FIA Formula 2 Spielberg preview, notes and quotes 07.07.2022: FIA FORMULA 2 Championship Spielberg, RedBull Ring 8-10 July 2022 The races come in quick succession for the rest of the month, with Spielberg hosting the eighth round of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship just a week af

FIA FORMULA 2 Championship
Spielberg, RedBull Ring
8-10 July 2022





The races come in quick succession for the rest of the month, with Spielberg hosting the eighth round of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship just a week after the last event.



The Red Bull Ring is a track that the drivers will know well and should promise a great deal of action throughout the weekend.






KEY STATS


    After Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan’s maiden wins in Silverstone, the two rookies added their names to a rostrum of 11 race winners on the current Formula 2 grid.


    Felipe Drugovich has the most points finishes of any driver, collecting points from 13 of 14 races so far this season.


    After just seven rounds MP Motorsport have collected more podiums so far this season (6), and more points (170) than in any season previously.


    Six drivers from five different teams featured on the podium in Silverstone, while eight out of ten teams scored points.


    The lap record at the Red Bull Ring is 1:13.396, set by Charles Leclerc with PREMA Racing in 2017.


    Just one driver from this year’s grid, Marcus Armstrong, has stood on the red Bull Ring F2 podium at the 4.318 KM long circuit.





WHAT TO EXPECT



Felipe Drugovich still leads the way in the Drivers' Standings as we cross the halfway point in the 2022 season. The MP Motorsport driver retains a 42-point lead over Théo Pourchaire following Silverstone but has been more consistent than his rival. Drugovich has won previously at the Red Bull Ring, winning the Sprint Race back in 2020 in the first of two race weekends there.



Likewise, Frederik Vesti and Dennis Hauger have wins to their names around the Austrian circuit, winning last year during their Formula 3 campaign.





THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS



Logan Sargeant's maiden victory in F2 has moved him up to third in the standings, and the American is fired up to push himself further towards contending for the Championship. He is 18 points behind Pourchaire heading into Spielberg.



MP Motorsport is continuyes leading the way in the Teams' Championship, 10 points clear of ART Grand Prix after the French team was able to close the gap last time out and move into P2. Carlin's double podium last weekend moved the team up to third in the Standings.



Campos Racing will have an altered line-up this weekend, with Roberto Merhi replacing Ralph Boschung, as the Swiss driver focuses his efforts on recovery from his on-going neck injury.







LAST TIME OUT - SILVERSTONE


F2 had two first-time winners last time out at Silverstone. Jack Doohan took to the top step of the podium on Saturday, winning in the wet Sprint Race while it was Logan Sargeant that prevailed on Sunday, becoming the first American driver to win in the category's history.



In the Sprint Race, rain saturated the circuit ahead of lights out, which meant that conditions would be tricky for every driver on the grid. The lack of another downpour though turned the race into one of tyre preservation, meaning that the drivers that kept onto their wet tyres the longest would enjoy the benefits come the end, and that proved to be the case for two.



Doohan had worked his way up into the lead of the race having started P4 on the grid, but he was soon being chased down by Ayumu Iwasa in the closing laps after his victory looked all but assured.



A great effort from the DAMS driver got him to within a second by the chequered flag, but he ran out of laps in which to catch Doohan for the win.



On Sunday it was Sargeant's turn and the Carlin driver retained his pole position from the start. Following the pit stop phase, his fight was with Pourchaire as the ART driver filled his mirrors as best he could, but never quite getting within DRS range for a prolonged attack on the lead.



Liam Lawson made it a double-podium finish for Carlin, ending the Feature Race third to cap off a hugely successful weekend for the British outfit.




TYRE TALK


Pirelli Motorsport Director, Mario Isola


“The Red Bull Ring is a fairly straightforward circuit with not so many corners – the most demanding for the tyres are the two consecutive left-handers in the middle of the lap, with every other major corner being right-handed.



We have nominated the P Zero Yellow medium and P Zero Purple supersoft tyres, which is the more aggressive of the two different combinations we used during the double header in 2020, when Formula 2 last went to Austria.


The extra step between these compounds will ensure a notable performance difference around the short lap and a greater variation between the available strategy options.”






- Alexa Quintin, photos Formula Motorsport Limited