Bruno Michel’s Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest Debrief

With Spa-Framcorchamps and Budapest in the books, the FIA Formula 2 Championship heads into the summer break with the title fight finely poised.

Nikola Tsolov continues to lead close challengers Gabriele Minì and Rafael Câmara, and it’s looking like a Championship fight that will go right to the wire.

Recapping the double-header, FIA Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel gives us his thoughts on their fight, along with what to expect in the next phase of the season.

A THREE-WAY DANCE

“Nikola Tsolov is always there. I would say that in Spa, his weekend was one of damage limitation, because he could have lost more points in the Championship, but he was up there, and he's the man to beat in the Championship, definitely. He's strong, he's committed, he understands the car quite well, and it's true on all the tracks.

“It's a pleasure to see him racing, because he's a very strong racer, so I'm not really surprised to see him leading the Championship. Now, there are some drivers behind him. Rafael Câmara won from pole position in the Feature which is good because he had been in pole position several times. But, he has won only two races since the beginning of the season. Now, he's there, and he’s going to fight until the end.

“Gabriele Minì is second at the moment and right there as well. He had a strong race in Spa, starting quite far back but finishing very strongly in the points.

“Minì and Câmara know that Tsolov is the man to beat, and they will have to do the job. The season is still long, and there are still going to be a lot of things happening. But I think this fight between those three drivers is going to be very interesting until the end of the season.

“Nikola remains ahead, but he hasn’t dominated the way he did earlier in the season. Rafael had a strong weekend in Hungary, even if he didn't win, and once again, Gabriele was in the points even on a tough day.

“I think that from now, it’s going to be a three-way battle until the end of the season, because Alexander Dunne was a little bit behind over the weekend, and it was on a weekend his rivals all scored. But, it’s looking like a really open end to this season.

“The Budapest Feature Race was a very good one, very interesting with the different strategies. The Option tyres at the end of the race were getting a bit better, so it was interesting to see the fights that we had with Nikola, Dino Beganovic and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak battling for points.

“It will be a very intriguing end to both Championships. In F2, we have many more races to come, but it's really, really open between the three top drivers.”

LEON IMPRESSES ACROSS THE DOUBLE-HEADER

“I was speaking to Adrian Campos during the Red Flag in Spa because honestly, I didn't really understand how Noel León got to where he did from last on the Starting Grid. Adrian explained it to me – they used two Safety Cars, had one set of tyres more than the others because he hadn’t used it yet, and the strategy was great.

“It was really amazing and even if it didn't pay off in the end, it was really a good job from Campos. It shows that not only is their car fast, but they're also quite smart and doing a very strong job across the board and deservedly lead the Championship.”

READ MORE

• WHAT WE LEARNED: The key takeaways and talking points leaving Round 9 in Budapest

“Noel then had a great Feature Race in Budapest. He was a bit lucky with the VSC, but that's part of racing, and the result is there, so I'm really happy for him as well.

“He was clearly emotional after the race, but it’s understandable. He’s been impressive in parts of this season and was well deserving of his first Feature Race victory. It would not be a surprise to see him stand on the top step of the podium again before the season is done.”

SUMMER BREAK AND LOOKING AHEAD

“Now it's time for a little bit of a break, which will be enjoyed by everyone in the paddock. Looking ahead though, Monza will be a special weekend.

“We'll be introducing the new F2 car that we've been working on for a while with our partners, Aramco, Pirelli, Dallara and Mecachrome, and the car has started track testing too.

“We’re into a quite extensive programme of development for the car now, and we'll introduce it on Saturday in the F1 paddock. We are very excited about it and hope you all will be too. It looks really good, and it's going to be a great racing car. Until then, have a great summer!”