's Formula Ford champion.

“It's a solid jump from there to S5000, but with the right amount of testing and competitive times, I think they'll be fine.”

“The car is a lot like a Formula Ford for grown-ups, in a lot of ways,” he said, laughing.

“So I'm hopeful, because I've always wanted to have the right young guys in it.

“We had a couple of young guys come out of the woodwork who used to race in the Formula Brabham days who were talking to us about getting involved, getting a car and thinking they might drive it, but we were successfully able to persuade them that they'd be better off to occupy the role of car owner and put a promising young guy in the car, which is what has happened with a lot of them.”

When pushed for his early pick, Lambden laughed it off: “I'll pick three or four.”

“To be honest, Jack Aitken's been hounding around Bahrain for the last week, testing Formula 2, so I reckon he'll be pretty much on it.

“As he proved here before, Rubens was pretty much near the pace, and who knows how Fisichella will go? Locally: [Tim] Macrow, James Davison... there's a whole lot of people who could run near the front so I'd be quite embarrassed to try and pick one. The quality at the front end is pretty quick. And of course: Thomas Randle, who I think is a terrific open wheel driver.”

The VHT S5000 Championship makes its championship debut at the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, 12-15 March.