Dramatic days in Melbourne: F2 Weekend Wrap-Up

Sunday was a day in the sun for DAMS, seizing the lead of both Championships following Ayumu Iwasa’s Feature Race victory and Arthur Leclerc’s maiden F2 podium. Who else has left Melbourne on the front foot and who will be looking to bounce back when the Championship arrives in Baku later this month?

Here is the Melbourne Weekend Wrap-Up, team-by-team.

DAMS at the double

Two podiums in the Feature Race have cemented DAMS as the early season chargers to the Teams’ Championship. While ART Grand Prix had impressed in the Middle East with back-to-back pole positions by some margin, DAMS has scored the points and kept it consistent. For rookie Leclerc, his feeling in the team and the car has improved with every round, with the Monégasque growing in confidence with every session behind the wheel. Iwasa was tipped as a favourite for the title, and after an inauspicious start in Sakhir, the Japanese Red Bull junior has been on the pace and fighting at the front.

What’s more, Team Principal Yannick Hubert tipped his team to be at the forefront of the Championship this season, but imagined they would take to the front later in the year. After Melbourne, the team looks to be ahead of schedule and running on all cylinders heading to Baku.

Early season mistakes proving costly

A surprise pitstop for Victor Martins during the Sprint Race took the Frenchman out of the points and onto the wrong strategy. Perhaps it was a risk that the team didn’t need to be taking, but ART was pre-empting an expected loss of position. Martins had been losing speed ahead of the Safety Car and the pitstop was a last throw of the dice to put him back on the front foot, ultimately falling short in those ambitions as the predicted rain never fell hard enough. On Sunday, a lock-up and contact with Dennis Hauger at the final Safety Car restart put him down the order as well and out of the points.

Across the garage, Théo Pourchaire rescued his Qualifying session in the final moments having languished well down the order before his final lap that put him P2 on the grid. The Frenchman felt little confidence at the wheel in the spray, but having examined the data in the car between runs, pulled off a stellar lap to rescue his weekend. That was translated into P2 on Sunday following a nip-and-tuck duel with Iwasa. He remains second in the standings, eight points from the top spot.

Finding positives

On the board for 2023, Dennis Hauger will still depart Melbourne a little disappointed. The Norwegian was on for two podiums in two races after winning the Sprint Race on Saturday, but late contact with Martins ended his hopes of a double down under. Teammate Jehan Daruvala remains ahead in the Drivers’ Standings, 32 points compared to Hauger’s 30, but the Indian driver didn’t match Hauger’s pace in Australia. MP Motorsport sits third in the Teams’ Standings, five points behind rivals ART Grand Prix.

For Hauger, two podiums from six races will not be how he imagined his 2023 campaign getting underway. He’s clearly had strong pace from the outset but poor fortune has derailed his early season charge. Returning to Baku, scene of his maiden Formula 2 victory last year, Hauger will be hoping he can get his Championship aspirations back on track.

In the hunt

Campos Racing is one of three teams with both of their drivers inside the top 10 in the Drivers’ Standings. Both have been quick at various stages so far this year, but it was definitely an impressive showing by rookie Kush Maini in Australian shores. The Indian driver is just seven points behind teammate Ralph Boschung, who led the Drivers’ Standings in Jeddah.

Boschung’s weekend was one to forget, falling victim to miserable conditions en route to the grid on Saturday and ending P16 on Sunday. The Spanish outfit remains fourth in the standings following Maini’s P3 Sprint finish, a hard-fought reward in an action-packed race against fellow rookie Jak Crawford and Championship leader Ayumu Iwasa.

Mixed potential

After fighting tooth and nail with one another in the Sprint Race for seventh and eighth places, PREMA Racing’s pair endured differing fortunes on Sunday. For Frederik Vesti, a fortuitous Safety Car gave him the chance to rescue points with a strategy gamble paying off, giving him fourth place and the fastest lap, important points with the Dane now third in the Drivers’ Championship.

Oliver Bearman literally bounced back in Qualifying after an early crash to secure P6 on the grid, but the Feature Race was another nightmare for the Briton. Two points finishes from a possible six is clearly unrepresentative of his true level, but a clean weekend in Baku for Bearman will be the goal as he looks to climb the standings before racing around more familiar circuits. Vesti’s experience and happiness at PREMA is telling, with the Mercedes junior driver picking up points and keeping out of trouble to build his momentum.

Further improvement

Another team to experience mixed fortunes across the Melbourne weekend, Rodin Carlin is now sixth in the Championship rising to 38 points in total. Enzo Fittipaldi’s visit to Australia was tricky, suffering two crashes and leaving with no points, but Zane Maloney was able to bring home some points for the team. The Bajan driver pulled off a stellar overtake in the Sprint, eventually finishing fifth and he matched that result on Sunday.

The second-highest placed rookie in the Drivers’ Championship after Leclerc, Maloney has been getting his feet under the table with Carlin in the early rounds. With more traditional races coming up following a first-time visit to Baku, he could go strength to strength. For Fittipaldi, his prior experience in F2 at the upcoming rounds will only be a positive as he looks to right the ship and score well next time out.

More points well within VAR grasp

You can’t keep Richard Verschoor down for long. Once again, the Dutch driver came through from nowhere to score points in the Feature Race, ending up with P7 after starting down in 18th on the grid. Teammate Juan Manuel Correa benefitted from Isack Hadjar’s post-race penalty to rise up to 10th, his second scoring finish of the year after he too had a mountain to climb following Qualifying.

It has been a trait so far this year that Van Amersfoort Racing isn’t out of the equation even after a tough Qualifying result. If the Dutch squad can improve its form on Fridays, their points tally might rise rapidly over the next few races.

Home comforts

“Four points is better than none,” was Jack Doohan’s summary of his first home race weekend, one in which plenty had hoped for more, none more so than the man himself. Still, Doohan’s rescuing of points on Sunday was at least a tangible reward for his never say die attitude across the weekend. Cheered on by a tremendous Aussie crowd from the word go, Doohan’s speed was definitely closer to the 2022 mark.

Lightning quick in the wet during Free Practice and looking like he’d carry that into Qualifying, Doohan’s final run was mistimed, falling foul of the late Red Flag. It prevented him from starting in the top 10 but the fightback to points will bring some semblance of confidence heading to Baku for Round 4.

Work in progress

Both Hitech Pulse-Eight drivers will feel aggrieved due to various twists and turns of their respective weekends. For Jak Crawford, his best Qualifying performance of the season was rewarded with P2 in the Sprint Race for his maiden F2 podium. Contact with Doohan on Sunday left him watching from the sidelines as teammate Isack Hadjar had his own issues.

The Frenchman fought through to sixth after a grid penalty for the Sprint Race but Sunday afternoon was a difficult day for Hadjar. Having been in contention for a podium in the Feature Race, contact with Roy Nissany had him on the ropes and staring down a point-less visit to the Southern Hemisphere. However, Hadjar showed his overtaking chops, fighting back to eighth. He ultimately finished 15th following a post-race time penalty, but he can take heart in knowing Hitech have improved from Round 1 and are making tangible steps with every weekend.

Points precipice for PHM

To come close to points but ultimately miss out was a disappointing but positive moment for Roy Nissany. The team achieved a P9 finish in the Sprint Race as he kept his cool where others lost it to come through for a top 10 finish. It’s a pattern so far this season, with Nissany on the cusp of points three times already, one place behind a point in Sakhir and Jeddah.

Benavides continues to build up his knowledge levels of the F2 car as does the team. Around more familiar venues and a circuit in which Nissany has raced around before, points in 2023 might be close for PHM Racing by Charouz.

Almost for Trident

Safe to say it hasn’t been the start to 2023 that Trident had hoped for. Point-less heading into Baku, the Italian outfit will be building up for a better weekend in Azerbaijan, but things looked better in Melbourne than Jeddah. Clément Novalak came agonisingly close to his first point of the season on Sunday, going from 17th on the final restart to finish 11th. Roman Stanek’s gamble for wet tyres didn’t pay off in the end and he slipped to 14th in the Feature.

Baku was a bright spot last year for the team as Richard Verschoor earned a P5 finish around the streets in the Feature Race. Any repeat would be a welcome reward for the ongoing work as the team tries to find its way this year.