What to watch for in Spielberg

The FIA Formula 2 campaign returns for Round 6 in the stunning setting of Spielberg, but what should you be watching out for this weekend?

Championship battle

Having appeared in such control just three round ago, Nicholas Latifi’s foothold on the Championship has waned in the last two events and Nyck De Vries has wasted no time in taking advantage of his struggles.

The Dutchman has been victorious in each of the last three rounds and subsequently taken his place at the top of the pile, knocking Latifi down from first for the first time since Baku. It’s far from a two-horse race though with Jack Aitken still within touching distance. Sérgio Sette Câmara and Guanyu Zhou are also keeping pace with the leading pack and could gain further ground in Spielberg.

New drivers

There will be two new names on the grid in Austria and one familiar face making a welcome return to the championship. The popular Arjun Maini was announced as the replacement for Dorian Boccolacci earlier in the week, having competed in F2 last year with Trident. He returns with Campos Racing, having recently become the youngest Indian driver to feature in Le Mans 24 Hours.

American driver Ryan Tveter will link up with Maini’s old team Trident in place of Ralph Boschung. The former GP3 man has previously spent two seasons with the Italian based side and it will be interesting to see how the 25-year-old steps up.

Finally, Paticio O’Ward will keep Mahaveer Raghunathan’s seat warm in the second MP Motorsport machine. The Mexican-born driver is the reigning Indy Lights champion and will be stepping into an F2 car for the first time.

Overtaking opportunities

Spielberg is much more than just a pretty face. The stunning scenery surrounding the Red Bull Ring is truly breath-taking, but the track has much more to offer than pure beauty alone.

It’s long, high-speed corners can be punishing and require ultimate concentration and precision, with plenty of room for attack. There are three main overtaking hot-spots, with the first coming at Turn 2, at the top of the hill after a long DRS zone. This is followed by another at Turn 3, which allows overtaken drivers to quickly react and possibly re-gain a lost position.

The final of the three comes at Turn 4, but there are also chances to overtake in the middle sector and later in the track, especially in F2, which has proved ultra-competitive.