Max Verstappen – Photo credit, Redbull Content Pool
After some impressive Free Practice sessions for the Dutchman –finishing second in both first and second Free Practice- it was looking to be a very promising weekend for Max Verstappen. The Red Bull dominated both sessions on the Thursday, with Daniel Ricciardo finding himself on top spot twice. They both outclassed the Ferrari and Mercedes, who already deemed Red Bull favourite for a potential victory. This might be the chance for Max to get his first ever pole position, and that on a track where pole position can mean the race win. Knowing how well he can defend, that special win could be guaranteed. It thus seemed like a fairy tale would come true in what is the crown jewel on the F1 calendar.
They couldn’t be more wrong, as this fairy tale turned into a horror even before qualifying started. With just four minutes to go in FP3 –having set the fastest time yet that session- Max crashed his number 33 car into the wall at the Piscine section, one of the fastest sections of the track. Pushing maybe too hard that lap he steered in too early, hitting the wall which led to a suspension failure as he went straight into the wall. It looked almost identical as the crash he had there back in 2016. The car was damaged heavily and the question was raised if the Red Bull mechanics could fix the car on time for qualifying. Pictures on TV looked promising as the mechanics were working hard on the car with just 15 minutes to go in Q1. The dream of a potential first pole position ended quickly after that, when news came out that they found issues with the gearbox which they had to change.
Of course such things can happen on Monaco, but after having incidents in all of the races this season so far the time might come for Max to ask himself if he can continue to drive like this, or if he has to change his driving style. We all know Max for his aggressive driving, both attacking and defending. That’s what makes him stand out from the rest. He takes risks like no one else. That might be just the problem. Those risks don’t get you as a driver nor the team the very important points. Max was criticised for his incidents like the crash in China with Vettel and his spin into the barriers at Bahrain and even his team became more critical. He responded to that, saying that he won’t change his driving style as he thinks that isn’t necessary. Now however, after the costly crash in FP3, Christian Horner has warned the young Dutchman that something has to change and the crashes need to stop. On TV we could see a seemingly angry Helmut Marko talking to Max, probably telling him the same. They are running out of patience at Red Bull. Afterwards he admitted he made the mistake all by his own. Does that mean he learned from it though?
Max – Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Starting the race from last position, he had nothing to lose. After overtaking both Haas cars immediately after the start, his race already looked promising. He was very cautious at turn 6 on the first lap as he really left some room there so it might be clear that he really listened to his team. Some impressive overtakes on Leclerc, Sainz and Stroll brought him up to P12 in lap 20. Finishing the race in P9, on a track where overtaking is deemed very tough, starting from last place he really impressed F1 fans from all over the world. He has proven himself again.
One thing that was noted over the course of this season, especially after another unnecessary and very costly crash, is the attitude towards Max from his Dutch fans. The comments on Facebook and Twitter have become way more negative. Dutch fans have become more divided on the subject of his driving style. On the one hand people enjoy his aggressive style and accept that this can lead to crashes as this style also brought him his victories, but on the other hand people get annoyed by the fact that he struggles to get points to fight for the championship especially when they see that his teammate dominated the whole weekend. One thing they all have in common is that they all think Max needs to learn from his mistakes to prevent them from happening again in the future. After all, he could have won the Monaco GP this weekend..
Sweden’s Linus Lundqvist goes into the third British F3 meeting of the season with a slender lead in the championship with rounds seven, eight and nine at Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend.
An ultra-consistent Lundqvist was on the podium in all three races last time out at Rockingham and heads the standings by 11 points from Nicolai Kjaergaard, with Tom Gamble and Kush Maini also in close attendance.
Following a last-ditch pole position (his first in car racing) in the wet it was Gamble who was the class of the field in race one on Saturday excelling in the cold, wind and rain typical of a British race weekend.
Kush Maini then recovered from midfield finish in race one to dominate in similar fashion to Gamble in the Sunday morning race, the Indian relieved at finally getting some dry running.
Lundqvist took top honours in a tight race three, the Swede having to fend off Kjaergaard and Maini throughout much of the race.
After his race two victory, Maini was confident that with more dry races over the coming rounds of the F3 championship that his Lanan Motorsports package would be the quickest while vowing to work on his starts and wet pace.
Kjaergaard came from way back on the grid in race two at Rockingham to finish second and has already won this season at Oulton Park.
Billy Monger returns for Carlin this weekend having endured a tough weekend in Northamptonshire last time out, the 19-year-old retiring from race three after colliding with Tom Gamble having previously managed only a seventh in the first two races. Monger had stepped on the podium at Oulton Park.
Maini had hoped to improve his wet pace and certainly got the chance to prove that as he took top spot in a sodden final test session on Thursday, while Lundqvist once again showed strength to claim the overall fastest time of the day ahead of the weekend’s racing.
Check out the latest video from Mobil 1 The Grid. In this piece, the Japanese driver discusses his win in 2017, how he went about winning the race, whilst laying down a blueprint of the key to success at Indianapolis.
Takuma On Winning The Indy 500: “In my entire life, maybe the birth of my child, that is obviously an amazing day. But besides on that, [winning at Indy] was my significant moment in my life, and certainly the best day of my race career. And that changed so many different things. I just never forget the feeling of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has and how deeply I understood the history and the energy that the Indy 500 has. That was just an unbelievable, amazing, amazing experience for me.”
Takuma On How To Win At Indy: “The key is to stay out of trouble problem, because it’s just such a long race. Anything can happen. Just stay calm, because the race comes back to you.”
Indycar 2017 Round Six: Indianapolis 500, Indiana Credit: hondanews.eu
Takuma On How Heartbreak In 2012 Prepared Him: “Going through all the preparation by yourself and as an athlete, you learn from your faults: What you didn’t go through, and what you know already. Then there is a great chance to learn new things. Moving forward, that’s the name of the sport. 2012 is obviously a bitter experience and but I really appreciate it because I’m proud that I was able to challenge for that. In the end, I failed it. But it’s really made me stronger. Going through every single year, there’s lots of ways you think about it, and of course, before the 2017 start, you’re going through 2012, saying ‘What could I have done? What should I have done? What we will need to do?’ And that’s exactly what I did. That was the moment I really needed.”
Takuma Sato On The Legacy Of Winning The Indy 500: “Indy 500 winner… we knew that’s a big deal. People say that it’s going to be forever, and then like almost every month there is some award or there is ceremonies and the events just it’s go on and on and on. When I go back to Japan, there was almost every week, an event or award. So it was an unbelievably busy winter, but it was a happy busy moment. The Indy 500 is beyond your imagination.”
Indycar 2017 Round Six: Indianapolis 500, Indiana Credit: hondanews.eu
Takuma Sato On Indy 2018: “I can’t imagine how it’s going to be as a defending champion going to the Month of May. I think it will be so cool, so pressured and so busy. I can’t wait [to] go there. But, equally, I think that now everyone wants to win and beat me so, basically, I have to have a huge challenge to do back-to-back race wins. Nothing is impossible, but I think it’s going to be very tough but we will challenge for that anyway.”
Kush Maini and Linus Lundqvist took the spoils in Rounds five and six of the British F3 Championship at Rockingham Motor Speedway, after Tom Gamble’s victory in Round four on Saturday.
Maini’s win was dominant after good work in the opening laps after starting from fifth in the reverse grid race, eventually taking the chequered flag ahead of Nicolai Kjaergaard.
And the young Indian was keen to point out the potential of the car given to him by Lanan Racing.
“It was a really good race from us, we knew from pre-season running that we were going to be quick in the dry as we were P1 every session. Unfortunately last weekend and the start of this weekend has been very wet.
From the first lap I knew we could push it and at least get the fastest lap to start from pole. Thanks to the team for giving me a great car.”
Kush Maini and his Lanan team had been waiting for a dry race after pre-season pace. Image: Jakob Ebery
After dropping backwards at the start, Maini was keen to stay out of trouble before attacking on the first lap after tight opening three corners.
“I fell to seventh at turn one trying to keep my nose clean, Jamie (Chadwick) had a slow start and I got boxed in by Maldonado from the right, there were four or five close calls with my front wing on the first lap!
“ I’m not sure whether they had less confidence or hadn’t prepared as well as we had, but they seemed to lose their braking points, I kept to my braking points and got a couple of them around the outside, from there it was about keeping it on the black stuff.
The Lanan driver is in his first season in the British F3 championship after a spell in Italy, and says the traditional British weather was a factor in his decision to enter the series, and has high hopes for his debut season.
“I want to get more experience in the rain and (The climate) is actually one of the reasons I came here, to improve in the rain. To become the best you must practice in all conditions.
“We’ve shown that we are one of the best in the dry, so we’re aiming to win the Championship.”
Maini was left to rue a slow start to the final British F3 race of the day from pole position.
“We must improve and I need to improve at the starts because that was not the best. If you lose out at the start to guys that are on the pace, it’s difficult to get the positions back.
“They got better heat into their tyres after the Safety Car, had to defend from behind. Overall I’m satisfied with P3. It’s a lot of points towards the Championship.”
(L-R) Kjaergaard, Lundqvist and Maini are all smiles after Race three Credit: British F3/Jakob Ebrey
Lundqvist’s victory came under more trying circumstances, as he got ahead of Maini and Kjaergaard at the start of an incident-filled Race three.
The race saw Saturday victor Gamble, Clement Novolak and Chia Wing Hoong disqualified for causing collisions, while Billy Monger, Jamie Chadwick, Jusuf Owega, Arvin Esmaeli and Pavan Ravishankar all retired due to contact.
“It was a tough race, I’ll tell you that much but it was also a really enjoyable one too”, Lundqvist began.
“Maybe the Safety Car helped us out a little, it may have helped me hold them off but we had good pace anyway so I could defend from Nicolai and Kush to the end.”
The Swede took pride in taking victory under difficult circumstances as Kjaergaard was rarely more than half a second behind throughout the 14 lap distance.
“I’m very pleased with this one, it makes you feel better about the win if you’ve really had to work for it. It was a bunched up field, Nicolai at one stage had a really good run on me but I held him off, he really put a lot of pressure on me in the last two or three laps.
Lundqvist was quick to place importance on consistency in a season that has seen plenty of twists and turns already after just two race meetings.
“As you say it’s been a really strong weekend for us, we had a podium in every race this weekend and I’m very pleased about that. It’s a real confidence boost for me as a driver and us as a team. The target is to do more race weekends like this, this championship is about consistency and making sure the lowest score isn’t that low.
We want to have every weekend like this one, fighting for podiums and race wins in each race and we’ll be in a really good position come the end of the season.”
The next three rounds of the British F3 Championship take place at the Snetterton 300 circuit in four weeks’ time.
Two down already! You get the feeling this season is going to fly by; especially as this week links the first back to back race weekends of the campaign.
Sebastian Vettel, undoubtedly, will be eyeing his third straight win of the year, having beaten his Mercedes counterparts in both Australia and Bahrain; showcasing that Ferrari have the capabilities to outmuscle the Silver Arrows on two very different circuits.
Again, on Sunday, and the lead up prior, the Prancing Horse, as well as the other 19 cars on the grid, will be tested to their maximum as they scale the 5.4km, wasteland sitting grey ribbon of Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix.
A 16-turn circuit, which houses an equal number of right and left-handers, offers up one of the most challenging tests the drivers will face throughout the year.
Debuting in 2004, the teams soon learned that looking for time in the slower bends, of which there are many, cannot result in neglecting the high-speed straights.
Because of this, they attempt to utilise the downforce and natural mechanical grip during the tighter, more technical aspects of the track, while making sure their aero packages don’t hinder the car too much as the prime overtaking spots come into view.
The longest straight on the circuit, situated between turn 13 and 14, pips the 1km barrier; however, also provides one of the heaviest braking zones on the calendar – as drivers drop from over 320kph to a little over 60kph to tackle the almost 90-degree right-hander at the end of the DRS zone.
It’s also a tough afternoon for tyres, with the Chinese Grand Prix known for its degradation. So, it’s unlikely to see a repeat of Vettel’s heroics last weekend in the latter stages on Sunday, although, be prepared for a wild variation in strategies thanks to Pirelli’s tyre allocation.
“The new wider range of 2018 P Zero compounds have allowed us to come up with some nominations this year where there is a gap in the tyres selected: in the case of China, alongside the medium, we jump from soft to ultrasoft, leaving out the supersoft”, Mario Isola, Head of Car Racing at Pirelli told F1’s official website.
“There’s quite a big gap from medium to the softer compounds, which are quite close together (with the exception of the hypersoft). So, by missing out the supersoft in China, we end up with three choices that are quite evenly spaced out, which in turn opens up several different possibilities for strategy.“These strategy calculations have of course already begun, with teams selecting different quantities of the ultrasoft heading into the race, and we could also see some different approaches to qualifying as well.
“With China being an unpredictable race anyway, thanks to a number of different overtaking opportunities and notoriously variable weather, this tyre nomination introduces another parameter, which should hopefully contribute to an even better spectacle.”
And I for one cannot wait.
Be sure to keep up with all the action with PitCrewOnline via the website and social media channels! (@PitCrew_Online) Of course, as always, if you enjoyed this week’s edition of Joe’s Track Preview, feel free to shoot me (@jwpowens) a follow too.
IndyCar got its first oval of the season done at Phoenix and, while Josef Newgarden was the one to take the win, it was rookie Robert Wickens who was once more grabbing headlines and stealing the show with a remarkable second place finish. Alexander Rossi was the big mover of the day, completing over 50 overtakes while Sebastien Bourdais’ race fell apart at the first hurdle.
After qualifying on pole, Bourdais’ race started with trouble after the Frenchman’s Dale Coyne was kept in the pits for the first formation lap to give the team time to restart his car. He joined the track in time to take the start on pole but his team soon reported that they’d lost all telemetry on his car however, that problem was soon negated when he came into the pits and hit one of his pit crew, giving him a drive-thru penalty and dropping him to last. Thankfully, the pit member involved was unharmed.
Another one to be compromised by the first round of pit stops was Rossi who, like Bourdais, hit his pit crew and landed himself a drive-thru penalty, Again, the crew members involved were fine. Rossi didn’t come back into significance until he assisted Will Power into the wall, ending the Penske driver’s race, before fully un-lapping himself under green flag conditions. When Ed Jones hit the wall with 21 laps to go, all the field pitted other than Wickens, James Hinchcliffe and Rossi; this gave the three track position over the fresh tyre runners but high degradation in the latter stages of the race cost all of them at least some positions.
Wickens was leading the race up until those final stops but was unable to defend from Newgarden who was flying on his new Firestones. Before then, Wickens had come to the front after pitting early at the second round of stops and passing teammate Hinchcliffe who’d gotten caught up in traffic. The Canadian dropped to third after the third stops but was propelled into first after Jones crashed out of second and leader Newgarden pitted; the win was not to be for Wickens but second place on his first ever oval race is outstanding achievement.
Josef Newgarden. courtesy of media.gm.com
Newgarden himself was relieved to break his unlucky streak under lights at Phoenix after failing to finish on the podium at any of his previous races here. The reigning champion worked out second after the first round of pit stops, something he attributed to team owner Roger Penske insisting that the team clean the pit boxes thoroughly. The second pit stops didn’t work out in the American’s favour but, with Power out, Newgarden was the first to pit at the next round, allowing him to take the lead. He took the risk to pit again when Jones hit the wall but that paid off when he was able to blast past Hinchcliffe and Rossi on the restart before getting Wickens with just four laps remaining to take his first win of his title defence.
A surprisingly low amount of cautions, despite numerous incidents, meant that once cars were lapped, that was pretty much it for them. This was the case for all the new teams, Carlin, Harding and Juncos, who all struggled for pace at their first oval and all ended up at least a lap behind the leaders. It wasn’t just the rookie teams who struggled, all the rookie drivers, other than the incredible Wickens, were off the pace, with some even ending in the wall. Pietro Fittipaldi and Kyle Kaiser both got too close to the wall while Matheus Leist’s race was ruined when he left the pit box with one wheel not attached.
This race was a large improvement on Phoenix last year for Honda who took positions two through to sixth however, it was still a Chevrolet that took the win, meaning that Penske’s Newgarden now leads the championship, five points ahead of Rossi.
Phoenix marked the first of three races in a row with IndyCar now heading to the streets of Long Beach before going to Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks’ time. IndyCar will not return to an oval until the 102nd running of the Indy 500 at the end of May so it’s street courses all the way until then.
Full race results:
1. Josef Newgarden
2. Robert Wickens (R)
3. Alexander Rossi
4. Scott Dixon
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay
6. James Hinchcliffe
7. Ed Carpenter
8. Tony Kanaan
9. Graham Rahal
10. Simon Pagenaud
11. Takuma Sato
12. Marco Andretti
13. Sebastien Bourdais
14. Spencer Pigot
15. Gabby Chaves
16. Zach Veach (R)
17. Charlie Kimball
18. Max Chilton
19. Matheus Leist (R)
DNF – Ed Jones, Kyle Kasier (R), Will Power, Pietro Fittipaldi (R)
The 2018 Formula 2 championship kicked off in Bahrain this weekend, with a typically dramatic pair of races, giving us an insight into the brand new car and engine introduced this season, and our first chance to see how the 2018 grid stacks up against one another.
In a turn of events that was unsurprising to some, but impressive nonetheless, F3 champion Lando Norris bagged pole position in only his second round of F2. He narrowly beat fellow Brit and reigning GP3 champion George Russell, who edged out DAMS driver Alexander Albon who lined up third on the grid. Albon was only confirmed for the single round in Bahrain in a seemingly last minute deal, but his impressive performance out-qualifying his more experienced teammate by over half a second surely warrants another chance. Albon’s teammate Canadian Nicholas Latifi was not the only experienced driver who had failed to put together a complete lap in Friday qualifying, title favourite and last year’s runner-up Artem Markelov could only do as well as seventeenth.
Markelov’s weekend would only go from bad to worse when he lined up on the grid for the feature race on Saturday only to stall and be forced to start from the pit lane. He wasn’t the only one, with ex-Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi also stalling, the first of several cases which prove that these new F2 cars are not the easiest machinery to get off the line.
Copyright: Zak Mauger/LAT Images
It was a dream start for Lando Norris with some lightning quick reactions to get himself off the line, something which he will take a lot of confidence in given the starts were one of his few weaknesses during his 2017 F3 campaign. By contrast, Russell was slow to get moving and even impeded Prema driver Nyck de Vries who was starting behind him. It was not the start he needed if he wanted to get one back against Norris. Albon also found trouble in getting his car moving, and the two of them lost several places in the opening seconds of the race.
For Norris, from there it was a maturely handled race. His only hitch was a slow pit stop, but he had built himself a comfortable lead, so was able to retain this despite the hiccup. When the inevitable tyre degradation kicked in, as it always does around this track in the searing desert heat, he had enough of a cushion to be able to ease off slightly and bring his Carlin home safely. The dominant fashion in which he controlled the race was very reminiscent of some of current champion Charles Leclerc’s victories from last year.
Behind him was a much more chaotic story. While it was Norris’ race to control, it was Markelov’s show to steal. Despite starting from the very back of the field he used his uncanny ability to manage his tyres to pull off a whole host of his usual opportunistic overtakes. The rest of the grid wouldn’t let him make it look easy however, and some of the newer arrivals proved that they could fight just as hard. There was a thrilling moment when the Russian driver, Maximilian Günther and Jack Aitken attempted to go three wide into turn 1. But it was Markelov who bested them all in the end, fighting through almost the whole field to finish a fantastic third place.
Copyright: Zak Mauger/LAT Images
After his poor start George Russell and ART attempted an undercut to gain some time back, and he did manage to finish in fifth in the end, but the tyre degradation was too great for him to gain any significant time back. This was the drawback of the Mercedes junior driver attempting to stop so early. The Pirelli tyres run in Formula 2 are notoriously high degradation, especially on a track like Bahrain, and therefore usually difficult for rookie drivers to adapt to. It will not have been the result Russell was hoping for, especially after making his championship ambitions abundantly clear.
Carlin, a team returning after a year out in 2017, had one of the best results of the race. Alongside Norris’ win, Sergio Sette Câmara brought home a second place finish for the British team, giving them an impressive one-two on their return to the sport. The Brazilian driver was initially overtaken by de Vries in the early stages of the race, but ultimately managed to gain second place back. Where he really proved his worth was in his end of race scrap with Markelov as he fought to defend his second place from the charging Russian. They fought until the very last lap, but clever and aggressive defending was enough to for Câmara to maintain his position.
Albon managed to recover after his poor start and intermittent DRS problems to a respectable fourth place, followed by Russell, and de Vries in sixth who could not find a way to manage his degrading tyres. Sean Gelael, a much criticised and controversial driver, proved his stock by making a very impressive recovery from only qualifying nineteenth to finish seventh. It was rookie Maximilian Günther who finished in eighth to claim reverse grid pole for Sunday’s sprint race, while Jack Aitken and Ralph Boschung took the last points paying positions.
In Sunday’s sprint race, there was yet more drama at the very beginning of the race. Gelael, with the potential for a solid result from his starting position of P2 stalled on the formation lap and was forced to start from the pit lane. There was just more trouble to come. Upon the race start three cars stalled again, failing to get off the grid entirely and they were pushed to the pit lane where they could join the race, albeit a way behind the pack. Two of the stallers were ART pair George Russell and Jack Aitken, with Haas junior driver Santino Ferrucci also failing to get away. Impressively, the other cars managed to avoid the stationary vehicles and everyone got away unscathed.
Copyright: Zak Mauger/LAT Images
The best start in this race was bagged by Nyck de Vries who was starting from third. He overtook pole sitter Günther to claim the lead of the race, while the young German was also overtaken by Markelov who had a storming start from sixth on the grid, the Carlin pair following him to slot into fourth and fifth.
Everyone’s eyes were on tyre degradation throughout the 23 lap race. All drivers had started on the medium tyres, which in theory have long lasting wear. But ever year Formula 2 comes to Bahrain even the most experienced drivers find it difficult to make them last well. Many had speculated whether any of the drivers would attempt to do what Charles Leclerc did last year in the sprint race but taking an unprecedented pit stop and using his fresher tyres to fight back to claim victory. A pit stop is not mandatory in a sprint race, and at almost any circuit other than Bahrain it would not even be considered during a sprint race. But Leclerc had proven last year that it could have its advantages.
In the end it was Prema who attempted to repeat their exploits of the previous year when they pitted de Vries from the lead on lap nine. He had a sizeable lead of around three seconds, but it was very early in the race to expect him to make his new tyres last until the end. It could be argued that it was not a gamble for the win, but an attempt at damage control, as de Vries is not famed for strong tyre management.
His stop meant that Markelov inherited the lead of the race, Günther moved up into second and Câmara took third. Câmara was under pressure from his teammate Norris for some time, but an engine misfire midway through the race sent the Mclaren reserve driver tumbling back a handful of places, and most likely cost him a potential podium. The best the youngest driver on the grid could do was fourth place.
De Vries was rapid after his switch onto softer tyres, and for a while it looked as though he might be able to recover to the podium. But as the laps wore on, his tyres began to degrade again. He still managed to finish in fifth, which is arguably better than he would have done had he not pitted.
Copyright: Zak Mauger/LAT Images
Ahead of him Markelov once again deployed his tyre management skills to hold a lead over Günther who was being put under pressure from the Carlin pair. The Arden driver was struggling to work out how to best manage his tyres, expected perhaps after he made the switch from Formula 3 where drivers are able to push their tyres a lot harder with a lot less degradation. But he showed great composure in holding off both Câmara and Norris, and by the end of the race he was even able to close the gap to Markelov in front.
Behind the Carlin pair and de Vries in fifth, Luca Ghiotto made a quiet recovery from twelfth to finish sixth, while Ralph Boschung rounded off a solid double points scoring weekend by finishing seventh. Rookie and Honda junior driver Nirei Fukuzumi claimed the last point in eighth place.
Norris leaves Bahrain as championship leader, and it was undoubtedly a dream start for the young Brit, as he certainly seemed to have the edge over many of the other rookies. At the moment it seems as though Markelov, who provided most of the thrills of the weekend, is his closest competitor. This should be expected from a driver entering his fifth season at this level, but that is not to take away from the skill and speed he displayed this weekend. Günther is perhaps a surprise as the second rookie in the standings at the moment, taking the points over higher rated drivers like Russell, Aitken and Haas junior driver Arjun Maini. But his rivals would do well to remember that he was more than capable of taking the fight to Norris on his day during Formula 3 last year.
Bahrain is a difficult track to open the season on, especially for those unused to the Pirelli tyres. And it is clear that teams are still trying to work out how to optimise the performance in these new cars, particularly in terms of start procedure. But after a calendar reshuffle this year, the next challenge Formula 2 faces are the streets of the Baku City Circuit, no mean feat given the utter madness it usually delivers.
The 2018 FIA Formula 2 season begins this weekend under much anticipation and featuring one of the most exiting grids in recent years. A few of the more experienced drivers remain, but with a host of highly rated rookies joining the field, it is expected to be a closely fought championship. This year will also see the introduction of the new Formula 2 car, complete with the halo cockpit protection device, which should shake up the playing field a little more. Teams who have been on top of set up in recent years might find themselves struggling to adjust.
Many are billing this season as the battle of the Brits, with 2017 Formula 3 champion Lando Norris and 2017 GP3 champion George Russell going head to head for the title. But in all likelihood, in a series as unpredictable as Formula 2, it won’t be as simple as just two drivers fighting it out. Although Norris and Russell will likely be at the sharp end of the field, this prediction overlooks a number of other highly capable drivers on the grid.
Though Formula 2 is a series which in the past was considered hard for rookies to adapt to, especially the high degradation Pirelli tyres that are run, Leclerc’s dominant rookie title win in 2017 has dispensed those expectations somewhat. And now any driver with the talent and the form is expected to deliver.
Credit: Malcom Griffiths/FIA Formula 2
Norris and Russell are naturally two names that will come up when discussing potential title contenders, both coming off the back of convincing championship wins and both attached to Formula 1 teams (with Norris a McLaren junior driver and Russell part of the Mercedes Junior team). Driving for ART Grand Prix, Russell will benefit from staying with the team he clinched the GP3 title with, and the French outfit seem to be making a good start to the season already after completing the most laps in pre-season testing. Norris meanwhile will drive for Carlin, a new entry into Formula 2 for 2018, but a team with a rich history in motorsport and a reputation for bringing home trophies. Still, Carlin represents far more of an unknown quantity, and some consider Norris’ choice to join the team a bit of a gamble. Both drivers have made their intentions clear however, if their teams are capable of delivering them the title, then that is exactly what they will set out to do.
Fellow British rookie and ART teammate of Russell, Jack Aitken is another driver aiming for the top prize in 2018. Perhaps slightly overlooked after he lost the GP3 title to Russell in 2017, as Renault test and reserve driver Aitken also has the advantage of being affiliated with a Formula 1 team. As we saw in GP3, Aitken is more than capable of taking the fight to Russell, but his success will probably hang on how well he manages to adapt to the new series, an area in which he lagged behind his teammate last year.
It is unusual for such high expectations to be placed on a group of rookies, but that just goes to show how high the level of talent entering the series is. But Formula 2 is a championship that ordinarily favours experience. With this in mind last year’s runner-up Artem Markelov is a clear favourite. Staying with last year’s team champions Russian Time and entering his fifth year at this level, he has the experience and the credentials to win. And the twenty-three-year-old Russian needs to as well, although he has found himself a role within the Renault F1 team, he is reaching the upper limit of the acceptable number of years to spend in second-tier single seaters before he has to start looking at building his senior career.
Credit: Malcom Griffiths/FIA Formula 2
Many have also placed their bets on Nyck de Vries as a likely title contender. The Dutch McLaren junior driver is entering his second season of Formula 2 with a move to the Italian team Prema who have been consistently fighting for wins and podiums since they entered GP2 in 2016. He will also have the extra motivation of getting to go up against his fellow McLaren junior driver Lando Norris, who has recently been putting him in the shade with his successful run of form. 2018 represents an opportunity for the two drivers to finally go head to head. He has thus far failed to deliver any big results since his Formula Renault 2.0 win in 2014 and hasn’t quite matched the potential he showed in his karting career. But backed by a strong team, 2018 could turn out to be his year.
These may be the likely title contenders, but it would not be surprising to see a few more unexpected names up the top of the leader board. Some of the other newcomers are capable of fighting for podiums, such as BWT Arden pair Maximilian Günther and Nirei Fukuzumi. Günther is following his 2017 title rival Lando Norris from Formula 3 where he finished third last year, and Fukuzumi is another GP3 graduate coming third last year behind his teammates; Russell and Aitken. A number of those staying on for a second or third year were race winners and podium finishers last year, drivers such as Ghiotto, Câmara, Fuoco, Latifi and Albon (the latter two unconfirmed as of yet, but widely speculated to be filling in the vacant DAMS seats) should be capable of repeating those exploits this year.
Credit: Malcolm Griffiths/LAT Images
As ever, it will be hard to determine the standings until a few races have been run and the frontrunners emerge. But expect it to be a closely fought battle this year. Even in 2017, when Charles Leclerc seemingly dominated the competition we saw ten different race winners. If things are as close as they are predicted to be this year, then expect to see even more drivers standing atop the podium.
Bahrain will be a tricky first round too. Formula 2 doesn’t have the luxury of running of running in the evening as Formula 1 does, leaving the drivers to fight against the typical searing heat as well as each other. This usually leaves the rookies at a slight disadvantage, as it makes the already difficult to manage tyres even harder to get a handle on. There will also be further question marks to see how the new cars perform and how to teams and drivers adapt.
The Australian Grand Prix failed to give observers much of a concrete answer as to this year’s exact running order despite Sebastian Vettel’s second successive win at Albert Park.
Yes, Lewis Hamilton had a clear pace advantage in qualifying and wasn’t uncomfortable in the race, but the Red Bulls were hamstrung while it is understood that Ferrari haven’t unlocked the full potential of their new car design just yet.
Unlike last year, Ferrari won when they weren’t the fastest, something Hamilton did on multiple occasions last season. However, the Scuderia were not without a huge slice of luck.
Vettel’s victory came in fortunate circumstances
The Virtual Safety deployed midway through the race to recover the stricken Haas duo (more on them later) of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean slowed the race down as drivers were not to exceed a certain speed.
That meant that the impact of a pitstop lessened significantly. Where it would have cost Vettel 25 seconds to pit at normal racing speeds, at VSC speeds the cost was 11 seconds.
Vettel was 12 seconds clear of Hamilton. Ferrari had judged the maths perfectly, and a software glitch confused Mercedes.
Since then, there have been calls to ban pitting under the VSC.
This is not the first time that the VSC has changed the game during a race, if not quite to this extent.
Other beneficiaries include Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso, both of whom had not pitted and as a result made net gains. Ricciardo was fourth, with Alonso fifth.
The VSC adds a potential variable to a sport that is currently desperately lacking in those at present. It turned what was fast becoming a predictable race into one that had a battle for the lead…..until Hamilton was restricted by the lack of spare Power Unit elements and had to turn the wick down.
It was a case of what might have been for Haas in Melbourne, as the team emerged as early contenders for best of the rest but ended up plum last in the Constructors’ are two catastrophic pitstops.
Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images/Haas F1 Media Haas were desperately unlucky to score nothing in Melbourne
Magnussen was fourth, just a second clear of teammate Grosjean as the two promised much for a team intent on building upon a solid first two seasons in the sport.
Grosjean commiserated and rallied the pit-crew member with what appeared to be the faulty wheelgun, and should Haas maintain their pace this will not hurt as much as it should.
Their task in staying fourth will get harder as the season wears on.
Watch out…..Fernando has his mojo back. Steven Tee/LAT Images/McLaren Media
McLaren secured a double-points finish despite running nowhere near full wick because of (you guessed it) reliability worries from testing.
Due to the late switch to Renault Power Units, there’s still more to come from their chassis too, and in Fernando Alonso they have a man on the front foot.
It has not been difficult to notice a change in the Spaniard’s demeanour, encapsulated perfectly in his “speak up, don’t lose energy” and “now we can fight” messages on Sunday.
IndyCar returned in the most IndyCar way possible on the streets of St Petersburg, with eight cautions, multiple lead changes and a lot of crashes! Robert Wickens so nearly took what would’ve been a remarkable win on his debut but a tangle with Alexander Rossi left Sebastien Bourdais to come through and take his first victory since this time last year.
Up until the race, it had been the weekend for the rookies; Wickens, Jordan King and Matheus Leist all made it into the Firestone Fast Six, with Wickens snatching pole from Will Power in the dying moments of qualifying.
As series veteran Helio Castroneves gave the drivers the command to start their engines, the tension was tangible, could a rookie win in their first race or would the old guard put him in his place? After 110 laps, we would have an answer…
Wickens, despite all the pressure, kept his head at the race start and led; Power had started second but he spun in the opening corners – giving Wickens a decent lead by virtue of everyone having to avoid his Penske. The Canadian also survived his first restart, courtesy of Charlie Kimball spinning and stalling, and successfully negotiated his first IndyCar pit stop.
While Wickens seemed to have it all his own way at the front, Bourdais had already been in the wars. The Frenchman had picked up a puncture on the first lap and had to pit, dropping him down the order and putting him off-strategy.
When caution number two, brought out by Spencer Pigot, came to an end, it was Bourdais who was in the lead, albeit on much older tyres than the chasing pack. Bourdais continued to lead through the next two cautions and restarts, brought out by Leist and Sato respectively, but soon the older tyres came back to bite him. Wickens dived down the inside at Turn 1 to reclaim a lead which he held through the next caution and restart, this time caused by Jack Harvey.
Once the pit stops had cycled out, a new contender emerged in the shape of Andretti’s Rossi who’d been quietly going about his business up until then. Wickens led with Rossi in hot pursuit while Bourdais was all but out of it, now eight seconds back on the leading pair.
Wickens and Rossi traded fastest laps but it was clear that Rossi was catching the Canadian rookie – it was game on for the 2016 Indy 500 winner. However, when the pair caught traffic, Rossi ran too hot into Turn 4 and went wide; this mistake dropped the American nearly three seconds back from Wickens who now looked comfortable in the lead.
There was to be another twist to the tail though; Rene Binder was struggling with endurance because of the length of the race and subsequently hit the barriers, bringing out caution number six. This was a godsend for both Rossi and Bourdais who’d since lost touch with Wickens – the race was back on.
Wickens led off the restart with Rossi too busy sliding on his worn tyres to even think of a challenge. Just as Wickens looked to have it in the bag, Max Chilton put his Carlin in the wall to bring out the seventh caution of the race. On the restart, Wickens was slower than Rossi and the latter looked to take advantage of that into Turn 1 however, Rossi was struggling on his tyres, the overtake attempt soon turned into a crash. Wickens was spun around and put in the wall while Rossi was able to continue but it had done its damage to both their races because now, out of the blue, Bourdais was leading.
Wickens’ spin had brought out the eighth and final caution of the race which meant that it ended under yellows so it was a very emotional Bourdais who took an unchallenged victory from Graham Rahal and Rossi.
After the hectic nature of this weekend, all bets are off for the championship as the series heads to Phoenix in just under a month’s time.
“These strategy calculations have of course already begun, with teams selecting different quantities of the ultrasoft heading into the race, and we could also see some different approaches to qualifying as well.
