Ayumu Iwasa has re-signed with DAMS for a second Formula 2 season, with the French team confirming that the Japanese racer will be competing for them alongside, Arthur Leclerc for the 2023 campaign.
The Red Bull junior and Honda Formula Dream Project driver sticks with the squad off the back of an impressive rookie season that saw the 21 year old net two wins, a further four podium finishes and two pole positions on his way to finishing fifth in the championship.
He’ll be hoping to use the benefit of a familiar environment to continue his momentum towards a potential title fight next year, after he closed out 2022 with the final Feature Race win at Yas Marina.
I’m really happy with my first F2 season, I learned a lot during the year, and we were able to improve at each race. It’s a great feeling to continue with DAMS for another year, I feel at home in the team, and we work well together. Everyone was on the same page and that helped us secure plenty of strong results. It’s going to be helpful to come into the new campaign in a familiar environment, along with my experience of several tracks that were new to me in 2022. My target is to challenge for the F2 title in 2023. We know we have the potential to achieve it, but we’re not looking too far ahead yet, instead concentrating on being ready for the start of the season. Thanks to DAMS for their faith and support and I can’t wait to get started in 2023!
Iwasa on the news.
We were all impressed with Ayumu’s performances in 2022, especially with the victories at Paul Ricard and Yas Marina, so we were very keen to keep him for 2023. It’s great for us to continue our relationships with Red Bull and Honda, they trust in our methods, and we’ll do our best to succeed together. Ayumu proved that he has the potential to fight for the title, he was a major competitor in the second half of the season, and we hope he can use this experience to kick on in 2023. We’ve got a strong lineup with Ayumu and Arthur, so we’re hoping they can push each other to improve throughout the year.
Virtuosi racing has announced its driver line-up for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season, with Jack Doohan remaining with the team and Amaury Cordeel joins him.
The Australian driver embarks on his second campaign with Virtuosi after achieving three victories this season, including a stand-out weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. Doohan ended the sprint race on the podium in P2 before going on to claim the Feature Race win on Sunday.
He was also prolific in Qualifying, taking three pole positions across the season as well as a further three podiums in 2022.
I’m thrilled to be continuing with Virtuosi Racing for my second year in Formula 2. After a strong first season together, I couldn’t be happier to be going into 2023 with the same great team around me. I can’t wait to get redemption from this season.
Doohan remaining with the team.
Cordeel joins Virtuosi on the back of a rookie campaign in F2 that ended with an improvement in form. The Belgian driver returned from the summer break and put together his most consistent run to date, scoring four times in the final six races.
It included a season best at Yas Marina , finishing 5th in the Sprint Race and 6th in the Feature Race.
I’m very happy to say I will be driving with virtuosi in F2 next year. It is clear that Virtuosi is among the top teams which will only make my personal growth better. I already noticed with the three-day test in Abu Dhabi that they support me insanely well. The second half of last season is very promising for next year. I am sure that together with them I can achieve my future dreams. Really thankful for this opportunity.
Cordeel on his new seat.
We’re delighted to be sticking with Jack for 2023. Jack enjoyed a brilliant rookie season with us and showed obvious potential for more. Together, we will be working hard to ensure he achieves that. Amaury’s results improved over his rookie year and we’ll be looking to work with him to improve further in 2023. Amaury settled into our car well during the Abu Dhabi post-season test and we’re looking forward to getting to it in 2023.
PHM Racing by Charouz have announced that Brad Benavides and Roy Nissany will be joining the team for the 2023 Formula 2 season, following a successful post-season test in Yas Marina.
Stepping up to F2 after his rookie Formula 3 campaign, American-Spanish racer Benavides earned a points-scoring finish for Carlin in the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race.
The 21 year old has experience competing in Formula Renault Eurocup, the Formula Regional European Championship and the Euroformula Open Championship, with his best finish being 13th in the 2021 Euroformula Standings.
I firstly want to greatly thank my main sponsor AIX Investment Group, it’s an honor to have the trust and backing of such a successful organization. I am tremendously grateful that they’re helping me to get one step closer to my life’s dream. I’d also like to thank PHM Racing by Charouz for this amazing opportunity, I’m genuinely very motivated, happy, grateful, and completely dedicated so that this next year goes as well as possible. Until now, for me it’s been a path with great challenges. In the face of adversities my spirit is to fight and come out at the top, something that has best defined me in my career. I’m already concentrated on preparing myself in the best possible way before the season starts, looking to really maximize the time I’ve got.
Brad Benavides on his new seat.
Nissany completes their line-up, switching from DAMS after two seasons and his most successful F2 campaign yet, having scored eight points finishes. Nissany currently has one podium to his name and will be hoping to add to that tally in 2023.
It is a very good news that I will race with PHM Racing by Charouz. The tests we have done together last week showed some good potential, and I also have good memories from our previous experience together a few years ago. I can’t wait to get back in the car and start this new adventure. Next season is going to be long and demanding, and I’m already thrilled to race at those 14 amazing venues being part of the 2023 calendar.
Nissany on his new team.
The pair showed great pace throughout the three-day test at the Yas Marina Circuit, achieving five top 10 appearances across the six sessions.
I’m very happy and excited to share the news of the agreement we reached with Brad and Roy after the very positive three days of testing we had in Abu Dhabi last week. We’ll have a very strong pair next year, with an expert driver and a young talent with so much potential, I’m sure they will be a good suit for the team and that we’ll be able to give them the chance to express their speed and skills on track during the next season. I would also like to thank AIX Investment Group for playing an important part in this, we really can’t wait for March to come.
The FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 Championship promoters announce that German team PHM Racing will take over Charouz Racing System’s entries and assets from the 2023 F2 and F3 seasons.
Founded in 2021 by Paul H. Muller, PHM Racing took part in the Formula 4 Championship in the United Arab Emirates, the German ADAC F4 and the Italian ACI F4 Championship in 2022.
PHM Racing will be operated by Charouz Racing System in 2023, and the team will race under PHM Racing by Charouz in both Championships.
The German outfit will be making its first appearance when Formula 2 and Formula 3 return for pre-season testing at the Bahrain International circuit, on February 14th to 16th.
I would like to welcome to PHM Racing to Formula 2 and Formula 3. Although they are a young team, they are eager to prove they have what it takes to embrace the challenges of our championships. I would also like to thank Toni Charouz and everyone at Charouz Racing System. Toni has been a great partner throughout the years and Charouz Racing have been valued members of our paddock since 2018. They will operate PHM Racing in both categories next season, so the Charouz name will remain on the grid in some capacity for another year.
FIA Formula 2 Championship CEO, Bruno Michel.
Joining Formula 3 and Formula 2 is the next step in our evolution as a comprehensive development program for young driver talents. We are excited to offer drivers a team that can take them from karting all the way to the doorstep of Formula One.
Paul H.Mueller, owner of PHM Racing adds.
I’m really glad to announce this partnership with Paul and his team. PHM Racing is a quite new name in the motorsport landscape but they already showed how professional and competitive they can be in Formula 4 and I’m sure, with all our knowledge and support, that they can do as well in the FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 championships.
Toni Charouz, Team owner of Charouz Racing System.
Kush Maini will be joining Campos Racing for next year’s FIA Formula 2 campaign the team has confirmed. With the 22 year old will be partnering Ralph Boschung, having been confirmed earlier this month.
The Indian driver made his single-seater debut back in 2016 in the Italian F4 Championship. He subsequently graduated through British Formula 3, Formula Renault Eurocup and eventually FIA Formula 3.
Maini moves up to F2 after finishing this years F3 season 14th in the Drivers Championship, having recorded a best finish of third with that result coming in the Budapest Sprint Race.
On behalf of Campos Racing, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Kush. He is a very committed, professional racing driver with a great work capacity, so we expect he will be able to complete a strong rookie season next year. He carried out some strong performances in FIA Formula 3 this season and hopefully he will make further improvements in the ultra-competitive FIA F2 Championship.
Team Principal, Adrian Campos.
Super happy to be joining Campos Racing team! I’ve spent some time with the team at their workshop and really enjoyed the atmosphere and the professionalism, looking forward to the three-day test at Abu Dhabi to officially start our relationship together! I would like to thank Mumbai Falcons, Omega Seiki Mobility and JK Racing for all their support
Trident have confirmed that Clement Novalak will be driving for the team next season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
The Frenchman will reunite with the outfit he last drove with in 2021 on his way to third place in FIA Formula 3, where he claimed four podiums and 147 points.
Novalak finished 14th in the F2 Driver’s Championship this season, taking 40 points and a season-best result of P2 in the Zandvoort Sprint Race. He and teammate, Felipe Drugovich helped MP Motorsport claim their first Teams’ Championship title in the process.
Team Principal, Giacomo Ricci said that Novalak’s return to the team would bring useful experience from his year with Champions MP Motorsport.
We are proud to welcome Clément Novalak back to our family. He is a driver with undeniable and undisputed value who did really well with Trident Motorsport in Formula 3 and achieving the third position in 2021 Championship. Novalak brings a year of experience with him in Formula 2 and I’m sure he will be able to make an important contribution to the team.
Giacomo Ricci.
I’m extremely happy to be heading back to Trident. We had an amazing partnership together in 2021 and I’m very proud to be wearing their colours again. I’d like to thank Mr. Salvadori for the trust and I’m hoping we can have an amazing 2023 full of success.
DAMS have announced that Ferrari junior, Arthur Leclerc will be joining the French team for his debut Formula 2 season in 2023.
Leclerc steps up off the back of two solid Formula 3 campaigns with PREMA Racing, where he scored victories in his rookie season at Le Castellet and Zandvoort.
Returning for a second campaign this year, the 22 year old finished sixth in the Drivers’ Championship with one win in the Silverstone feature race and further feature race podium in Sakhir.
He got his first taste of F2 machinery with DAMS during the post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit this week.
The Monegasque driver has been steadily rising through the ranks across the past five seasons. His debut year in single-seaters came in 2018 French F4 Champuonship where he finished fifth, before switching over to the ADAC Formula 4 Championship the following year, finishing third.
In 2020, Leclerc scored six victories, 12 podiums and eight pole positions on his way to claiming second in the Formula Regional European Championship Standings with PREMA and continued with the team on his move up to F3. At the start of 2022, he also took third in the Formula Regional Asian Championship.
I’m delighted to be making the step up to Formula 2 with DAMS in 2023. They’re a very successful team that has achieved great results in the championship, and I hope I can be a part of that and continue the team’s success. Charles Pic has done an amazing job to help the team back to winning ways throughout the season and I’m aiming to keep that going next year. We’ve a lot of work to do before the start of the new campaign in Bahrain in March, and I’m really looking forward to getting started in the post-season test in Abu Dhabi!
Leclerc on his move.
It’s great to have Arthur join DAMS for 2023. We’ve seen his talent and skill throughout his career so far, and he’s shown in the last two years in F3 that he’s capable of challenging for victories. We’re excited to have him in the car for the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, preparing for next season. The team is aiming for a strong campaign in 2023, and we’ve no doubt that the addition of Arthur will help us towards our goals.
Frederik Vesti will be driving for PREMA Racing, the team has confirmed. The Dane will swap from ART Grand Prix for next season, reuniting with the Italian team for the first time since 2020.
During his last spell with PREMA, Vesti captured the Formula Regional European Championship title in 2019, the following year he finished fourth in the FIA Formula 3 Championship before switching to ART for the 2021 F3 season.
This year, Vesti finished ninth in the Driver’s Championship on 117 points in what was his rookie F2 campaign, he took a maiden victory in Baku Spritn Race and a further four podium finishes.
We are delighted to welcome Frederik back. He is a quick and hard-working driver, which we already had the chance to appreciate in 2019 and 2020. We are obviously looking forward to joining forces again and seeing what we will be able to achieve together next season. With his skills and the experience, he has matured. We expect him to be a contender and we are determined to support him the best way we can.
Rene Rosin, PREMA Team Principal.
To join PREMA Racing for the 2023 Formula 2 season is great news for me. I have known PREMA since 2019 when we won the Formula Regional European Championship together. PREMA is an amazing place to be at and in my opinion gives me the best opportunity to fight for the F2 title in 2023! I have big dreams and PREMA is the team I believe that I can achieve those dreams with. There is no doubt that 2023 F2 is going to be incredibly close, but I will give my everything to be fast and consistent throughout the season.
It was a frenetic start to the final sprint race of the 2022 season, but not for Verschoor who calmly kept his rivals behind him to retain the lead off the line.
Jehan Daruvala and Enzo Fittipaldi collided and hit the barriers at Turn 3 and bringing out the Red Flag as the end of the opening lap. Slotting back into position for the rolling restart on Lap 3, Verschoor got a good getaway to hold the lead.
The cooler early evening conditions left the field struggling to light up their tyres. After being passed by Frederol Vesti for P11, Ayumu Iwasa attempted to go round the outside of the Dane at Turn 9.
Out front, Verschoor was unable to pull out of Lawson’s DRS window. It wouldn’t take long for Lawson to pounce on Lap 10 – going late on the brakes to catch the Trident driver by surprise and snatch the lead.
A lock up for VAR driver Cordeel, allowed Drugovich to slot his way through into third and left Cordeel at the mercy of Hauger, who made his own move on the Belgian into Turn 6. Missing the corner, Hauger tactically gave the place back into Turn 10, in order to avoid losing out to Sargeant and Doohan behind.
Lawson, had extended his advantage lap-by-lap and drove off into the distance to claim victory by a whopping 7.9s ahead of Verschoor and Drugovich.
LIAM LAWSON WINS THE SPRINT RACE!!! 🏆
The @redbullracing Reserve and Academy driver takes an incredible win under the lights in Abu Dhabi 👏
Iwasa moved to cover off his teammate immediately at the start bu Roy Nissany had the momentum. The duo remained side-by-side into Turn 2 until the Red Bull junior claimed the lead heading down the hill into the hairpin.
Drugovich made the move for P3 immediately as Theo Pourchaire went wide in the first corner and fell back to fifth as a result.
At Turn 6, the Carlin teammates were fighting for position, with Lawson overtaking Sargeant out of the chicane for sixth. Into Turn 9, Ralph Boschung spun and couldn’t get going again, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.
There was a close call for Drugovich on Lap 13, into the Turn 6 braking zone, the MP driver thought about a late dive but had to bail on the move. He narrowly avoided running into the back of the DAMS driver and dropped to over a second behind Iwasa.
Doohan finally pitted on Lap 26 after running further than everyone else barring Enzo Fittipaldi. He looked to be re-joining fifth on the road but after filtering back out on track, lost his front left tyre, forcing him out of the race.
Onto the final lap and the gap for the win stood at just 0.5s. Drugovich, forced Iwasa to go on the defensive into Turn 6 and had DRS once again into Turn 9. Iwasa just about held Drugovich at bay to take his second win in F2. Lawson closed up at the end to make it two podiums from two in the final weekend.
Campos Racing have retained Ralph Boschung for the 2023 Formula 2 season, announcing that the Swiss driver will be continuing his partnership with the Spanish team.
After getting his 2022 season of to a positive start with two top four finishes in Bahrain, Boschung followed this up with his first podium of the year in the Imola Feature Race.
Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan, after he suffered with facet syndrome and neck pain, he was forced to put out of six rounds mid-season. Despite this, Boschung immediately impressed on his return, netting a third-place finish in the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race.
His relationship with Campos first began in 2017, where he scored their first points of the F2 season with back-to-back top eight finishes in Baku. The 25 year old reunited with the team full-time last season, going on to achieve his maiden podium in Jeddah, before claiming a second podium in Yas Island.
I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue with Campos in F2 next year. With 2021 being my only Full F2 season, this year started so well but with the neck injury, my whole season was compromised. I have unfinished business and will want to prove that together with Campos Racing we can achieve consistently very good results.
Boschung on his news.
We are delighted to continue working with Ralph (Boschung), because after the health issues encountered, all we have a pending matter. Our goals together are still to be fulfilled and it will be our mission for next year, in which we expect to fight for top honours on a regular basis.
Ayumu Iwasa, hit the ground running at Yas Marina ending Free Practice being quickest of all, 0.055s ahead of Theo Pourchaire. The DAMS driver strung together his best time early on and nobody could usurp him fro the top spot in the remainging time.
Perfect conditions were presented to the drivers as the first session of the final weekend in 2022 got underway. Following plenty of installation laps, the times tumbled as the track ramped up and Marcus Armstrong put in the early benchmark with a 1:38.987.
Juri Vips had been running in the top three but had a lucky escape, avoiding the barriers at Turn 14 after a snap of oversteer almost led him into the barriers.
A red flag was thrown as the clock ticked underneath 10 minutes to go as Ralph Boschung spun into the barriers between Turns 13 and 14. The session got underway with 3 minutes to go, but nobody could improve over Iwasa’s 1:38.168.
Qualifying-
DAMS proved that its never over until the chequered flag in Formula 2, as Ayumu Iwasa stormed to his second pole position of the 2022 season. With his teammate Roy Nissany putting together an unbelievable lap, only 0.036s down on his teammate to bring home his first front row Feature Race. Theo Pourchaire will be starting 3rd.
Unlike previous visits to the Yas Marina Circuit, the 30 minute session got underway in the blistering mid-afternoon sunshine rather than under the flood lights.
Seven minutes into qualifying and with only half of the field having put a lap on the board, running came to a brief hault. Virtuosi’s Marino Sato suffered a spin underneath the hotel section between Turns 13 and 14 bringing out the red flag and forcing several drivers to abandon their laps.
As predicted pre-session, Sector 3 would prove to e the undoing for several attempts.
The full top 10 are- P1: Iwasa, P2: Nissany, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Drugovich, P5: Doohan, P6: Sargeant, P7: Hauger, P8: Codeel, P9: Lawson and P10: Verschoor.
PREMA Racing have announced that Ferrari junior, Oliver Bearman will be graduating to Formula 2 with the team for the 2023 season.
The 17 year old will be getting his first taste of F2 machinery during the post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit from November 23rd to 25th.
Bearman steps up on the back of an impressive rookie season in Formula 3 with the Italian team, where he finished third in the Drivers’ Championship. Along the way, he claimed eight podiums, including a maiden victory in Spa-Francorchamps and his efforts helped PREMA to regain the teams title.
The British driver, already has an impressive single-seater CV with 2023 set to be only his fourth season in single-seaters. In 2021, he broke new ground as he became the first driver to achieve two Formula 4 titles in the same year by winning the ADAC and Italian F4 Championships.
I’m really excited to continue another year with the PREMA family, this time in F2. I’m really happy with how my first season went in F3. It was a really nice introduction and I felt like the team coached me throughout the year really well. I will continue to work hard over the winter with the Ferrari Driver Academy, in order to be fully prepared for 2023. It will be a tough challenge, but everyone works so hard and I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I’m already really excited for the test in Abu Dhabi and for the first round of 2023 in Bahrain.
Ollie on his move.
We were amazed by how quickly and successfully Ollie transitioned from F4 to Formula 3 racing. He is a really talented driver, and while he will be making his first steps in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, we are confident he will improve race by race with the support of our team and the Ferrari Driver Academy as well. It won’t be easy, because the step from F3 to F2 is considerable, but we are confident in his potential for the season ahead.
Red Bull have added Brazilian racing driver and currently Formula 2 driver, Enzo Fittipaldi grandson of two-time former World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi, to their junior academy.
It has been a strong season for the Brazilian driver who drives for Charouz, having achieved a trio of P2 finishes and the same number of P3’s.
Fittipaldi stated it ad been his performance back in Hungary where he finished P3 in the sprint and then P2 in the feature race which caught Red Bull’s attention before then having a meeting Marko at the Belgian GP round.
The 21 year old, currently sits in P6 in the standings, and is one of three drivers tied on 126 points. Logan Sargeant in P3 who is set to join Williams next season should he secure his super licence, is only nine points further up, so a lot can change.
I think after my result in Budapest, where I got two podiums on the same weekend, we started [talking more seriously]. I’ve always had a bit of contact since last year with Dr Helmut Marko and then at Spa this year we had a meeting — so after Budapest — and we were talking and I’m very happy to announce I’m now part of the Red Bull family. The junior team is an amazing opportunity for me.
Enzo Fittipaldi on joining the RB Academy.
It’s difficult to say now. I still have to do a really good job in Abu Dhabi. I’m fighting for third in the championship in Formula 2, I have the race this week, so it’s really important I do a good job there, so the goal is to finish top three this year. Let’s just say Abu Dhabi is very important for me. It’s very important I do a good job there. We’ll see what comes after. For sure, being part of a [Formula 1] team for me has always been a dream, especially Red Bull — the championship-winning team, the best team in Formula 1. It’s a dream for me. So all I can do is thank Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull, Christian Horner — it’s an unbelievable opportunity. Now is the time to work hard and keep pushing.
The last race of the season is here and the tyres have been chosen for this weekend’s Grand Prix. Pirelli have nominated the three softest compounds in the range those being: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft).
The circuit characteristics aren’t particularly demanding for the tyres, as well as the asphalt not being as abrasive, which allows the use of the softer compounds. It’s important to consider the falling track temperature during the race as the chequered flag falls late into the evening.
The Yas Marina circuit is made up of 16 corners as well as some fast sections, where aerodynamics are an important aspect to guarantee a strong performance.
The teams used a number of different strategies at last years Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Verstappen won the race after being on a 3 stop, as he put the soft tyres on 5 laps from the end due to a safety car appearing.
At Abu Dhabi, a truly thrilling season comes to an end. Last year’s modifications to some of the straights and corners on the Yas Marina track have made the circuit faster, balancing the longitudinal and lateral demands on the tyres – whereas previously it was more about traction and braking. Despite these changes to the layout, there is still going to be a lot of attention paid to the rear tyres in order to guarantee the best traction over long stints. On the Tuesday after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 2023 slick tyres will be tried out during a full day of testing, where the teams will be able to decide their run plans as well as which drivers to use: race drivers or young drivers..
Mario Isla, Motorsport Director.
Formula 2-
Abu Dhabi hosts the final round of this year’s Formula 2 season, two months after the penultimate round in Italy. Whilst the Driver’s title is claimed, the teams title is still up for grabs. The medium compound and soft compounds have been chosen for this weekend. The Sprint race will last 23 laps, whilst the feature race will last 33 laps.
Trident have confirmed that Zane Maloney will be making his Formula 2 debut with the team at Yas Marina in the 2022 season finale.
Maloney finished as runner-up in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident after putting together a stellar rookie campaign, taking three consecutive Feature Race wins to end the season on a high. As well as ending the year just five points behind eventual Champion Victor Martins.
Trident team boss, Giacomo Ricci said that his strong results in F3 weren’t the only factor that impressed the team, adding that his adaptability and work ethic would put him in a good position to take on the challenge of Formula 2.
Maloney will be joining, Richard Verschoor at the Italian team, driving the #21 car previously raced in by Calan Williams.
We are very proud to be able to compete with Zane Maloney in the final event in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Zane, the Barbadian driver, terminated the Formula 3 Championship with three consecutive feature race victories and has proven to be second to no one in terms of competitiveness, almost winning the driver’s title. We are therefore pleased to have Zane on board, once again this year, and we are confident that Trident will be able to provide him with the maximum support and dedication for the challenging Yas Marina Circuit.
Giacomo Ricci.
I’m really looking forward to Abu Dhabi. It’s an opportunity to learn a lot before the end of the season and prepare me for what my future holds. Trident and I had a great year, so to do another race with them and Giacomo is a pleasure. Really looking forward to next weekend and it’s an amazing opportunity to keep improving myself on track.
Dennis Hauger, has confirmed his plans for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season, where he will be swapping from PREMA Racing to MP Motorsport for his sophomore campaign in the second tier.
The Norwegian driver has enjoyed a mixed rookie season and currently sits 11th in the standings on 98 points heading into the season finale in Yas Marina. After securing his first podium during the Imola Sprint Race, he brought home victory on his maiden appearances in Monte Carlo and Baku, before he returns to the podium in Zandvoort.
Having taken Felipe Drugovich to the 2022 Drivers’ Championship title in spectacular fashion, MP Motorsport will be eager to retain its levels of performance next year.
The Dutch outfit will give Hauger his first running for them across all three days of the post-season test in Abu Dhabi from November 23 – 25.
Entering this season as the reigning Formula 3 Champion, Hauger already has five years of single-seater experience under his belt. Since his debut in British F4 in 2018, he stormed his way to the Italian F4 title the following year with 12 wins and 16 podiums, alongside finishing runner-up in German F4.
Stepping up to F3 in 2020, he moved to PREMA for his second season and notched up four wins and nine podiums on his way to glory and remained with the Italian team for his maiden F2 campaign.
I am really excited about joining MP Motorsport for another assault on the FIA Formula 2 Championship. MP have been the revelation of this season, consistently producing a great car for every round of the season. We have recognised that, and it’s wonderful news that we have been able to make the deal work. I’m looking forward to working with the team starting at the Abu Dhabi test, which I hope will be our jump start to a very successful 2023 season.
Hauger on his move.
We are absolutely delighted that someone of Dennis’ calibre will be part of our Formula 2 programme in 2023. His 2021 Formula 3 title year is still fresh on my mind – he made no prisoners and was truly outstanding. With the knowledge and experience that he has gained in his F2 rookie season, I’m positive that he will translate those into consistent pace-setting form and more results like the ones he produced at Monaco and Baku this year.
FIA Formula 2 have announced the calendar for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Next season will comprise a total of 14 rounds, all support events of the FIA Formula One World Championship, as per the 2022 season.
The teams and drivers will contest a total of 28 races, across 13 different countries in 2023. With Formula 2 also visiting a new continent for the first time in its history, with the addition of the iconic Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.
The seventh season of Formula 2 will begin at the Bahrain International Circuit on March 3rd to 5th, with the season concluding at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi on November 24th to 26th.
Round
Date
Location
1
03 – 05 March
Sakhir, Bahrain
2
17 – 19 March
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
3
31 March – 02 April
Melbourne, Australia
4
28 – 30 April
Baku, Azerbaijan
5
19 – 21 May
Imola, Italy
6
25 – 28 May
Monte Carlo, Monaco
7
02 – 04 June
Barcelona, Spain
8
30 June – 02 July
Spielberg, Austria
9
07 – 09 July
Silverstone, Great Britain
10
21 – 23 July
Budapest, Hungary
11
28 – 30 July
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
12
25 – 27 August
Zandvoort, Netherlands
13
01 – 03 September
Monza, Italy
14
24 – 26 November
Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
“We are pleased to confirm the Formula 2 calendar for 2023 and look forward to another exciting season where the drivers will battle it out for the title and the chance to reach the highest level of motorsport. The Championship continues to play a hugely important role in nurturing the talent of the future and we are excited to see the next generation of F1 stars take to the track at 14 rounds of the 2023 season, visiting fan-favourite circuits and also travelling to the iconic Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne for the first time.
Stefano Domenicali, President ad CEO of Formula 1.
The 2023 F2 calendar will have 14 rounds, the same amount as the current one. In 2022, we’ve enjoyed more action than ever, with a total of 28 races, and we wanted to keep this for next season. The good thing is that there are a lot of tracks who would love to add F2 to their race weekend programme, but we always keep in mind the costs related to more racing. So, we have decided to limit the number of rounds to 14 again for 2023, and we will keep helping the teams to ensure their budgets remain at a proper level. As announced previously, we have added Melbourne to the calendar, a fantastic venue both for our teams and drivers, but also for everyone watching and enjoying F2. It will be very interesting to see our cars battling on those streets.
Formula Motorsport Limited (FML) have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Formula 1 Global Partner, Aramco to introduce the use of sustainable fuels in both championships from 2023.
It demonstrates how the FIA Forula 2 and Formula 3 Championships are pioneers in this important area of development, whilst continuing to bring the FIA Formula One World Champions of the future through the single-seater pyramid.
The agreement is subject to FIA World Motor Sport Council approval. It will form part of the wider sustainability strategy announced by the FIA and Formula 1 which will see the sport become net zero carbon by 2030.
By 2026, all FIA Championships will be required by regulation to power their cars with 100% sustainable fuels. A key milestone in the journey will be the introduction of a 100% sustainable fuel from the 2026 F1 season, alongside the next generation hybrid power units.
Sustainability is at the top of the global motor sport agenda, and it is vital to see this work not only going on in Formula 1, but also in Formula 2, Formula 3 and throughout the entire ecosystem. Our sport is developing and evolving rapidly and it will continue to lead the way, pioneering the technologies, including sustainable fuels, that will be crucial to tackle climate change. We are a key part of the solution to the problems we are facing worldwide, and the partnership is going to bring huge benefits to the sport and to the wider industry.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President.
Aramco is a leader in this space and, subject to the approval of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, will deliver our sustainable fuel ambitions, working closely with our colleagues in F2 and F3, who not only bring through the drivers of the future but offer a superb testing ground for the latest engineering in motorsport. In 2026, F1 will move to zero-emission sustainable fuel that offers a game-changing solution for the automotive sector and beyond. With the support of Aramco and all our manufacturers, we can accelerate the sector’s move to net zero.
Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO Formula 1.
Sustainability is a top priority in today’s world, and we have been working on making our sport more sustainable for some time now. The goal to switch to synthetic fuel can only be achieved through the partnership with a company of the scale of Aramco, which is determined to produce advanced sustainable fuel in the near future. It’s easier to implement such a significant change in F2 and in F3, as they are single-make categories with single suppliers. We’re very happy to undertake an innovation role – as we did last season with the introduction of the 18-inch tires now used in F1 – and take the first steps towards synthetic sustainable fuel.
Novalak got wheelspin from his getaway and in the second phase of the launch, Armstrong claimed the lead of the race, diving down the inside into turn 1. Novalak’s attempted defence baulked Juri Vips behind him, allowing Dennis Hauger a run alongside the Estonian at Turn 2.
Theo Pourchaire’s tricky start to the weekend got worse on Lap 2, dropping to 21st after out-braking himself at Turn 1 and running through the gravel after an attempted pass on David Beckmann for 14th.
A big lock up for Vips with six laps to go almost opened the door to Verschoor to seize P5 at Turn 10 but the Hitech driver gathered it up before the Trident could get close enough to pass.
The full top 10 are- P1: Armstrong, P2: Novalak, P3: Hauger, P4: Lawson, P5: Vips, P6: Iwasa, P7: Verschoor, P8: Sargeant, P9: Doohan and P10: Drugovich.
Day 3-
Drugovich covered off Doohan in Turn 1 but from third on the road, Logan Sargeant locked up and ropped right to the back following a trip through the gravel at the first corer.
But at Turn 7, Sargeant’s day went from bad to worse as the Carlin driver went into the barrier as he had contact with Boschung. The barrier required repair the race was red-flagged on Lap 4.
Doohan had DRS on Drugovich but a big lock-up from the Virtuosi Racing driver, on lap 9 into the first corner meant he had to file back in behind with a major flat spot as a result.
The Safety Car was out once again on Lap 17 after Marino Sato found the barriers at Turn 2, with his wheel becoming detached following his pit stop. The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 22 but Lawson left it as late as possible to make his getaway.
It caught out plenty behind and contact between several driver. Doohan was one of those who got caught up in the melee, tagged by Verschoor from behind. The Virtuosi driver was out along with Novalak and Calderon – the Safety Car was deployed once more.
Due to delays and earlier stoppage, the Feature Race went to time rather than the full 40-lap distance. After taking the lead, Drugovich was comfortable out in front and he claimed victory to put himself within touching distance of the 2022 Drivers’ Championship.
The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Verschoor, P3: Iwasa, P4: Hauger, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Cordeel, P7: Vips, P8: Beckmann, P9: Caldwell and P10: Pourchaire.
We are back this weekend for the second to last race weekend of the season, we are in Monza for Round 13.
Jack Doohan picked up from where he left off just under a week ago, leading the way in P1 for Virtuosi Racing. The Australian was ahead of Ayumu Iwasa by 0.323s whilst Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich followed in third 0.402s down on the best time.
The opening minutes were taken up by installation laps around what was quite a green track. Before any real representative times could be posted, Beckmann spun into the gravel out of Turn 13 to bring out the red flags.
As the drivers logged the laps, the track conditions rapidly evolved and the times tumbled as a result. Amaury Cordeel was briefly quickest before Ayumu Iwasa then Frederik Vesti went fastest. Doohan restored himself back to P1 with a 1:23.133s with just under 20 minutes left.
As the track evolution enticced the drivers to push but for Vesti, it resulted in a spin and contact with the barriers. His stranded ART Grand Prix car at Turn 2 brought out the red flags once more.
Qualifying-
Felipe Drugovich put himself within touching distance of the 2022 Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship by claiming his second consecutive pole position, over two tenths clear of Jack Doohan and Logan Sargeant.
Felipe Drugovich set the initial time to beat on a 1:21.915 until the fastest man in practice, Doohan restored his name to the top of the timing screens on a 1:21.760.
Red flags with 21 minutes left were down to Pourchaire finding the barriers at Turn 3, a snap of oversteer on the corner entry sent him directly into the outside wall and required a repositioning of the barrier before getting underway again.
Doohan’s next attempt was good but not good enough to stop the Championship leader. A second red flag with under four minutes due to Jehan Daurvala a spin between Turns 7 and 8 left the PREMA driver stuck on the sidelines.
The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Doohan, P3: Sargeant, P4: Verschoor, P5: Iwasa, P6: Lawson, P7: Hauger, P8: Vips, P9: Armstrong and P10: Novalak.
Greeted by cold and dry conditions, the mist loomed high over the Belgian hills and there were plenty of unknowns heading into the first race of the weekend after a lack of race runs in a highly disrupted practice session.
Whilst Ralph Boschung assumed his spot on reverse grid pole on his return to the the track after suffering an injury, Jehan Daruvala’s day was brought to an early end before the lights had even gone out as the PREMA Racing driver pulled over on the reconnaissance lap.
Unfortunately for the Swiss driver, the Belgian circuit isn’t short of overtaking opportunities. All over the back of the race leader, the Red Bull liveried Carlin sailed up into P1 along the Kemmel Straight.
The race made a turn on Lap 11, Logan Sargeant lost his rear end on the exit of Pouhom and skidded into the barriers, triggering the Safety Car.
The full top 10 are- P1: Lawson, P2: Doohan, P3: Boschung, P4: Drugovich, P5: Verschoor, P6: Pourchaire, P7: Armstrong, P8: Beckmann, P9: Iwasa and P10: Hauger.
Day 3-
Drugovich surged off the line and Doohan cleared Enzo Fittipaldi to take second into La Source. David Beckmann followed through down the Kemmel Straight on the Charouz Racing System at Les Combes to take third.
Theo Pourchaire’s title hopes took a major hit, as he slid down the order and out of the race with an issue. Richard Verschoor took fifth from the Charouz on the next lap, using DRS.
Fittipaldi and Sargeant were the first to pit for mediums on Lap 8, feeding back out in 14th and 15th places respectively. Lawson responded on the following lap, but it was a slow stop for the Carlin driver.
Juri Vips and Lirim Zendeli were the first of those on mediums to swap to softs on Lap 15 whilst Verschoor and Iwasa continued to extend their stints at the front.
The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Drugovich, P3: Lawson, P4: Verschoor, P5: Fittipaldi, P6: Sargeant, P7: Beckmann, P8: Iwasa, P9: Vips and P10: Novalak.
Ralph Boschung got his return to the Formula 2 season off to a positive start, as the Campos Racing driver topped Free Practice around Spa-Francorchamps.
The weather proved to be a major headache with rainfall around the track, catching a few drivers out, but it was the Swiss driver who managed to clock in a 2:01.376 finish ahead of Amaury Cordeel and Ayumu Iwasa.
Iwasa was the first driver to set a representative time. Flourishing in these conditions the DAMS driver set out to better his by 0.742s after the first two sectors, but it wasn’t to last, fighting the car through Stavelot ended in a huge spin across the gravel to bring out the Red Flag.
The full top 10 are- P1: Boschung, P2: Cordeel, P3: Iwasa, P4: Armstrong, P5: Zendeli, P6: Sargeant, P7: Daruvala, P8: Beckmann, P9: Sato and P10: Vips.
Qualifying-
Championship leader, Felipe Drugovich put in a mighty lap to take pole position for the Spa-Francorchamps Feature Race ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant.
His closest rival in the Championship, Theo Pourchaire had to settle for eighth on the grid, meaning that the French driver will line up third on the grid for the Sprint Race.
Juri Vips was the first to bring out a red flag due to a spin and not being able to keep his engine going. The session then resumed with 23 minutes to go and drivers got on track immediately.
Ralph Boschung took provisional pole for Campos Racing but it was only for a moment. Jehan Daruvala and then Jack Doohan went quicker with track conditions ramping up in the closing stages.
The full top 10 are- P1: Drugovich, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Sargeant, P4: Doohan, P5: Beckmann, P6: Lawson, P7: Verschoor, P8: Pourchaire, P9: Daruvala and P10: Boschung.
Lirim Zendeli will be returning to the Formula 2 grid this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps as he takes the place of banned, Olli Caldwell at Campos Racing.
Caldwell, managed to rack up 12 penalty points this season which has prevented Caldwell from being allowed to take part in this weekend’s races.
Since loosing his seat halfway through his rookie F2 season in 2021 due to budget issues, Zendeli has only raced cars once as he made a FIA Formula 3 Championship appearance with Charouz Racing System earlier this year.
His 2021 F2 campaign featured four points finishes in 17 races, and before that he won once across two seasons in FIA F3 and also claimed podiums in the Toyota Racing Series.
I’m very excited and happy to be racing a F2 car again. It’s been a year now since my last time in F2 and I’m looking forward to this experience. Spa has been good to me, last time I drove there in F3 [I won]. Taking over the keys from Olli will be a big challenge but I will try my best to find the limits again as soon as possible. I also want to thank Olli and Campos for their trust in me and I’ll give it my all to return it in good results.
Lirim Zendelli on racing in F2 again.
After the last sanction imposed by the FIA, unfortunately, we cannot have Olli with us in this race. Zendeli comes in his place and I wish him a very good weekend, we know he has been out for a year but we hope he will have a quick adaptation to the car and I think that with all the support of the team we can have a good weekend.
Jack Doohan ended Free Practice fastest of all ahead of Qualifying but there was almost nothing splitting him from Ayumu Iwasa, only 0.001s was the gap from the Virtuosi driver and the DAMS in P2. David Beckmann popped up into P3 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with the German driver being the only one to improve in the final 10 minutes.
Track temperatures were quickly rising as cars took to the track. A brief yellow flag was shown for a hare dashing across the circuit on the main straight but things remained as normal with 38 minutes left.
Birthday boy, Marcus Armstrong was the first to set a representative time to go fastest early on. That lasted until Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti made it an ART Grand Prix 1-2.
Ayumu Iwasa left the rest of the Formula 2 in the dust as he stormed his way to his first pole position in the Championship. A blistering quick 1:27.930 set in the final few minutes of qualifying allowed him to better his nearest rival HiTech Grand Prix’s Marcus Armstrong, by an astonishing 0.381s, while Felipe Drugovich narrowly pipped Theo Pourchaire.
Few drivers improved on their second runs, as Logan Sargeant opted to peel into off into the pits rather than set a second time. Olli Caldwell was the sole driver to run in the gap. This seemed to be a smart strategy for the Campos driver who leapt up from P16 to P1.
However, it was Iwasa’s final run on his second set of softs that proved to be the making of his weekend. Whilst Armstrong failed to improve, the Japanese rookie turned the timing screens purple.
The full top 10 are- P1: Iwasa, P2: Armstrong, P3: Drugovich, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Sargeant, P6: Vips, P7: Vesti, P8: Hauger, P9: Fittipaldi and P10: Doohan.
Day 2-
Fittipaldi aced his launch from second to take the lead in the opening metres from Doohan. A huge lock up at Turn 2 though undid his hard work and allowed the Virtusoi Racing driver to snatch the lead back.
Meanwhile, Dennis Hauger endured a poor getaway and went three wide with Drugovich and Sargeant. Contact between the MP Motorsport and Carlin pair nudged the American into Hauger on the outside, tipping the Norwegian around and out of the race at Turn 1. Sargeant was also out of the race as a result of the contact, retiring from the pits.
The action resumed heading onto Lap 4, and Doohan bolted early to leave the rest behind. Theo Pourchaire had dropped down to 16th on the opening lap after having to avoid action from the Turn 1 melee around the outside of the corner.
Jehan Daruvala reported that his front tyres were already gone by lap 11, and the pressure from Marcus Armstrong behind was proof of that. The Hitech Grand Prix dirver shaped for a move into Turn 1, but the PREMA driver slammed the door shut to hold sixth for the time being.
The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Vips, P3: Fittipaldi, P4: Drugovich, P5: Vesti, P6: Lawson, P7: Armstrong, P8: Iwasa, P9: Pourchaire and P10: Caldwell.
Daruvala got a great start from pole position but Lawson lagged behind him, the Carlin driver fell down the order into Turn 1, losing second to Armstrong and third to Drugovich momentarily, but a wide moment on corner exit left the MP Motorsport driver in the hands of Pourchaire.
Lawson kept in touch with Armstrong ahead and made a late lunge into Turn 1 on lap 4. The pair battle through the first sector and somehow avoided contact, just millimetres apart at Turn 4. After making the move, the gap to race leader Daruvala stood at 2.2s but Lawson set about hunting him down, to cut it down by 1.6s by Lap 6 and by Lap 8 the Carlin driver broke into DRS range.
The Safety Car offered a brief pause in action, deployed on Lap 9 following contact between Robert Merhi and the recovering Enzo Fittipaldi. The pair had been fighting for 15th position but a slide and spin in the North Chicane on the Mistral Straight left the Charouz in the middle of the track. Amaury Cordeel behind couldn’t avoid him and made contact, putting both out of the race.
The full top 10 are- P1: Lawson, P2: Daruvala, P3: Drugovich, P4: Doohan, P5: Vesti, P6: Iwasa, P7: Pourchaire, P8: Sargeant, P9: Sato and P10: Beckmann.
Pourchaire, Vips, Armstrong and Fittipaldi have all been penalised, Pourchaire originally crossed the line in P3.
Day 3-
After warmer temperatures played havoc earlier on in weekend, the field would have been thankful to have been greeted by cooler morning conditions in Le Castellet – allowing the grid to split their strategies.
The top five opted to get things underway on the softer compound, but that didn’t help Logan Sargeant, who suffered wheel spin off the line and dropped down to third. There were contrasting fortunes at the front of the pack, as Doohan got a blistering start to streak into the lead in the opening two corners. However, the Australian driver had company in the form of Iwasa, who immediately put him under pressure.
The Safety Car was swiftly deployed as the marshals picked up both Armstrong, and the stricken Marino Sato, who’s race ended early in the run-off section. Firing up his tyres early, Iwasa streaked ahead of Doohan on the restart, as Lawson boldly dived to the inside of Drugovich to take seventh.
The pit stop was the undoing of Sargeant’s day as well on Lap 13. The Carlin driver was unable to pull away from his pit box and was forced to retire, having looked solidly in the fight for a podium spot.
But it was Ayumu Iwasa who took the win and his first Formula 2 win! Theo Pouchaire cmae home to finish 2nd, and his teammate Frederick Vesti rounded out the podium in P3, a double podium for the ART GP team.
The full top 10 are- P1: Iwasa, P2: Pourchaire, P3: Vesti, P4: Drugovich, P5: Doohan, P6: Lawson, P7: Daruvala, P8: Novalak, P9: Nissany and P10: Fittipaldi.
We are back next weekend and we are in Hungary for Round 10, our last before summer break!
Juri Vips became the driver to beat in the opening session in Le Castellet, clocking in a 1:46.501 to go over a tenth and a half clear of the pack in Free Practice. Ayumu Iwasa secured the second fastest time ahead of Frenchman, Theo Pourchaire.
Although there are 167 different configurations of the Circuit Paul Ricard, the 22 car field took to the track to find the limit of it. However, that task is easier said than done as thermal tyre degradation left their rear wheel squealing for traction.
Hauger got things underway with the first representative lap being laid down moments before Frederik Vesti brought a quick pause to proceedings. The ART GP driver, already experienced a delayed start to his running and shortly after getting out on track he came to a halt on the Mistral Straight.
With 20 minutes left of the crucial 45 minute session, Pourchaire set his eyes on beating Iwasa to the fastest time. Despite the grid utilising the hard compound, keeping the tyres in their performance window proved a challenge especially in the final sector which saw several moments of oversteer.
The full top 10 are- P1: Vips, P2: Iwasa, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Drugovich, P5: Daruvala, P6: Verschoor, P7: Armstrong, P8: Doohan, P9: Sargeant and P10: Fittipaldi.
Qualifying-
Logan Sargeant left it as late as possible to snatch pole position for the Feature Race in Le Castellet, narrowly edging out Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vesti by the slimmest of margins.
Iwasa held provisional pole entering the final laps and Vesti couldn’t quite match him, ending up 0.023s down on the DAMS driver’s effort. Sargeant pulled out the time though, just 0.006s of it, but that was good enough for pole position Sunday.
Drivers took extra care on their preparation laps to keep the soft compound as intact as possible for their flying laps with temperatures remaining high for the Qualifying session.
Drivers boxed with 15 minutes remaining for the customary change of tyres. Enzo FIttipaldi didn’t join them though and was out of the car unable to take part in the final 10 minutes due to an issue on his car. Hauger joined the Brazilian on the sidelines shortly afters, as he came to a halt on the track and bringing out the red flags with just over seven minutes left of qualifying.
The full top 10 are: P1: Sargeant, P2: Iwasa, P3: Vesti, P4: Doohan, P5: Pourchaire, P6: Drugovich, P7: Vips, P8: Armstrong, P9: Lawson and P10: Daruvala.
Van Amersfoort Racing took to social media to announce that Jake Hughes will not be racing the next two rounds due to having a positive covid test. David Beckmann will be replacing him for the double header in France and Hungary.
As France and Hungary are consecutive race weekends, Hughes won’t be able to recover in time and will miss both rounds.
After finishing sixth in Formula 3 in 2020, Beckmann has yet to compete in a full season of Formula 2, budget issues saw him dropped by Charouz halfway through the 2021 season, despite taking two podiums for the team.
These rounds will be Beckmann’s third and fourth this season, having already been a stand-in already this season. In Imola, he replaced Cem Bolukbasi after his injury in the previous round. Then Beckmann took Amaury Cordeels spot, as he had to serve a race ban after acquiring 12 penalty points on his license.
Beckmann has managed to grab points already this season, but another four points could easily bump him up to 19th in the standings, which is very impressive considering he’ll have only competed in four out of ten rounds.
Also still driving as a substitute for the next two rounds in Roberto Merhi, who is replacing Ralph Boschung until he recovers from his neck injury.
Wishing Jake Hughes well and we will see him back on the grid soon!
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes set the pace in Free Practice, ending up fastest of all by four-tenths. The Briton’s 1:15.038 was a late effort that put him clear of the pack, followed by ART Grand Prix teammates, Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti. Just 0.230s separated second position from 10th as the short layout of the circuit closed the gaps between all drivers.
Overnight rain had cleared by the time Free Practice got underway in Spielberg, but the task at hand was far from simple. With such a short lap around the Red Bull Ring, traffic was a challenge almost immediately.
Calan Williams stranded Trident brought out the Virtual Safety Car as he stopped on the side of the road beyond Turn 3.
Now onto Qualifying, Frederik Vesti put his qualifying issues that plagued his start to the season firmly to bed, claiming his first pole position in Formula 2. It all came down to his second run after a track limit violation saw his time deleted, plummeting the ART Grand Prix driver to the back of the order at the halfway point.
Juri Vips was unable to pip the Dane at the last minute and the two were separated by three-thousandths of a second. Logan Sargeant put himself firmly in the fight at the front with third, as Ayumu Iwasa blazed up to fourth with a last gasp attempt at the chequered flag.
Day 2-
As the sun beamed down on the Red Bull Ring, Marcus Armstrong was ready to shine lining up on reverse grid pole. Seizing the opportunity with both hands the New Zealander aced his start to keep Pourchaire behind. However, his getaway wasn’t a patch on Drugovich’s. The orange MP Motorsport car launched right inbetween Verschoor and Doohan when the lights went green, but the Brazilian had no room to squeeze through.
Whilst the rest of the field got away cleanly, elbows were already out in the fight for the podium. Banging wheels into Turn 1, Doohan managed to make his way past Verschoor and sent the Trident driver back into Drugovich’s clutches.
Track limit warnings were looming over several drivers heads as they fought to keep their cars within the white line. The arrival of DRS saw a four-car battle to form for fifth, as Verschoor, Vips, Sargeant and Iwasa formed a train along the Spielberg straights.
The full top 10 are: P1: Armstrong, P2: Pourchaire, P3: Doohan, P4: Drugovich, P5: Vips, P6: Verschoor, P7: Sargeant, P8: Fittipaldi, P9: Hauger and P10: Iwasa.
Day 3-
There was a mix of strategy on the grid, with half the grid starting on slicks and the other half on the full wets. A dry line was beginning to form on the track surface, but the rooster tails remained on the formation lap.
Vips soared into the lead at lights out as pole-sitter Frederick Vesti bogged down and lost second to Iwasa. At Turn 4 the ART GP driver took the place back, finding grip on the wet patches of track ahead of him while Iwasa was left to run over the dry line.
The sprint winner, Marcus Armstrong didn’t get close to repeating his victory from the previous day. He came to a halt at Turn 3, bringing out the Safety Car. Vips led comfortably at the restart, but Pourchaire was on the move, cleaning Doohan into Turn 3 at the first time of asking.
Meanwhile, Felipe Drugovich tumbled down the order, falling from within the top 10 to 18th on his overheating wet tyres. Those on slicks were comfortably quicker than on the wet tyres. Verschoor and Daruvala cleared Sargeant and Iwasa with ease in the space of one corner onto the seventh lap. The trident driver then secured the lead with Daruvala and Merhi close in tow.
Merhi was enjoying his deputising role and was up to second on Lap 11, sliding down the inside of Daruvala into Turn 3, up 19 positions from where he started the race.
It was Verschoor who crossed the line in P1, but he got disqualified from the Feature Race after the Trident team were unable to provide the required post-race fuel sample for scrutineering. Jehan Daruvala had also received a post-race driver through penalty, which has been converted to a 20-second penalty in the final classification. The stewards found that the PREMA racing team had attempted to dry the track surface at his grid slot ahead of the race commencing. It drops down the PREMA driver, down to 12th after corssing the line to finish 2nd.
The full top 10 after penalties are- P1: Sargeant, P2: Fittipaldi, P3: Merhi, P4: Hauger, P5: Hughes, P6: Caldwell, P7: Iwasa, P8: Vips, P9: Nissany and P10: Lawson.
Formula 2 is back next week for Round 9, on the 22nd to 24th July at Circuit Paul Ricard!
Former Formula 1 driver, Roberto Merhi will be returning to the Formula 2 grid once more at the Red Bull Ring this weekend in place of Campos Racing’s injury-stricken Ralph Boschung.
Boschung has been plagued by neck pain over recent rounds, which have forced him to withdraw in the middle of three of the last four race weekends, including last week at Silverstone. He will now skip the upcoming events to allow his injury to heal.
His seat in Austria will be taken by Merhi, the 31 year old making his first F2 start since the end of 2018.
It’s been tough few last months, since after Imola the neck has dominated my every day and professional life, it’s very difficult to leave the team mid-season like this but I really need to recover from this injury and I thank my sponsors and the team for being fully supportive.
Ralph Boschung on not racing this weekend.
After racing in F1 with the Manor team in 2015, Roberto Mehri made his F2 debut with Campos at Barcelona in 2017 as team-mate to Boschung before making three further appearances with Rapax at the end of the season.
He then did the first eight rounds of the 2018 season with MP Motorsport, and raced for Campos for the final two rounds of the year. As well as this, he tested for Campos before the start of the 2019 season, and with HWA at the end of 2020, whilst his racing exploits have been focused on sportscars in Europe, Australia and most recently Japan.
I will try my best to achieve strong results to respond to the trust that Ralph, his sponsors and Campos Racing have placed in me. I drove a F2 car in 2018 for the very last time with Campos Racing, with whom stepped onto the podium at Yas Marina. I really like Spielberg circuit, a good place to come back.
Roberto Mehri, on making the return this weekend.
Unfortunately Ralph won’t be able to contest Spielberg as his season turned into a nightmare after Imola and we haven’t delivered our full potential yet. I feel very confident because he will work a lot to be back with us as soon as possible and at his 100 per cent. Besides, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Roberto, who will be temporarily replacing Ralph. We expect a quick adaptation and let’s complete a positive weekend together.
After two formation laps behind the Safety Car, it gave drivers a sight of the conditions they would be starting in. Jehan Daruvala led comfortably when the race did get going, as most drivers played it safe on the opening lap, apart from Jake Hughes who was the only one to capitalise and gain a place.
Vesti and Drugovich went into combat on lap 2 and the pair were side by side through Village, banging tyres through the loop onto the Wellington Straight. But into Brooklands, Vesti dived to the inside and claimed eighth place from the MP driver.
As the track continued to dry, some drivers started to complain of overheating wet tyres, but Doohan was finding a rhythm. He took from Juri Vips into Village on Lap Five, diving down the inside and claiming the place. Daruvala had already been complaining of graining rear tyres and Fittipaldi took full advantage.
Once more, Doohan was on the move through the Village – Loop section, this time taking the lead from Fittipaldi on lap seven after the Brazilian went deep at Village. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson was struggling massively having sustained front wing damage, he was soon passed by both ART GP along with Drugovich to drop him to 9th. Carlin then pitted him for repairs that dropped him down to last at the end of the lap.
But it was Jack Doohan who took his first F2 victory and the teams home win aswell. Iwasa came home to finish second and he was joined by Fittipaldi to round out the podium.
The full top 10 are- P1: Doohan, P2: Iwasa, P3: Fittipaldi, P4: Pourchaire, P5: Drugovich, P6: Vesti, P7: Sargeant, P8: Daruvala, P9: Armstrong and P10: Verschoor.
Day 3-
The first American on pole in Formula 2 history, Sargeant nailed a perfect getaway at the lights went out, but the same couldn’t be said for Vesti who joined the pole man on the front row. Meanwhile his ART teammate Pourchaire dived down the middle to leap up from fourth to second off the line…
There were changes up and down the top 10, as Lawson shot up into third from fifth, with fellow Red Bull junior, Iwasa slotting up into fourth having started sixth. Drugovich lost out to drop down to fifth, as Armstrong hopped up into the points-scoring places in P9.
Their momentum, was stopped on Lap 2, as contact between Dennis Hauger and Roy Nissany brought out the safety car. Going wide into the Club chicane, Nissany dived back on to track and into the path of the PREMA, cutting back the DAMS driver tagged Hauger, launching the Norwegian driver over the top of his car. Luckily, both drivers got out of the car okay, and that’s the main thing! The Halo is doing its job once again…
As the race drew towards its conclusion, time was of the essence to make moves stick. Vips got the better of his teammate for sixth. But on the cusp of his maiden victory, Sargeant’s work wasn’t over yet on the penultimate lap. Pourchaire was breathing down his neck as the ART had closed right within the one-second DRS window.
But it was Logan Sargeant who was victorious at Silverstone, Pourchaire finished 2nd a good amount of points for the championship, and to make it an even better day for Carlin, Liam Lawson finishes 3rd!
The full top 10 are- P1: Sargeant, P2: Pourchaire, P3: Lawson, P4: Drugovich, P5: Vesti, P6: Vips, P7: Daruvala, P8: Armstrong, P9: Doohan and P10: Hughes.
We are back next week, for round 8 in Austria, as we have now reached the halfway point of the season! Who will be victorious at the Red Bull Ring?…
Jordan's Track Talk 