Arthur Leclerc has took the 2nd out of 3 Prema seats for the 2022 season, making the Italian team to be the only team who have signed two drivers so far.
This will be his second season in Formula 3, but third season with the team as he first joined them in 2020 in the Formula Regional European Championship where he finished runner up with six wins, and 15 podiums.
With that in the bag, the Monégasque earned a promotion into F3, where in his rookie season he won twice, as well as pole position and P2 in Budapest. Overall he finished 10th in the standings.
Leclerc’s single seater journey began back in 2018 where he entered the French F4 where he finished 5th overall, the next year he finished second in the ADAC F4.
“I am extremely happy to continue the work we started with PREMA Racing in the 2021 FIA Formula 3 Championship,” said Leclerc. “I think we did a good job last year, and 2022 will be a good opportunity to put together everything we have learned so far. I cannot wait for the season to start.”
PREMA Team Principal Rene Rosin added: “It is great to continue our collaboration with Arthur. I am sure that he will carry on the progress we saw in 2021 when he showed he had the potential to be a frontrunner.
“Last year’s experience with the challenging three-race weekends will definitely help him navigate the events with a great focus, which will surely benefit the whole team.“
My Opinion-
I didn’t think he would move up to Formula 2 this year, based on last years result, but its a good signing for himself and Prema. Hopefully we will see him be more consistent this year like in other series’ and then he can make that step up to F2 soon.
The dates for testing for both Formula 2 and Formula 3 have been revealed.
Before both of the series gets underway at Sakhir on March 18th to 20th, there is a 3 day pre-season test at the circuit on the 2nd to 4th March, both series will alternate across the 3 days for each session and test. This is the third time F2 has used the country for the first bit of on track action. F3 used the track for pre-season testing back in 2020.
After the season opener, F3 will go to Spain’s Jerez circuit on the 5th to the 6th of April for the second lot of tests, even though this venue is not on the calendar it is said to be used for set-up work and improving tyre management as the layout holds similarities to the Hungaroring.
Formula Two holds its second round in Jeddah in late March before its in-season test the next month at Barcelona on the 12th to 14th of April, where they will be going again for round 4 of the 2022 season.
After F2 have finished their tests, many of the teams will stay put in the paddock as F3 visits Barcelona for their 3rd test from the 15th to 16th. Out of the 11 teams in which take part in F2 and the 10 in F3, Virtuosi Racing and DAMS are the only teams to solely do F2, and Jenzer Motorsport only takes part in F3.
Having just one pre-season test for both Formula Two and Three followed by further in-season tests was something which had been planned for the 2020 season before the coronavirus pandemic took effect and cause further disruption to the schedule.
It has been announced that Oliver Bearman will be racing in Formula 3 for PREMA Racing, who he joined for the successful post-season test in Valencia.
The 16 year old Brit became the first driver to win both Italian and ADAC Formula 4 Championships in the same season, which saw him earn a spot in the Ferrari Driver Academy.
2021 was Bearmans second year of single seaters, he grabbed 15 podiums, 11 wins and eight poles in Italian F4 as well as 11 podiums, six wins and five poles in ADAC F4.
“I’m really looking forward to stepping up to FIA F3 with PREMA, as my first official year being part of the Ferrari Driver Academy,” said Bearman. “We worked really well together in the post-season test at Valencia, and their results in previous years across everything which they do, speaks for itself. I can’t wait to get started in Bahrain!”
PREMA Team Principal Rene Rosin added: “We are looking forward to working with Oliver in 2022. The results he achieved this year speak for themselves, and we have obviously been observing him as rivals. The step for him will be huge and particularly challenging, with a lot to learn, but we will do everything we can to help him maximize his potential and be competitive right from the start. It will be extremely interesting to see the season develop, and what we will be able to accomplish together.”
My Opinion-
I think this is great! Ollie is a very talented driver especially at 16 years old, and because of his achievements so far he deserves to get this seat in F3. It will be interesting to see how he does next year he is most definitely one to watch!
The Formula 2 Championship promoters have confirmed that Van Amersfoort Racing will replace HWA Racelab entry and assets for the 2022 Formula 2 season. The Dutch team will be running for the first time this week in the post season test taking place in Abu Dhabi.
This follows two months after Formula 3 announced their grid that Van Amersfoort Racing will be joining F3 next season (2022).
VAR started over forty years ago, with a number of different drivers coming through. From the likes of Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, Dennis Hauger and Jonny Edgar all having driven for the team over the years.
FIA Formula 2 Championship CEO Bruno Michel said: “I am very pleased to welcome Van Amersfoort Racing to the Championship. I am certain that they will be a great addition to our grid, with them also competing in Formula 3 from next year. Joining F2 is always challenging, but their expertise and professionalism will undoubtably help them get to grips with the category quickly. I would like to take this opportunity to thank HWA RACELAB for their collaboration for the past two seasons, and I wish them success for their next challenge.”
Rob Niessink, CEO of Van Amersfoort Racing adds: “After having recently announced our entry into the FIA F3 Championship, it now is an absolute pleasure to become part of the FIA F2 Championship as well. We are simply proud and consider this step as an important milestone in the long history of our team. It will be a challenge we don’t take lightly, and it might not come as a surprise that watching “our” F2 cars leave the pit-lane for the first time during the upcoming post-season test at Abu Dhabi will be a big moment for us. I want to thank Bruno Michel and HWA RACELAB for their support in making this happen.”
My Opinion-
I have heard of the Dutch team before with some drivers having driven for them in the past shows only good things. With them joining both Formula 2 and 3 grids it only shows good things in my opinion, looking back on the history of their drivers, it looks like they take time in spotting which drivers they want and they are all very talented now…
The first signing for the 2022 Formula 3 Championship has been announced, and that is Grégoire Saucy and for ART Grand Prix.
Saucy took part in the post-season testing at Valencia last week, where he set the best time of the three-day test and consistently running in the top two with ART.
This isn’t the start of Saucy’s and ART’s relationship as it started last year as he competed in the Formula Renault Eurocup before making the switch to the newly formed Formula Regional Championship, he went on to get the title with 10 podiums including eight wins!
“I am honoured and happy to continue the adventure with such a fantastic team like ART Grand Prix,” said Saucy. “This is a continuation after our great year 2021. I know the team and how it works, and this will be a very valuable asset to prepare for next season. I would like to thank my sponsors for this opportunity. The Valencia test went very well, even though I had a lot of new parameters to work through. Having said that, it’s way too early to set any goals for myself as I still.”
Team manager Sébastien Philippe added: “After two years of a fruitful collaboration, concluded by securing the first title in the history of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2021, ART Grand Prix was very keen to take another step forward with Greg. He showed the full extent of his talent and maturity in 2021 and in addition to this, we have come to know and appreciate each other both personally and sportingly. I am delighted and eager to write this new chapter in our collaboration.”
My Opinion-
I think this is great, I kept an eye on what Saucy was doing during testing and he definitely was one of the ones who stood out for me. It will be interesting to see what he does next year!
We are back with the results from day 2 and 3 of the post season test in Valencia, lets see who tops the time of each session!
Day 2Morning-
There was a number of different driver changes for the second day of testing with the main two being Paul Aron replacing Arthur Leclerc at PREMA Racing and Oliver Rasmussen switching to ART Grand Prix.
David Vidales was the first to set the lead time with a 1:21.723 for Campos with Stanek setting an almost identical time shorty afterwards and Saucy set the top 3.
Crawford was then a familiar name at the top during the final hour of the morning session as he went quickest with a 1:21.368 but shortly after there was a red-flag due to Johnathan Hoggard.
The action then resumed but the order didnt really change with the top three being Crawford, Saucy and Stanek.
The top 10 from Tuesday’s morning session:
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:21.368
2
Grégoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:21.447
3
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:21.453
4
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:21.475
5
Jack Doohan
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:21.521
6
Oliver Bearman
PREMA Racing
1:21.593
7
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:21.666
8
David Vidales
Campos Racing
1:21.723
9
Kaylen Frederick
HiTech Grand Prix
1:21.839
10
Reece Ushijima
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:21.889
Afternoon-
Three rookies set the standard for the afternoon session, with Colapinto leading Jenzer Motorsport duo Enzo Trulli and William Alatalo with a lap time of 1:22.757.
Edgar then put in a 1:22.739 which put the 2021 Team Champion, Trident at the top of the leaderboard before Saucy brought the session to a halt with a red flag.
Collet was the first to break the 1m 22s on this afternoon session after lapping a 1:21.843 which many drivers tried to beat and failed at doing so. But with only 15 minutes left of the session, Saucy decided to put on new tyres and to knock off the driver off P1 when he lapped a 1:21.789.
The top 10 is as follows for Tuesday’s afternoon session:
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Franco Colapinto
MP Motorsport
1:21.759
2
Grégoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:21.789
3
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:21.843
4
Paul Aron
PREMA Racing
1:21.857
5
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:21.864
6
Kaylen Frederick
HiTech Grand Prix
1:21.913
7
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:21.927
8
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:21.941
9
David Vidales
Campos Racing
1:21.951
10
Oliver Bearman
PREMA Racing
1:21.979
Day 3-Morning-
The drivers didn’t hang about to get out on track this morning as soon as the lights went green the action started. We had Caio Collet set the early pace at 1:21.392 ahead of MP’s Colapinto and Ushijima.
Smolyars return to Formula Three machinery didn’t last long as his VAR came to a stop in the first hour which paused the session. Once it resumed Saucy took P1 from Collet by only 0.092s there was then two further stoppages as Bearman came to a halt at Turn 12 and Marti stopped at Turn 4.
Focus then went to data gathering in the second half of the morning and Saucy kept his place at the top of the leaderboard.
The top 10 is as follows for the morning session:
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Grégoire Saucy
ART Grand Prix
1:21.300
2
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:21.392
3
Jack Doohan
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:21.401
4
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:21.422
5
Franco Colapinto
MP Motorsport
1:21.543
6
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:21.597
7
Kaylen Frederick
HiTech Grand Prix
1:21.629
8
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:21.767
9
Paul Aron
PREMA Racing
1:21.835
10
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:21.873
Afternoon-
There was lots of long-runs in the afternoon stint until the last half an hour. Collet kept up his impressive work and set the time of 1:22.811 ahead of Edgar and Ushijima.
Collet remained at the top for 2 hours and a half until Doohan pushed him off after there was a red flag due to Benavides stopping on track.
Zak O’Sullivan managed to break into the top 10 after spending the first two days if testing in the latter half of leaderboard. He finished ahead of teammate Logan Sargeant.
The top 10 is as follows for the final session of the 3 days:
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Jack Doohan
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:22.354
2
Reece Ushijima
Campos Racing
1:22.545
3
Jonny Edgar
Trident
1:22.658
4
Alexander Smolyar
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:22.794
5
Filip Ugran
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:22.801
6
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:22.811
7
Hunter Yeany
Campos Racing
1:22.884
8
Zak O’Sullivan
Carlin Buzz Racing
1:22.940
9
Logan Sargeant
Carlin Buzz Racing
1:23.046
10
Isack Hadjar
HiTech Grand Prix
1:23.011
And this wraps up the post-season testing! Keep your eyes peeled for announcements on which drivers will be on track next year and when the testing calendar for 2022…
Today we had the first day of post-season testing for Formula 3, it took place in Valencia. Testing takes place over three days, with an overall of 18 hours in total. Lets take a look on how things have ended today.
Morning-
To start the day off, we started in wet conditions with everyone being forced to head out on wet tyres, but it soon switched to blue skies.
Rookie Franco Colapinto set the early pace with MP Motorsport lapping a 1:35.044 just ahead of team-mate Caio Collet. P1 then kept switching between the rookie duo, Zane Maloney and Grégoire Saucy before Jonny Edgar took the time below 1:30’s and took the lead.
Then a switch to the slicks with an hour left on the clock produced some better lap times under 1m 26s. Caio Collet broke the 1m 24s barrier with only 15 minutes left, just before Doohan put the Dutch-based team, Van Amersfoort Racing in first.
The top 10 from the morning session is as follows:
Driver
Team
Laptime
1
Jack Doohan
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:23.349
2
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix
1:23.541
3
Kaylen Frederick
HiTech Grand Prix
1:23.546
4
Roman Stanek
Trident
1:23.580
5
Jak Crawford
PREMA Racing
1:23.668
6
Oliver Rasmussen
Charouz Racing System
1:23.747
7
Arthur Leclerc
PREMA Racing
1:23.765
8
Caio Collet
MP Motorsport
1:23.838
9
Franco Colapinto
MP Motorsport
1:23.847
10
Zane Maloney
Trident
1:23.863
Afternoon-
For the afternoon session things warmed up, as MP Motorsport set the pace with Collet leading Colapinto with a lap time of 1:23.125. Kaylen Frederick then briefly replaced Colapinto in P2 before Martins drove into P1 being the first driver to break the 1m 23s today.
With less than an hour to go on the clock, Doohan broke into the top two but still remained a hundredth of Martins time. During the final stages he managed to push Martins down to P2 after putting a 1:22.402 on the board.
Saucy and Maloney led the rookies this afternoon where they placed third and fourth, ahead of Stanek. Rasmussen put in the most laps of the afternoon completing 60.
More changes are coming to Formula Two and Three next year as they have announced new points allocation as they make changes to the Sporting Regulations.
This follows as announcement was made earlier that the weekend formats have changed for both F2 and F3 next year.
For Formula 2 the top 8 who finish in the sprint race will be awarded points, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
Whereas with Formula 3 the top 10 will be awarded points in the sprint race 10. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point.
For F2 and F3 the feature race point allocation will not change which is the top 10 scoring points (the same as F1).
Starting from 2022 aswell, only two points will be awarded for pole position in both championships. And in each race, one point will be allocated to the driver who has the fastest lap.
My Opinion-
With things changing in both categories it makes sense for the points allocation to change too. It gives the drivers more determination to want to score better and make there way up to the next level.
I think we’re going to be in a real treat next year in both F2 and F3, with some bright talents coming through it’ll make for some exciting races!
So with Formula One announcing their calendar for next season, Formula Two and Three have announced theirs!
Formula Two will have a total of 14 rounds, which will see two races each round, so a total of 28 races, it will make the most sizeable calendar since the launch of the championship in 2017.
The season will kick off in Bahrain on the weekend of 18th March and with it finishing on the weekend of 18th November in Abu Dhabi. F2 will be going to two new tracks which are Imola and Zandvoort.
CEO Bruno Michel said: “I am pleased to present the largest calendar we have ever had in Formula 2, with 14 rounds and 28 races. This results from a strong will from our stakeholders to have F2 race alongside as many Formula 1 Grand Prix as possible.”
F3 will have a total of nine rounds, which makes it an 18 race championship. Again F3 will start in Bahrain on the same weekend as F1, it will end on the weekend of 9th September in Monza, just like this year. Also F3 will be at two new circuits next year and they are Zakhir, Bahrain and Imola, Italy.
CEO Bruno Michel said: “Our 2022 Formula 3 season will start at the Bahrain International Circuit, at the opening round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and the new Formula 2 campaign. It will be very exciting to start all together.”
My Opinion-
I’m very much looking forward to both F2 and F3 next year, especially with both series racing at new tracks and both of them being on the same weekends as F1.
With F2 this year there has been pretty big gaps, the season started end of March and then the next race weekend was 20th May. And then again currently we are on our 4th week of a 10 week break until the season comes back for the last two rounds. So they have planned it well so there isn’t as big of breaks.
With F3 they started quite late this year compared to next, they started in May where as next year they will be starting in March. They have been able to bring a couple more races in to make the season a bit longer without big gaps.
Formula Three has announced 10 teams which have been selected for the 2022-2024 seasons. Nine out of the ten are the same outfits which competed in 2021, and the newcomers Van Amersfoort Racing have been chosen to join the F3 grid.
The full chosen 10 are: ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Carlin, Charouz Racing System, HiTech Grand Prix, Jenzer Motorsport, MP Motorsport, PREMA Racing, Trident and Van Amersfoort Racing.
As usual each team will enter three cars, making it a 30-car field as seen in previous years.
FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel said: “For the next three-year cycle, we have decided to renew our trust in nine of our current teams. They have been with us for many years now, and they have proven their value, expertise, and professionalism. I would like to welcome Van Amersfoort Racing to the list of selected teams. Their success in other categories make them a nice addition to our grid. I am confident that they will adapt quickly to the demands and challenges of our championship.”
“Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank HWA RACELAB for their commitment to Formula 3 for the past three seasons, during which they claimed four wins and 10 podiums.”
The Netherlands based team has been running for over 40 years, throughout those years they have had Jos Verstappen, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, Dennis Hauger and many others come through VAR.
A change is coming to Formula 2 and 3 next year as over the weekend it got announced a new format is coming in 2022, for both Formula Two and Formula Three.
The weekend will be made up of one sprint race and one feature race. Friday will stay the same with a free practice session and then qualifying later on. Saturday will have one sprint race and then on the Sunday the feature race which stays the same.
Formula Three will join Formula Two when they race, which they will both be racing on the same weekend as F1! The number of events for F2 and F3 next year will be announced in due course.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, said: “We are pleased to announce the changes to the weekend format for Formula 2 and 3 for next season and I am grateful to Bruno and the teams for their efforts to make this happen.”
FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel commented: “In 2021, we introduced a new race weekend format and chose to have F2 and F3 race separately, mainly for costs reasons, and it proved to be quite efficient.”
Why have they changed it?
Bruno Michel said that there was too much time between each event. Which isn’t ideal for the teams, drivers and the fans. Which is true considering we are currently on a 10 week break from F2, and it doesn’t return until December. We saw what happened when F2 returned to Monza after a 8 week break from Silverstone, it was a crazy first sprint race!
My Opinion-
I think this is a good idea, the 2 sprint races and feature race are good but i feel as if that having one sprint and a feature is better because theres a lot more focus onto the feature. Having F2 and F3 on the same weekend is really good because it gives a lot of racing over the weekend and it gives F1 fans the chance to watch it too and potentially bring new fans to F2 and F3.
I can imagine having both series with F1 they may look at putting more races on the calendar for both F2 and F3, even more so that the amount they race over the weekend would have gone down by one race.
Jordan's Track Talk 