There’s no stopping Spa
After a summer break that was simultaneously incredibly fast and painfully slow, the F2 gang arrived in Belgium, minus a few members but plus a few others. Firstly Jake Hughes announced that he was going to be leaving F2 to focus on his other racing commitments, such as Formula E and generally being a bit of a Mercedes guy. He handed his VAR seat over to David Beckmann, which means everyone will stop having to refer to him as a super-sub, because obviously now he is an ultra-sub.
Also making a (hopefully) permanent return for the season was Ralph Boschung, who seems to have fought off his recurring neck issues, ready to take back his car from its trusty caretaker Roberto Merhi. Also taking on the role of ultra-sub for the rest of the season is Tatiana Calderón (who last drove in F2 in 2019), replacing Cem Bölükbasi at Charouz, after Bölükbasi and the team apparently had some awkward contract talks.
In a less permanent move, ex-F2 driver Lirim Zendeli was covering for Olli Caldwell, who finally racked up too many penalty points after being excessively rubbish at track limits in the previous round in Hungary. Caldwell got a one-event ban, while Zendeli got another taste of F2 having previously been forced to drop out due to financial reasons. What a happy pair of drivers.
Practice: There’s no stopping the red flag procedure
It looked a bit grey at the start of practice which led to a great opening for the commentators to start the obligatory Spa discussion on how it can be raining at one part of the track and dry at another. Such a treat.
Apparently the slightly damp-looking conditions weren’t much of a treat for the drivers, as no one really ventured out for the first fifteen minutes and when they finally did it took only ten minutes before Ayumu Iwasa spun into a gravel trap, bringing out the red flag.
The session re-started with ten minutes to go, although Dennis Hauger had a leaky car and pulled to the side, while David Beckmann and Enzo Fittipaldi both randomly went off track at the same place, at the same time. Fittipaldi recovered but Beckmann was too slow and the red flags were waved. He did soon get started again, but it was just too late. The red flag procedure is too big to be stopped. Race Control then decided that the session would not be restarted, so that was that. Boschung was the fastest, Amaury Cordeel second and Iwasa third.
Qualifying: There’s no stopping the tow truck
There was definitely an air of dampness as Qualifying begun, proven by Jack Doohan spinning and narrowly avoiding a gravelly demise. His dad looked worried. Jüri Vips had less luck, as his spin resulted in him stopping in the middle of the track and becoming increasingly desperate as he tried to get started again, all while the menacing tow truck crawled closer, “I just need a little push!” he cried at his team. Alas, it was not to be for Vips. The red flag was waved and Vips was taken away.
With around 20 minutes to go, the fast lap times started coming, or more specifically the same fast lap time kept coming, with the top 14 all within one second of each other. Zendeli, however, had other things to worry about besides fast lap times, anxiously asking the team if they were sure his tyre was on properly as he flew round, dodging traffic. “No” was apparently the answer, as he was told he had a puncture and should pit. Beckmann was also stuck in traffic, nearly crashing as he tried to complete a speedy lap. I’m sure Monza will go well.
In the closing minutes, there were lots of fast laps and Jack Doohan dad shots. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich was on pole as the chequered flag flew, with Fittipaldi and Sargeant jumping to second and third in the final moment. Doohan was fourth, Doohan’s dad was happy/disappointed (I don’t know) and championship contender Théo Pourchaire was only eighth, which presumably he didn’t think was too good.
Sprint Race: There’s no stopping Boschung now
Sprint Race pole was Ralph Boschung’s, Jehan Daruvala was supposed to be second, but his car was broken before the race even started, and Pourchaire was third. Boschung said he wanted to be realistic and would be happy with a podium, whereas Pourchaire was expecting to win. Boschung kept the lead from the start, while Liam Lawson who started fifth (or fourth minus Daruvala) launched himself into second place via a bit of grass. As if losing one place wasn’t bad enough for Pourchaire and his winning goals, Verschoor and Doohan also went by, leaving Pourchaire fifth and just ahead of his championship rival Drugovich.
Lawson kept his speedy momentum going, hounding Boschung all round the first lap until he finally passed to take the lead on lap two. He then disappeared down the road while complaining that his tyres were worn out. Behind them, third-place Verschoor was putting up a robust defence against Doohan, but was eventually warn down and Doohan took the position. Pourchaire then went on to attempt the same thing, but Verschoor gave him the same defensive treatment. Pourchaire was stuck and Drugovich was looming large behind him. Under pressure, Pourchaire locked up, which looked really dramatic but actually wasn’t and everything stayed the same.
Mid-race and everyone was a bit spaced out and settled in their positions so Logan Sargeant crashed into a wall to bring out the Safety Car and give us all some excitement. Drugovich (who was still stuck in sixth behind Pourchaire) used the opportunity to take a pit stop and switch to faster tyres. He came out of the pits in 12th place and ready to storm through the field as soon as the race restarted.
As the Safety Car went back into the pits, Lawson had an easy get away, while everything else was overtaking chaos, not least thanks to Drugovich who made his way up to eighth place in no time at all, despite a little off-track excursion. It was only a matter of laps before Drugovich had caught up right behind Pourchaire again, but this time his new tyres made it easy to pass and take fifth place.
The last lap arrived, bringing a five-second time penalty for Zendeli for exceeding track limits and a charging Doohan, who passed Boschung for second place. Fourth-place Verschoor was looking like also being a victim of a last-lap place mugging courtesy of Drugovich, but there just wasn’t time and Verschoor’s ever-strong defence worked, securing him the position behind Boschung in third, Doohan second and easy-winner Lawson.
Despite his last-lap disappointment, Boschung was pleased, “Two weeks ago I couldn’t move and now we’re on the podium!” which actually seems like an excellent reason to spray champagne around. Well done Ralph.
Feature Race: There’s no stopping Fittipaldi and Lawson arguing
At the start of the Feature Race, pole-sitter Drugovich and third-placed Sargeant said they were focussed on making sure they thought about the whole race, whereas second-place Fittipaldi was just focussed on having a good start. Let’s see which strategy worked out the best.
Drugovich’s start was good and he kept the lead, while Doohan launched himself past Fittipaldi and Sargeant to take second place. Beckmann then also passed Fittipaldi, while Sargeant was somehow now behind Lawson, Verschoor and Pourchaire. Still, plenty of race to go.
At the front, Doohan was pressuring Drugovich for the lead and Fittipaldi and Lawson were intensely battling, with Lawson passing Fittipaldi and Fittipaldi trying to take the place back off the track. They nearly crashed but somehow didn’t. Behind them, Pourchaire was suddenly having a disaster as his car slowed and he was off to the pits to retire.
Even further back, there was also lots going on, as Daruvala and Nissany both had damaged front wings and were driving six-wide with Williams, Sato, Zendeli and Cordeel. Daruvala was given the black and orange flag, forcing him to pit for a new front wing and the rest of the not-quite-backmarkers settled themselves back into the race.
After all the initial drama, it was time for the mandatory pit stops to start, with Fittipaldi leading the way. A lap later, Lawson also pitted, but his stop was slow and he came out only just ahead of Fittipaldi. Cue a repeat battle, with Fittipaldi passing Lawson off track again and giving the place back again and both getting very angry again.
While Lawson and Fittipaldi were reviving their Spa grudge match, second-place Doohan pitted, with leader Drugovich pitting a lap later, only to see Doohan fly by him as he exited the pit lane. It didn’t take Drugovich long to catch back up with Doohan though, to continue their lead battle, albeit the opposite way around.
After the pit stops, the top-three Doohan, Drugovich and Lawson were looking pretty comfortable, except that ninth-paced Verschoor was on the alternative strategy and was fast. With just a few laps to go and newer, faster tyres than everyone else, Verschoor started storming through the field, passing Armstrong, Hauger, Beckmann, Sargeant and Fittipaldi to make his way to fourth and looking for a podium. However the gap to Lawson was just too great. By the final two laps, Verschoor’s tyres had lost their magic and a Virtual Safety Car to help recover Zendeli’s broken Campos was the final straw. Doohan won, his dad was happy, Drugovich was second, he was happy (but mostly because he massively extended his championship lead over Pourchaire) and Lawson was third, who may have been happy but it was too hard to tell over all the complaining he did about Fittipaldi. His complaints didn’t go unnoticed though and Fittipaldi received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, but I’m sure they’ll just have a nice chat and a hug and be friends by next week.
There’s no stopping Drugovich in the championship standings
After Drugovich stifled Pourchaire’s attempt at a championship revival, Drugovich is now 43 points in the lead. Second-place Pourchaire (162 points) has Sargeant behind him (129 points), while Doohan is close behind in fourth (121 points). Lawson’s points-filled weekend boosts him to fifth (114 points), pushing Fittipaldi down to sixth (101 points). I’m sure Fittipaldi is really pleased about that, but he has a chance to get his own back next weekend in Zandvoort!