The drivers all got very sweary this weekend, and whilst we all know that swearing is neither big nor clever, it’s included here because I always report 100% accurate facts and it’s definitely not because I think drivers swearing on the radio is really funny. The one thing that didn’t have any swearing was Louis Delétraz’s Twitch stream from the paddock, although his description of the COVID-19 test was perhaps even more offensive. Poor Louis, he looked genuinely disturbed…
First off, as the whole point of F2 is that it is an F1 feeder series, I suppose it should be mentioned that Jack Aitken actually did a bit of Formula 1 this weekend, taking part in the first free practice session for Williams. He finished 17th, ahead of Kubica (who these days is employed more for his reportedly excellent car development skills than his speed), Latifi (who broke down) and Magnussen (who knows what happened to him? Just Haas stuff). A few months at Williams and Aitken has already had more F1 action than years in the Renault Driver Academy. *Looks sadly at Lundgaard*…
To think I was excited at the start of last season after having to wait through the whole of the winter break. Little did any of us know how torturously long the wait for the 2020 season would be. However, just as the sun always rises after a long dark night, after spending lockdown on Twitch watching sim races and progressively weird cooking streams (I’m looking at you Sacha Fenestraz and James Pull), life finally has meaning again. F2 is back.
As we all struggle to come to terms with the fact that this is the first time there has been no Monaco grand prix since the dawn of time, we can take consolation in the fact that we might at least get to see some overtaking in the virtual races. Except that the Codemasters TV director may be worse than the actual Monaco TV director…
Despite still hating virtual racing, I excitedly checked the driver line up as soon as it came out, but was then immediately disappointed that Lundgaard wasn’t in. Who would rival his enthusiasm and love for the game?
Luckily for F2, Codemasters made it possible to play with the F2 cars in the latest version of the F1 game, which means we get some virtual F2 action and the drivers can still get their race fix without having to worry about competing with golfers, footballers, YouTubers and singers for the few available slots in the virtual F1 races. It was a good mix of F2 and F3 drivers as well as a few others, including Juan Manuel Correa who amazingly drives with one leg…
What’s new in 2020, aside from the fact that there might not actually be any races? Let’s just brush that under the carpet for now.
Anyway, there’s sooooooooo much talent this season it’s too hard to call who will win the championship, or even who will fight for it. Here’s my vague stab in the dark…
While half of the original 2019 line up (Ghiotto, Aitken, Matsushita, Zhou, Delétraz, Ilott, Schumacher, Alesi, Gelael and Mazepin) are back to fight once more for the F2 crown, what are the rest of the class of 2019 up to in 2020? Well, let’s face it, they’re in quarantine, but let’s just pretend some racing is actually going to happen…
In typical F2 fashion, the last round was used to throw in a driver who was rumoured to be taking part in the next season, namely Danish F3 frontrunner Christian Lundgaard. He was at Trident replacing Boschung, who replaced Boccolacci, who replaced Tveter, who replaced Boschung. There was no mention of it on Ralph’s blog though so I guess he had just given up the fight by then. Lundgaard is part of the Renault Driver Academy meaning that Trident had some extra work to do painting bits of their car yellow…
The grid was full of Russians for the Russian event, with Matevos Isaakyan racing for the Sauber Junior team and Artem Markelov joining Arden, which should be particularly interesting as, when asked about the best overtaking spots at Sochi, he replied that you can overtake anywhere…
