What to watch for: Spielberg surprises in Round 7

27 June 2024

After a hectic but thoroughly enjoyable race weekend in Barcelona, it’s straight off to Spielberg for the 2024 Formula 2 season’s seventh round.

The second part of the triple header takes us to the Red Bull Ring, a very familiar venue for the grid and the title picture is taking shape very quickly.

Here is what to keep an eye on this weekend in Austria.

DAMS race pace

DAMS Lucas Oil seem able to balance going fast with keeping the tyres in good shape

It has been quite the turnaround for DAMS Lucas Oil since the early part of the campaign. After hitting the ground running in pre-season testing and looking competitive across the opening two rounds of the year, results seemed to dry up.

However, following in-season testing in Barcelona, the team are back on form, with only two results outside of the points for both drivers when both have made the chequered flag in the six races since between them.

Juan Manuel Correa’s reversal in fortunes in particular, points to the impressive turnaround the team has made, with the American-Ecuadorian inside the top 10 in four of the past five races around very different venues also in Imola, Monte Carlo and Barcelona.

The team’s race pace was the bedrock in which they profited from around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and the double podium in the Feature Race a deserved reward for their efforts.

Being kind on the tyres is always a positive, and DAMS look like they are getting the best out of the Pirelli tyres as we get to the European heart of the season.

DRS bubble

With three DRS zones around the Red Bull Ring, keeping drivers out of range will be important

With three DRS zones featuring around the layout of the short but deceptively complex Red Bull Ring layout, drivers will need to be tactical as well as tenacious in wheel-to-wheel combat.

The first DRS zone along the start/finish straight can lead to an overtake at Turn 1, but it’s the long run up the hill to Turn 3 that is the main action zone across the weekend, with moves under braking common throughout.

However, anyone emerging from Turn 3 ahead must be careful to not be re-overtaken, with the subsequent straight featuring the third DRS zone into Turn 4, so retaliation can’t always be avoided.

It’s often overtake or be overtaken during both races in Spielberg, with the pack kept tightly bunched courtesy of the DRS boost coming into effect when drivers are within a second of their rival ahead.

This makes leading at the Red Bull Ring especially tricky, with no one ahead to gain a reduction in drag from. Therefore, escaping up the road in the early laps is often vital for a race leader’s hopes of remaining ahead throughout.

That could happen courtesy of attacking the tyres early, but as was shown in Barcelona, it can leave a driver relatively exposed later in the stints once tyre life has worn down. A tough decision then for anyone to make if they’re hoping to make a break.

Late-race chargers

Verschoor made great use of the late-race Safety Car in 2023 to make the alternative strategy work

Last season it looked as though Enzo Fittipaldi was the driver who’d profit on the alternative strategy, leading things as a late-race Safety Car came out. The then-Rodin Carlin driver was controlling things from the front until that turned things upside-down and handed the initiative to Richard Verschoor.

Driving for Van Amersfoort Racing in 2023, Verschoor was in the box seat from then on, making his mandatory stop to emerge ahead of Fittipaldi on the road in the latter stages, as the Brazilian was forced to do another lap under Safety Car speeds having gone past pitlane entry.

Verschoor made his moves count at the restart, carving his way by Théo Pourchaire and Victor Martins in the ARTs, then Jack Doohan and race leader Frederik Vesti.

He wasn’t the only one making moves either, with DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa speeding by the quartet and then applying pressure to Verschoor for the race victory, ultimately ending up just short.

Such is the layout of the Red Bull Ring, tyre differential in terms of wear levels and compound offset can make a massive impact if things are bunched back up late on.

Correa’s efforts in Barcelona are proof that being patient and then hitting the tyres hard after a late-race stop can pay dividends.