Silverstone talking points: A new leader, and a tough debrief for PREMA

With the dust settled after another enthralling FIA Formula 2 race weekend at Silverstone in Great Britain, we take a look at the talking points from Round 5. A change of hands

The biggest talking point from the weekend has got to be the championship’s change of hands. Callum Ilott returns to the top, having initially taken the lead back in Round 1, before surrendering it to Robert Shwartzman.

The UNI-Virtuosi ace done so in style, sealing his second win of the season, and his first on home soil, albeit without the usual legion of British fans.

The Ferrari junior now leads Christian Lundgaard by 19 points in first, with Shwarztman falling down to third place.

A frustrating Sunday for PREMA Racing

SUnday had initially looked so strong for PREMA Racing. Robert Shwartzman and Mick Schumacher had looked unstoppable out in front, until a coming together towards the end.

Ultimately, their collision was rightly deemed to be a racing incident, but that won’t have prevented some difficult conversations from happening in the Italian team’s garage.

A one-two finish would have certainly helped their push in the Teams’ Championship, as well as aided the duos own title ambitions, but it wasn’t too be. The important thing is that the pair learn from the experience. These things happen to the best of drivers, and they can both be rightly forgiven, given their young age, but they have to ensure that it’s s a one off.

An unusual, but well-earned first victory

Yuki Tsunoda’s maiden F2 victory may not have come in the most usual of circumstances, but he certainly won’t mind. The Carlin racer had been following in the wheel-tracks of Schumacher and Shwartzman all race, before benefitting from the aforementioned collision, and darting ahead of them both for the lead.

The Red Bull junior has looked like a class act in Free Practice this season, and has performed on a fairly regular basis in Qualifying as well, but has struggled to switch it on in races. He suffered no issues this time around, getting the tyres up to temperature and keeping them in the window, without overdoing it.

Had the PREMA’s not collided, he could quite conceivably have challenged at least one of them for another position.

F1 academies on top

The F2 field is rich with Formula 1 academy talent this season, with Ferrari, Renault, Williams and Red Bull all represented on the grid. In Silverstone, those talents really came to the fore. All six podium finishers belonged to one of the academies this weekend, with all four of those teams making an appearance.

The Championship’s top three drivers all belong to driver programmes, proving once more the benefits these academies provide the drivers.

Aitken looks to have turned things around

Jack Aitken’s troubling run of form finally came to an end in Round 5. The Campos racer and his team have been struggling with the 2020 machine so far, and the Williams’ reserve driver had taken just eight points from the opening four rounds.

In Round 5, he more than doubled this tally, taking 25 overall, with a pair of podium finishes. He looked calmed, measured, and controlled all weekend, as well as seriously quick.

Both Aitken and his team will hope their struggles are behind them, and that they can kick on from here.