WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Talking points ahead of Round 3 in Melbourne

Round 3 of the 2024 Formula 2 campaign heads to the streets of Melbourne, Australia following two action packed weekends to start the season.

It was Zane Maloney and his Rodin Motorsport team that started the year on the front foot, completing a race victory double at the opening round in Sakhir.

They still remain at the top of both respective Championship Standings, but it was Enzo Fittipaldi and Van Amersfoort Racing that reigned supreme in the Jeddah Feature Race, after Dennis Hauger and MP Motorsport took top spot in the Sprint.

So, it is all to play for in Melbourne and here are a few things to watch for this weekend.

Fittipaldi looking to bring his Jeddah form to Melbourne

Fittipaldi’s victory in Jeddah was eye catching, not only because it was his first F2 Feature Race win, but the dominance with which he achieved it certainly caused plenty to stand up and take notice.

He qualified fifth and showed good pace in the Sprint Race to cross the line in fourth – before a post-race disqualification for Trident’s Richard Verschoor vaulted him up to third.

But it was in Saturdays 28-lap that he shone the brightest, finding himself second early on before pouncing on Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini to take a hold of P1.

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He was forced to do it again following a Safety Car, pulling off a brilliant double overtake on Juan Manuel Correa and Amaury Cordeel to retake the lead, before going off into the distance to take the win.

However, he now heads to a track that was not all that kind to him last year as he did not score points in Melbourne in 2023 – even failing to start the Sprint Race.

He will no doubt be confident coming into the weekend following his Jeddah performance, and if VAR are able to provide him with another car capable of winning either race, the Brazilian has shown what he is capable of achieving.

PREMA Racing’s fight back continues

PREMA endured a very difficult first round of the year in Sakhir, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s P10 result in the Feature Race handing them their only point of the weekend.

However, they were in better form around Jeddah, as Oliver Bearman took Pole Position while the Italian rookie qualified sixth and finished in that same position in both the Sprint and Feature Race.

Bearman, on the other hand, withdrew from the event as he deputised at Ferrari in Formula 1 replacing Carlos Sainz. Had he not done so, a fifth F2 victory could have been on the cards.

However, his Qualifying pace bodes well and if PREMA can bring the form to Melbourne, they have two drivers that will no doubt be eyeing top spot this weekend.

Campos keen to bounce back

Campos Racing have had a mixed start to the 2024 season. While they sit sixth in the Teams’ Standings with 31 points, the Spanish outfit knows that without various issues, their total could be much more.

It all started well for them when Josep María Martí and Isack Hadjar finished third and fourth in the Sakhir Sprint Race, with the former then placing second in the Feature.

However, Jeddah proved to be less fruitful for Martí as he spun out on the opening lap of the Feature Race. Hadjar did not fare much better as he retired from both events in round two after also suffering a race-ending collision on the first lap at the Bahrain Feature.

On a positive note, the Frenchman has been fighting at the front, showing the pace is there even if the final results don’t show that. Martí meanwhile has shown impressive performance levels in such a short time in the category.

If both drivers can have clean weekends, the potential is to fight at the front of the field, and that will be the aim in Melbourne.

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Plenty of on-track action

With four DRS zones, high-speed straights and plenty of heavy braking zones inviting late moves, the Albert Park circuit generated some truly close racing last season.

Last year’s event produced 89 overtakes across the weekend as the drivers went toe-to-toe until the final stages of each race.

Add into the equation the likelihood of the Safety Car appearing, the changeable weather conditions, alongside the close racing the 2024 season has already seen, this weekend in Melbourne promises plenty in terms of on-track action.

While the pole-sitters in both races last year – Dennis Hauger in the Sprint and Ayumu Iwasa in the Feature – were able to seal victory, it did not come without its challenges from the chasing pack.

This could be the same this year, as if the first two rounds of the season are anything to go by, we could be in for a very exciting weekend of racing in Melbourne.