F2 is back and so is Sean Gelael, following his strange spine fracturing accident, which means goodbye Vips. Hughes is also out as F2 makes way for its youngest entrant ever in the form of surprise F3 runner-up Théo Pourchaire. Surely a nice warm-up for his 2021 season. Other changes since we last raced include Dan Ticktum’s hair colour and a few driver announcements, but nothing of note…
We know all the F2 guys are great at being racing drivers, but the question everyone wants an answer to is just how rockstar are they? (Yes, everyone is asking that). Inspired by the success of the AWS F1 fastest driver ratings, I have put my time during the long F2 break to good use and developed my own algorithm…
Just because the drivers had a whole week off before Russia, doesn’t mean they were taking it easy. Ticktum was busy playing Call of Duty and doing podcasts, Zhou did an F1 test with Renault and Delétraz did a little thing called Le Mans, which was going well until the last hour when the car started to give up and he hit a wall. Classic Le Mans heartbreak. The teams were also busy switching drivers around, with F3 driver Jake Hughes replacing Alesi at HWA, Alesi replacing Matsushita at MP, and Matsushita deciding to do something else instead…
This round promised to be exciting just because Mugello. At the very least it’s nice to look at. “Have you raced here before?” was the key question of the weekend. The answer was mostly no…
Practice at the Temple of Speed is all about testing the limits. Shwartzman tested the limits of the turn one braking zone, when he missed it and went straight on down the escape road. Drugovich tested the limits of the tow effect, after almost running into the back of Nissany at the end of the straight. Everyone tested the track limits, with gravel being thrown all over the road and track times being deleted left, right and centre (aka turn 11). Samaia tested the limits of his car, which broke in a massive plume of smoke, causing a Virtual Safety Car…
There were many touching and emotional moments as F2 returned to Spa for the first time following the tragic death of Anthoine Hubert last year, with AH19 logos adorning every car, helmet and person. There were also a couple of different faces in the F2 paddock this week, with Juan-Manuel Correa the special guest of honour, paying his respects to Hubert, sharing how Anthoine had given him strength and motivation through his recovery, and how he aims to be back in F2 next year. I honestly couldn’t think of anything I’d like to see more. Another new face was Jüri Vips, who was replacing Sean Gelael and his fractured vertebrae from last round’s mystery accident. Vips would be hoping for something good to actually happen for his career in 2020, having been a casualty of coronavirus logistics messing up his original racing plans and basically destroying his hopes of getting a super license and F1 career. No big deal. I’m sure they’re giving him plenty of sympathy, love and support in the Red Bull young driver programme…
It was co-commentator Alex Brundle who first offered up this round’s proposal for understatement of the season, when stating that “Lundgaard struggled with tyre degradation last weekend,” (he wore his tyre out completely until it entirely fell apart, left him driving about on three wheels and destroyed his whole race, but sure I guess there was a struggle involved)…
This week we were transported back in time to 1950, and not because it was the 70th Anniversary grand prix, but because Peter Windsor was in the commentary box. Who doesn’t prefer historical anecdotes over racing that’s actually happening right here, right now? What a treat!
While all the F2 drivers clambered for Racing Point’s attention and an opportunity to jump in COVID-stricken Perez’s F1 seat, Racing Point were like “no thanks, we’ll take Hulkenberg instead,” so they were all stuck driving in F2 as usual. Better luck flexing that Super Licence next time Louis Delétraz…
You like motorsport, you’re interested in knowing more about the rising Formula One talent that everyone is talking about and you’ve been meaning to get into F2 for a while. However, despite constantly being told “the racing in F2 is better”, that hasn’t quite given you the motivation to commit many more hours of your weekend to another racing series, even though you know you’d love it once you got into it. Well don’t worry, I’m here to give you that final little push into the abyss of no social life at all on race weekends… you’re welcome.
