Bittersweet endings

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. 

Despite De Vries already having won the championship, there were still a few things to tie up at the end of the season, such as who would win the Teams’ Championship (yes, I know I have mentioned that a lot over the course of the year), who would come second in the Drivers’ Championship and whether Sette Câmara would get his Super Licence? Importantly for Latifi though, he had already announced that he would definitely be driving for Williams F1 team in 2020, alongside former F2 rival George Russell, so he was looking much more cheery than in previous weeks.

Practice: Someone buy that man a rule book

Practice was typical levels of Abu Dhabi dull eventful, and then ten minutes before the end Isaakyan crashed into the barrier, bringing out the red flag. By the time the car was cleared away it wasn’t worth restarting the session and they all got to in for an early cup of tea. It was Sette Câmara who topped the time sheets, followed by Latifi and Zhou, who was fresh from some F1 testing. Lucky him.

Not even able to wait until the race to mess something up, Raghunathan did his practice start wrong and as a result was made to start the Feature Race from the pit lane. No point showing up for qualifying then. F2 reporter Rosanna Tennant helpfully suggested someone get Raghunathan a rule book for Christmas. Just saying what we were all thinking.

Qualifying: One step closer to the Super Licence 

Jack Aitken seemed to be running late, judging by the fact that qualifying had started and he very much wasn’t near his car, in fact it appeared he would be driving a small golf buggy today instead. Good news for Sette Câmara and his fight against Aitken for fourth place in the championship and those elusive Super Licence points.

Ilott continued his top qualifying form by setting the early pace, with Delétraz and Sette Câmara just behind him. Aitken was also now heading out, having apparently found his actual car, although he couldn’t make it higher than seventh. 

It all seemed pretty busy on track, with everyone fighting for space. De Vries said he wanted to go out first, but Sette Câmara jumped out in front of everyone. Isaakyan, who was on track behind Zhou, was told that he had a good place because Zhou is a good guy, “you can trust Zhou.” Aww lovely.

In a flurry of provisional pole positions, Gelael spun off track, bringing out the yellow flag and ruining it for everyone, everyone except Sette Câmara who had already set a blistering hot lap and taken pole. He was well happy and explains that he’s desperate to get his Super Licence because “it’s useful to have”. I know how he feels, I often think how useful it would be to have an FIA Super Licence.

Ilott and Delétraz were second and third. 

Feature Race: Tyre hell

As ever, it’s important to hype up the tyre strategy, or lack thereof given that the super soft tyres apparently only last about three laps, making starting on those less of a strategy and more just hoping for the best, particularly as the rules stipulate that they can’t pit util the end of lap six.

The start was very exciting, entirely because Louis Delétraz jumped into the lead, and everything else was pretty sensible and uncharacteristically F2.

As predicted, by the end of lap three, those on the super soft tyres (the regular strategy) were struggling and starting to fall back through the field. The highest alternative strategy runner was Matsushita, who had started fourth but had passed everyone, including Delétraz for the lead, in almost no time at all. Delétraz was so desperate to get off his tyres he asked to come in for his pit stop, but was told, “No, no, no!” by the team, as it was a lap too early. By now, Zhou (another alternative strategy dude on the harder tyres) had made it up to second place behind Matsushita. 

As soon as the end of lap six arrived, everyone on the regular strategy dived into the pits. DAMS even double stacked their drivers, leaving Latifi waiting around a bit, which was apparently preferable to doing even one more lap on those tyres. The alternative strategy-ers Matsushita, Zhou and Alesi were now the top three. The pit stop went particularly well for Markelov who got a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Carlin vs. Carlin

Meanwhile, only ten laps after his pit stop, De Vries was overtaken by Latifi (for 11th place) and promptly declared there was no way he was going to make it to the end. He was then also overtaken by Aitken. The real battle, however, was between Matsushita and Delétraz for the win: Carlin vs. Carlin, alt strategy vs. regular strategy. Lots of excitement. Matsushita was yet to pit, with Delétraz literally a pit stop length behind him, who would come out in the lead when Matsushita finally went for his pit stop. Zhou was also making Matsushita work hard, but Matsushita managed to avoid that battle by pitting, while Zhou stayed out for another lap. 

Matsushita came out of the pits well behind Delétraz, and just as it all looked like it was falling into place for a glorious Delétraz victory, Sette Câmara came storming up behind and overtook him for the lead. That was a bit of a surprise. Matsushita came along next, pushing Delétraz wide and taking second place. When Zhou came to also have a go at Delétraz, Louis was having none of it and put up a good fight, but eventually lost out and was down to fourth. 

Mid-field, the battle for eighth place (reverse gird pole for the Sprint Race) had heated up. Alesi had managed to overtake Schumacher for the coveted spot, but had a five-second time penalty for something that Race Control didn’t bother to share any information about, and as a result now needed to also pull out a gap between him and Schumacher, with only a couple of laps to go. Luckily, he was on the alt strategy and had fast fresh tyres to do the job.

The Super Licence! 

Sette Câmara pulled it out of the bag and won the race, and with it, secured (at least) fourth place in the championship and his prized Super Licence. Despite how much I love Delétraz, it’s hard not to be happy for Sérgio, he at least seemed pretty pleased. His win also meant that DAMS won the team championship and they were also most definitely happy about that. It was all round celebrations, even the lack of fizz in Sette Câmara’s podium rose water didn’t stop him, as he decided to just pour it all over his head instead. Good improvisation skills there.

Matsushita came second, with Zhou in third and Alesi did manage to pull the five-second gap he needed for pole in the Sprint Race. F2 had seemingly already moved on from the old guard, with De Vries, Latifi and Ghiotto all languishing in the mid-field somewhere (13th, 7th and 6th, respectively).

Sprint Race: And so the season ends…

Alesi was on pole with Latifi and Ghiotto right behind him, not intimidating at all, I’m sure. Alesi made a great start though and managed to keep his lead, as Latifi and Ghiotto fought it out behind him, Ghiotto getting past Latifi, who had a terrible start. Delétraz had less success trying to get past Latifi, as he went a bit wide. 

Just as Alesi probably thought he was getting away, he was reeled in by Ghiotto, clearly preparing to make his move. You’re never safe when Ghiotto is behind you, as Alesi soon discovered, with Ghiotto sailing by to take the lead. But Alesi’s troubles didn’t end there as Latifi hunted him down and DRS’d him for his second place, followed by Callum Ilott, by which time Alesi barely even bothered to defend, as he was clearly struggling with his tyres.

By the time Ghiotto had managed to pull out three seconds from Latifi, he reported that his “front tyres are dead”. Meanwhile, Sette Câmara had been doing a Ghiotto-style charge through the field, from eighth place up to fourth, but this was put on hold temporarily by Gelael, who was parked at the side of the track, causing a virtual safety car, followed by another VSC a few laps later courtesy of Mazepin hitting Isaakyan. After all the interruptions, Sette Câmara used the closing laps to pass Ilott, which was very dramatic to watch as Ilott nearly lost it on the straight, clearly feeling the pressure. Ghiotto’ dead tyres weren’t a problem for him though, and he took the win ahead of Latifi and Sette Câmara.

“I’m really happy…” said no one

There was a momentary smile from Ghiotto as he got out of his car for the last time, he did later manage to look more happy, but he soon turned to talk about his disappointment for the season and it all felt rather downbeat. Surely Latifi, who had held onto second place in the championship and announced his shiny new dream F1 deal would be happy? He was crying. Happy tears surely? No, he was sad and emotional about leaving his DAMS “family”. Sette Câmara, however, was smiling. A smile of despair as he talked about how he didn’t have anything sorted for next year, worrying that his hopes and dreams were starting to fade. De Vries, meanwhile was nowhere to be seen, having finished 13th and disappeared off into the world of Formula E…