Preview
Melbourne Preview: Making history in Australia
After an exhilarating second race weekend of the season, the action continues as FIA Formula 2 heads to Melbourne, Australia for its debut in the Southern Hemisphere. The Albert Park circuit will be a brand new venue for all of the drivers on the grid, including home hero Jack Doohan, who will be racing a car for the first time on home soil.
Will home comforts help the Aussie onto his first victory of the 2023 campaign? Or will someone else win big down under? Here is all you need to know ahead of Round 3 of the FIA F2 season.
THE FORM BOOK
Four races in and four different drivers have already taken their spots on the top step of the podium, with Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vesti winning the Jeddah Sprint and Feature Races respectively.
Up at the top in the Drivers’ Championship, Ralph Boschung leads the way, using his experience to spearhead Campos Racing in the early phase of the campaign, even if the Swiss driver couldn’t add to his tally in the Feature Race in Jeddah. Along with teammate and rookie Kush Maini, the Spanish outfit continued their strong opening to ’23, and still leads the way in the Teams’ Standings on 51 points.
A promising weekend for ART Grand Prix ended on an ultimately disappointing note. The French team has looked quick from the first session of the year but despite two very impressive Qualifying performances and pole positions, one apiece for Théo Pourchaire and Victor Martins, the team has just one win so far. For Pourchaire, Jeddah was a nightmare weekend with a crash in the Sprint and no points in the Feature. Martins was fighting for the win but a spin mid-way through put him out of the running. Melbourne is a chance for the team that’s second in the Standings to bounce back. They trail Campos by just two points, with 49 on the board.
For Iwasa, another two points-scoring finishes in Jeddah means he is the only driver on the grid with a perfect record still intact this year. His Sprint win lifted him and his DAMS team to third in the Drivers’ and Teams’ Standings, with the French squad closing to within seven points of the leaders. Arthur Leclerc continued his steady start to F2 life as well, scoring more points in Jeddah. The Monégasque looks capable of more in Melbourne too.
Defending Champions MP Motorsport looked strong again in Jeddah, with Jehan Daruvala grabbing two P3 finishes. Teammate Dennis Hauger started outside of the top 10 but didn’t let that stop him from scoring twice to grab more vital points for the team. It was enough to lift the Dutch outfit to fourth on 43 points, one point behind DAMS and well in range of leaders Campos.
After leaving Sakhir last in the Standings, PREMA Racing bounced back in style and showed great speed with both Vesti and teammate Oliver Bearman. While the Brit faded in the Feature Race, he looks quick already this year. If he can get on top of the Pirelli tyres, he could be a force sooner rather than later. Vesti’s Sunday win lifted him to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. The Italian outfit now sits P5 in the Teams’ Standings and will be aiming to build on their growing momentum.
FROM THE GRID – Jack Doohan, Invicta Virtuosi Racing
"I'm really excited to be racing in Melbourne, I haven't raced a car in Australia before so to do that at Albert Park on the Formula 1 weekend in my second year of F2 is going to be a very cool experience. For me, it's going to be one of those special races of the year like Monaco or the final round in Abu Dhabi, but I think it's important to treat it like any other race. For sure it will be nice to have a home crowd and some home spirit there.
"It's a special circuit in that it's not a complete street circuit, but it's not as forgiving as an open circuit with gravel traps everywhere. It's not a circuit that gets driven a lot, or much at all, so it's going to be tricky. There's going to be a lot of evolution from Free Practice to Qualifying and the races. It's going to be a quick adaptation, it's not like the Formula 1 teams who have plenty of data from going to Albert Park before. For us, it's going to be something new that we're going to have to get on top of pretty quickly.
"It seems like it going to be quite harsh on the tyres, especially with the tight final sector. So, depending on which stage of the race you're in, going down into Turn 1 with the DRS zone might be a good overtaking opportunity. Mainly because the final turn is so rear tyre dependent that if someone is struggling a little bit more than you in that traction zone you may be able to take advantage. I don't think it's an easy track to pass so Qualifying is going to be important.
"To actually be going somewhere where the crowd are Aussies, the fans are Aussies, and everyone there are my people in a way, it will be special! I know I will have some good home support and lots of family and friends there as well which will make it even more special."
RACE STRATEGY
The yellow-walled medium tyres and red soft tyres will be used this weekend in Melbourne, but that is one of the only known quantities ahead of the weekend. Resurfaced ahead of the 2022 F1 visit, the Albert Park track is relatively smooth which should lessen degradation, but strategy remains up in the air until teams hit the track for the first time. Mediums could be the preferable option in the Sprint Race but running the softs as long as possible in the Feature before switching to the mediums should be the conventional route for most.
Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director
“It will be fantastic to have the Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships racing with Formula 1 in Australia for the first time for what promises to be an exciting weekend. As the roads used by the Albert Park circuit are open to the public for the rest of the year, we can expect like always a high degree of track evolution as grip levels improve with each session. This could be particularly important in F2, where both practice and qualifying are held on Friday. For this weekend we have selected the middle tyres in the F2 range: the P Zero Yellow medium and P Zero Red soft. The circuit was made faster and more flowing by the modifications to the layout introduced for last year’s grand prix, and the energy demands are about average for the season.”
STAT PACK
- There have been four winners in the opening four races of the season. What’s more, the four race winners, Ralph Boschung, Theo Pourchaire, Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vesti now sit in the top four of the standings in the order in which they won.
- A total of 16 drivers have collected points so far this season, among the points-scorers are six rookies, Kush Maini, Victor Martins, Zane Maloney, Arthur Leclerc, Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman.
- Ayumu Iwasa is the only driver to maintain a 100% points scoring record in the opening two rounds of the season, collecting points from all four races so far.
- Jehan Daruvala stood on the podium in both races at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The PREMA racer is the second driver to claim a double-podium in as many rounds.
- The current Championship Leader, Ralph Boschung is set to celebrate 100 race starts this weekend in Melbourne. The first driver in the history of the Championship to do so.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Formula 2 ventures to Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne this weekend, marking the first time a Championship season has spanned across three continents.
- The 5.278km street circuit is the second new track to be added to the calendar in as many years after Zandvoort joined the rostrum of tracks to host a modern F2 race in 2022.
- Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel was “extremely happy” to add Melbourne to the F2 and F3 calendars from 2023, adding “it further enhances the international aspect of both our championships, having them race on a new continent.”