2018 Round 3 preview: Barcelona, Spain

Data (GMT+2)

Friday

Free Practice: 13.00 – 13.45 Qualifying session: 16:55 – 17:25 Press conference: 19:00

Saturday

Feature race: 16:40 (37 laps) Press conference: 18:00

Sunday

Sprint race: 11:30 (26 laps) Press conference: 12.20

Season Stats

4 The number of different winners in 2018 - in just four races! 17 The most laps led by a driver in Baku (George Russell). 10 The number of drivers who have stood on the podium this year. 0.214s The gap in Baku between polesitter Alex Albon and second-placed Lando Norris in qualifying.

Warm Up // Luca Ghiotto – Campos Vexatec Racing

“Barcelona is one of the best tracks in Europe, maybe even the world probably. It’s flowing, and it’s a good testing ground for the car in all kinds of ways; there are quick corners, slow corners, hard braking and everything. It’s a good track for racing, the main straight is one of the longest so the DRS has a big effect, and on the second DRS zone you have hard braking into a slow corner, which is one of the best chances to overtake.

“On the tyres, it’s quite hard – not quite as bad as Bahrain, but one of the toughest for us. The fact that there’s so many quick corners means that it puts a lot of stress on the tyres. There’s a lot to manage for us to get to the end of the race.”

__The Stakes __

After a thrilling pair of opening rounds, the FIA Formula 2 Championship moves into Europe for the first time this season with the third round in the calendar taking place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. A mainstay of the F2 calendar, the circuit’s long straight and tricky technical sections should provide plenty of challenge to the 20 drivers on the 2018 grid as they aim to leave Spain with a good haul of points in their pocket.

Last time out in Baku, Azerbaijan, it was the turn of DAMS’ Alexander Albon to secure his maiden victory from pole, while George Russell of ART Grand Prix took victory in the Sprint Race – both crucially igniting their championship challenges. As a result, Lando Norris (Carlin) still leads the standings, but with a 14-point advantage over Albon as Sergio Sette Camara occupies third. Thanks to the consistency of Norris and Sette Camara’s presence at the front, Carlin holds a 34-point lead in the Teams’ Championship over DAMS, while ART occupies third. With the battle at the top of the standings still close, and with plenty more drivers expected to factor in the hunt for the title, Barcelona should provide a spectacular battle. Pirelli will supply their medium and soft tyre compounds for the races in Barcelona.

Noteworthy

• The race weekend in Barcelona is the third of the 12 rounds which make up the 2018 FIA Formula 2 calendar. • Last year’s feature race was won by 2017 F2 Champion Charles Leclerc, as Japanese driver Nobuharu Matsushita took victory in the sprint race. • Round 2 in Baku had different drivers occupying the podium in each race: Albon, Aitken and Fuoco in the feature, with Russell, de Vries and Latifi in the sprint. • Arjun Maini and Tadasuke Makino scored their first F2 points in Round 2. • Trident and Charouz Racing System also secured their first points of 2018 in Baku. • Charouz scored their maiden F2 podium in Round 2, courtesy of Antonio Fuoco’s third in the feature race. • Although having won an F2 race in 2017, Fuoco led his first laps in the Championship at Baku two weeks ago. • Only two drivers have scored points in every race: Lando Norris and Ralph Boschung.