Preview
Your guide to… Spielberg Round 2
The 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship is set for more excitement this weekend as the paddock returns to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for Round 2.
WHEN TO WATCH All times local (GMT +2)
Friday Free Practice: 12:55 – 13:40 Qualifying: 17:00 – 17:30 Press conference: 18:15
Saturday Feature race: 16:45 (40 laps) Press conference: 18:05
Sunday Sprint race: 11:10 (28 laps) Press conference: 12:15
THE STORY SO FAR
The thrill and spills of last weekend’s opening round saw two new names etched into the annals of Formula 2 history. Callum Ilott took his maiden F2 win in an incredible Feature Race, while rookie Felipe Drugovich stunned on Sunday in a lights-to-flag victory.
It was another F2 newcomer in Carlin’s Yuki Tsunoda that initially set the pace in practice, but 2019’s top rookie Guanyu Zhou used every ounce of his experience to grab his second career pole in Qualifying. The Renault-backed driver was almost half a second quicker than Drugovich who joined him on the front row.
Zhou battled hard for the Feature Race lead with UNI-Virtuosi teammate Ilott and Mick Schumacher, only for mechanical gremlins to cruelly prevent what looked likely to be a maiden victory. Ilott came home ahead of 2019 F3 Vice-Champion Marcus Armstrong in second, after a superb call by ART to pit the New Zealander early. Reigning F3 Champion Robert Shwartzman finished third.
If Drugovich was disappointed with Saturday, he turned it around in the Sprint Race. Starting from reverse pole, the MP Motorsport man masterfully survived three safety car restarts to maintain position and take the chequered flag. Louis Delétraz and Dan Ticktum joined the Brazilian on the podium.
THE CHALLENGERS
Ilott (27 pts) is out in front of the Drivers’ Championship after the first two races of the season, ahead of trio of rookies. Shwartzman (23) is four points behind the Briton, with Drugovich (21) and Ticktum (20) just a point apart in third and fourth. Delétraz (18) rounds out the top five.
ART Grand Prix (36) lead the pack in the Team’s Championship after solid hauls for both Armstrong and Christian Lundgaard. Second-placed UNI-Virtuosi (31) are five points further back, four points ahead of MP Motorsport (27). PREMA Racing (25) and DAMS (20) occupy fourth and fifth.
With the first weekend of the new campaign in the books, this weekend provides an instant opportunity for teams and drivers to stamp their mark on the young season, or to correct any mistakes if necessary. A switch to Pirelli’s medium and supersoft tyre compounds should add another interesting dynamic in the Styrian Alps.
FROM THE GRID - MICK SCHUMACHER (PREMA RACING)
“Tyre degradation is relatively low here. That allows you to push hard during the race which is much better than having to slow down and look after the tyres all the time. It’s a pretty high-speed track with all of the corners being quick except Turn 3. That gives us a good rhythm and it’s fun to drive.
“I had a great weekend here in the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship when I won two of three races and finished 2nd in the third race. That’s definitely a great memory! Last year’s F2 Sprint Race was also pretty good when I started 19th and finished 4th.
“Braking is where you can win or lose a lot of time, so the challenge is to hit the braking-point exactly, which can be tricky sometimes as the braking for Turns 1, 3 and 4 is at relatively high speed. Most overtaking moves happen at Turn 3 because you have a long straight with the DRS zone followed by a slow hairpin. Turn 1 is interesting, especially after the start, and we’ll probably also see some battling through Turn 4.
“It’s important to get the tyres to temperature quickly. We saw last weekend that the harder compound takes about two laps to get to temperature. Fortunately, you don’t have to watch out for the tyres too much as there’s relatively little degradation, which is good for the racing and the on-track action. You still have to make sure you get the tyres to temperature and within their perfect working window.
“I think our race pace last weekend was really strong and I hope that we can keep or maybe even improve that. Our results didn’t reflect our true potential, so I hope we’ll be able to finish among the front runners this time.”
“Tyre degradation is relatively low here. That allows you to push hard during the race which is much better than having to slow down and look after the tyres all the time. It’s a pretty high-speed track with all of the corners being quick except Turn 3. That gives us a good rhythm and it’s fun to drive.
“I had a great weekend here in the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship when I won two of three races and finished 2nd in the third race. That’s definitely a great memory! Last year’s F2 Sprint Race was also pretty good when I started 19th and finished 4th.
“Braking is where you can win or lose a lot of time, so the challenge is to hit the braking-point exactly, which can be tricky sometimes as the braking for Turns 1, 3 and 4 is at relatively high speed. Most overtaking moves happen at Turn 3 because you have a long straight with the DRS zone followed by a slow hairpin. Turn 1 is interesting, especially after the start, and we’ll probably also see some battling through Turn 4.
“It’s important to get the tyres to temperature quickly. We saw last weekend that the harder compound takes about two laps to get to temperature. Fortunately, you don’t have to watch out for the tyres too much as there’s relatively little degradation, which is good for the racing and the on-track action. You still have to make sure you get the tyres to temperature and within their perfect working window.
“I think our race pace last weekend was really strong and I hope that we can keep or maybe even improve that. Our results didn’t reflect our true potential, so I hope we’ll be able to finish among the front runners this time.”
STAT PACK
- The F2 race lap record at the Red Bull Ring is 1:15.854, set by Nobuharu Matsushita with ART Grand Prix in 2017.
- This weekend marks the first time the FIA Formula 2 Championship will hold a back-to-back race weekends at the same circuit.
- Guanyu Zhou’s pole position last weekend moves him level with Nobuharu Matsushita and Luca Ghiotto for the most career poles on the current grid – with two each.
- Callum Ilott and Felipe Drugovich became the 19th and 20th drivers respectively to win in FIA Formula 2.
- Drugovich became the first driver to win on their F2 debut weekend since Charles Leclerc won the first Sprint Race of the 2017 season in Bahrain.
- Drugovich's Sprint Race victory means that the last two F2 Sprint Races held at the Red Bull Ring have been won by Brazilian drivers.
- Four of the seven 2019 FIA Formula 3 graduates scored points during the opening weekend.
- Six different teams made the podium during the opening weekend of the season, the first time that has happened.
- If Artem Markelov wins a race this weekend he will surpass 2019 champion Nyck De Vries as the driver with the highest number of wins in the modern era of Formula 2.
- A win for DAMS or ART Grand Prix this weekend would see them move to 15 wins in F2, becoming the team with the most wins in the Championship. Two wins for PREMA Racing would put the three teams level at 14 wins apiece.
- Lap 33 of Saturday’s Feature Race will be the F2’s 2000th lap.