Category: F2

De Vries dominant in Round 9 opener; Mahaveer 20th: F2

Dutchman tops Free Practice for second round in a row, ahead of Latifi and Delétraz

Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2019: Nyck De Vries topped title rival Nicholas Latifi on their return from the summer break, in Free Practice at Spa-Francorchamps. The ART Grand Prix man laid down a marker for Round 9 as he looks to further cement his place at the top of the driver’s standings, with Latifi in 2^nd and Louis Delétraz 3^rd.

Nobuharu Matsushita led the cars out onto the track, with nearly a full cohort heading onto the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps at the start of the session, in 21 degree heat. When the times started to tumble, Nicholas Latifi went top, with 1:59.892. His excellent early pace was all the more impressive given his exploits in F1 FP1, not half an hour beforehand.

The DAMS driver – along with his teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara – is sporting a very special tribute this weekend, in remembrance of team owner Jean Paul Driot, who sadly passed away during the last round, in Budapest.

The Canadian’s lead wouldn’t make the halfway mark, as De Vries set about topping his second Free Practice in as many rounds. The Championship leader set two green sectors on his way to a time of 1:59.509, more than 0.3s clear of Latifi in P2.

This was followed by spins from Giuliano Alesi and Mick Schumacher, which forced the latter out of the session early and left him in P7, with more than 10 minutes to go. This brought out a brief Virtual Safety Car.

The order remained unchanged when the VSC period ended, with De Vries leading Latifi, who was ahead of Delétraz, Sette Câmara and Jack Aitken. Meanwhile, F2 debutant Marino Sato was lying 19^th as he focused on getting laps under his belt and becoming accustomed to his new wheels.

The session was ended early when Ralph Boschung’s Trident came to a halt on track and brought out a red flag, with five minutes to go. Free Practice ended under the red flag and handed De Vries the early bragging rights, after a strong opening session. Latifi remained in second ahead of Delétraz, Sette Câmara and Aitken, with Luca Ghiotto, Schumacher, Boschung, Alesi and Matsushita completing the top ten.

The Championship’s top two will go full throttle in Qualifying this afternoon at 455.pm local time, as they search for that extra edge going into the final part of the campaign.

FIA Formula 2 Round 9 – Free Practice provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix	1:59.509	12
2	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1:59.892	11
3	Louis Deletraz	Carlin	2:00.008	12
4	Sergio Sette Camara	DAMS	2:00.258	12
5	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing	2:00.460	9
6	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	2:00.607	11
7	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing	2:00.932	9
8	Ralph Boschung	Trident	2:00.980	11
9	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	2:00.987	13
10	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin	2:01.027	11
11	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden	2:01.301	13
12	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	2:01.301	11
13	Sean Gelael	PREMA Racing	2:01.423	13
14	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	2:01.562	14
15	Jordan King	MP Motorsport	2:01.645	12
16	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix	2:01.795	13
17	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	2:02.014	7
18	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden	2:02.819	15
19	Marino Sato	Campos Racing	2:02.962	12
20	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport	2:05.746	12

August 30, 2019

Mick Schumacher storms to maiden F2 victory in Budapest; Arjun Maini slips to 16th

PREMA ace earns his and his teams’ first win of 2019, ahead of Matsushita and Sette Câmara

Budapest, 4 August 2019: Mick Schumacher became the second rookie winner of this season’s FIA Formula 2 campaign with a commanding performance from lights-to-flag in the Sprint Race that required every inch of his defensive abilities.

The PREMA racing man beat out the experienced Nobuharu Matsushita to earn his maiden F2 win and a first taste of champagne for PREMA this season. DAMS’ Sérgio Sette Câmara came home in third, having pushed and prodded Matsushita all the way, in the tightest of front threes.

The German had been handed reverse grid pole for the second time this season, thanks to a strong 8^th place finish in yesterday’s Feature Race and he got away smoothly off the line, despite the Carlin attached to his rear wing.

Matsushita, starting P2, waited until the first turn to make his move and skidded around the outside of the German, but he ran out of track and remained second. Sette Câmara had forced his way ahead of Jordan King when the lights went out for third, while Nikita Mazepin rose four places to break into the points’ paying places.

Schumacher set the fastest lap in his attempts to put space between himself and Matsushita, but the Japanese driver reacted by beating his time around the Hungaroring and slicing into the distance between them. Less than a second behind him was Sette Câmara, in an intense three-wary tussle for first.

With thick clouds appearing above, the track temperature fell from 41 to 35 degrees, adding a further challenge to Schumacher’s defence of P1. Still, he clung on, but Matsushita remained within five tenths of him and refused to let the German breathe.

The Brazilian in third had the same tactic, but couldn’t find a way through at Turn 3 when the two went side-by-side and the Carlin came out ahead.

Championship contender Luca Ghiotto had been one of the fall guys in Mazepin’s rise to 8^th, but he was able to regain the spot when the ART man lost pace on lap 18. Callum Ilott and Guanyu Zhou both followed the Italian through, after the Russian had warned his team that he was in trouble. Ghiotto’s overtake of the Russian put him in a 1-2-3 with title rivals Nicholas Latifi and Nyck De Vries in a three-way fight for 6^th.

Matsushita remained in the shadow of Schumacher in the chase for P1 and was lapping two tenths faster than the German, beating him in both sectors 1 and 2, but could still not find a way through. The battling Ferrari F1 junior fought the Honda Dream driver all the way to the chequered flag and came out on top, thanks to a defensive masterclass.

Following closely behind was Sette Câmara, who beat out British duo Jordan King and Jack Aitken. De Vries, Latifi and Ghiotto finished 6^th, 7^th and 8^th, as Guanyu Zhou and Callum Ilott completed the top ten.

De Vries remains ahead in the Driver’s Championship, with 30 points more than Latifi in second, who has 166. Sette Câmara climbs back to third on 141 thanks to his podium finish, while Ghiotto has 135 and Aitken 134. In the Teams’ Championship, DAMS still lead on 307, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 242 and ART Grand Prix on 202. Campos Racing are 4^th with 164 and Carlin 5^th with 145.

The F2 Championship takes a brief break ahead of Round 9 in Spa-Francorchamps, when the drivers should return refreshed and ready to battle it out in the final four rounds of 2019. Having returned to winning ways in Budapest, Latifi will hope to further chop into De Vries’ Championship lead when racing returns at the end of August.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Sprint Race provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing
2	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin
3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	DAMS
4	Jordan King	MP Motorsport
5	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing
6	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix
7	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS
8	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
9	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
10	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
11	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden
12	Giuliano Alesi	Trident
13	Louis Deletraz	Carlin
14	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
15	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix
16	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing
17	Sean Gelael	PREMA Racing
18	Ralph Boschung	Trident
19	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin) – 1:33.056 on Lap 4

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin)

August 4, 2019

DAMS driver Latifi secures first win since Round 3, ahead of De Vries and Aitken: F2

3 August 2019: Nicholas Latifi won for the first time since Barcelona with a masterclass on the tight turns of the Hungaroring, bombing ahead of Nyck De Vries at the start and never wavering. Amazingly, it is the first time this season that the Championships’ top two have shared a podium, with the duo finishing ahead of Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken.

Despite the downpour in Friday’s Qualifying session, the rain held off on Saturday morning in Hungary and De Vries made the most of the dry surface to get away cleanly off the line, battling off a move down his right from Luca Ghiotto. Or, so he thought! Nicholas Latifi surged past them both on the left and nipped by at the end of the first turn, with De Vries’ locking up.

There were plenty of places gained further back at Turn 1 as Aitken jumped three to 5^th, while Hubert hopped five to 13^th. There was heartbreak for Louis Delétraz, whose slow start when the lights went out saw him drop to 8^th, before his Carlin slowed down to a stop.

Aitken began hounding Mick Schumacher in 4^th, who had fallen off the tail of Ghiotto. The German defended his position well, but lost out in the pits as Campos delivered a perfect stop, which saw the Brit nip ahead of both the PREMA man and Ghiotto.

By the time Latifi pitted a lap later, he’d built a strong gap over De Vries and returned in 6^th place, directly in-front of the ART Grand Prix man who had already stopped. The race lead was handed to Jordan King who was on the alternate strategy.

Latifi briefly put space between himself and De Vries when he passed Ralph Boschung, but he got caught in traffic and the Dutchman began to catch him. There was a brief Virtual Safety Car as Arjun Maini pulled over onto the gravel and became the morning’s second casualty.

Nobuharu Matsushita passed Schumacher down the pit-straight when racing resumed, while Latifi zipped by Hubert for second, who was also yet to stop. By the time King pitted from first and handed Latifi back the lead, the Canadian had built up a 6s gap between himself and his title rival.

The front three spots were back into the hands of Latifi, De Vries and Aitken, with Ghiotto in 4^th and unable to match the Brit’s speed. This sent the Italian into the clutches of Matsushita and sparked a mass brawl for fourth.

Ghiotto was able to fend off the Carlin driver, which sent him into the lurches of Sérgio Sette Câmara who had risen magnificently from 12^th. The duo went two wide ahead of Turn 3, which put King into the mix. Narrowly avoiding a kiss of tyres, the Brazilian and the Briton edged passed Matsushita.

The battles were brought to a swift conclusion when Boschung’s Trident went up in smoke and forced him to pull over onto the gravel. The race finished under the subsequent Safety Car, although Ghiotto and King were handed penalties after the chequered flag for a SC infringement and fell down the order. Latifi safely crossed the line ahead of De Vries and Aitken. Sette Câmara claimed fourth, ahead of Matsushita, Ghiotto, King, Schumacher, Guanyu Zhou and Callum Ilott.

The Canadian’s victory sees him gain ground on De Vries at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, with De Vries now on 192 points and Latifi 28 behind him. Sette Câmara moves up to third on 133, ahead of Ghiotto on 130. Aitken completes the top five with 128. In the Teams’ Championship, DAMS have increased their lead and now have 297 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 237. ART Grand Prix sit third on 198, with Campos Racing behind on 158 and Carlin on 135.

Schumacher will start on reverse pole for the first time since Bahrain in the Sprint Race and aim for a maiden win in F2 when action kicks off again tomorrow at 11.25am local time.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 8 Feature Race provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS
2	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix
3	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing
4	Sérgio Sette Câmara	DAMS
5	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin
6	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
7	Jordan King	MP Motorsport
8	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing
9	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
10	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
11	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden
12	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix
13	Giuliano Alesi	Trident
14	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
15	Sean Gelael	PREMA Racing
16	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden
17	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport
18	Ralph Boschung	Trident

	NOT CLASSIFIED
	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing
	Louis Delétraz	Carlin

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Jordan King	MP Motorsport	1:32.436 on lap 33

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Jordan King	MP Motorsport

August 3, 2019

Dutchman De Vries flies to Budapest pole; Arjun Maini P15: F2

Budapest, 2 August 2019: Nyck de Vries continued his so far flawless weekend to claim an emphatic pole position in the wet, in today’s FIA Formula 2 Qualifying at the Hungaroring. The ART Grand Prix ace picked up where he left off in Free Practice to finish ahead of Championship rivals Luca Ghiotto and Nicholas Latifi.

The rain threatened to derail the session right from the start, as Nikita Mazepin succumbed to the slippery circuit and spun at Turn 7 on his out lap. The Russian was unable to get going again, which prompted a red flag so that the marshals could quickly whisk him off track.

At the restart, De Vries was the first back out there, but focused on testing the track limits with rain still pouring down, and lapped the Hungaroring in 1:50.820. Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher opted for a similar strategy and nestled into third and fourth, with Luca Ghiotto coming closest to the Dutchman. The UNI-Virtuosi man lapped just 0.061s slower, eying up P1 with his next tour.

The Italian duly set a purple first sector, but a wobble in the third proved his undoing, as he was unable to beat his prior time. He had the same issue on his next lap as the rain began to take its toll on the field.

Latifi held his lap together and stole P1 from the clutches of his rival by 0.242s, as he coveted his first ever pole position in the category. Meanwhile, Schumacher had looked pacey in practice and nipped in-between the traffic at the start of a flying lap in his own bid for pole. The German was unrelenting in the rain and despite a slightly slow second sector, snatched second place with a searing lap.

It was then that De Vries came into his own, displaying his undeniable ability over one lap. The Championship leader smashed out three perfect purple sectors to break the 1m 50s barrier and take an unassailable lead at the top.

Ghiotto improved upon his time prior to the chequered flag, but couldn’t match the sheer speed of De Vries in the rain, who held on for pole position ahead of Latifi, Schumacher and Louis Delétraz. They were followed by Callum Ilott, Jack Aitken and Nobuharu Matsushita while Anthoine Hubert and Zhou completed the top ten.

Racing will resume on Saturday morning at 10.10am (local time) when De Vries will aim to continue his perfect start to Round 8 and add to his Championship lead. Following closely will be title rivals Ghiotto and Latifi, in what could be the tightest battle of the season yet. Don’t count against further downpour which would add extra spice to an already tasty looking race.

FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 8 Qualifying provisional classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix	1:49.809	13
2	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	1:50.036	13
3	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1:50.578	13
4	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing	1:50.748	12
5	Louis Deletraz	Carlin	1:50.853	14
6	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:50.871	13
7	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing	1:50.962	13
8	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin	1:51.408	14
9	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden	1:51.513	12
10	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	1:51.573	13
11	Jordan King	MP Motorsport	1:51.717	13
12	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:51.788	13
13	Sergio Sette Camara	DAMS	1:51.817	12
14	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1:52.644	13
15	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing	1:52.718	12
16	Ralph Boschung	Trident	1:52.956	13
17	Sean Gelael	PREMA Racing	1:52.995	12
18	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden	1:53.997	12
19	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport	1:55.217	12

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix

August 2, 2019

Campos Racing’s Arjun Maini to continue at F2 Round 8: Hungarian GP weekend

Twitter @ArjunMaini

Budapest, 1 August 2019: The FIA Formula 2 Championship heads for the heat of the Hungarian summer for Round 8, as the F1 paddock moves to Budapest following the excitement of Great Britain.

Indian racer Arjun Maini, who signed up with Campos Racing for two races only, will continue for the third race with the Spanish team and will take part in the F2 during the F1 weekend.

There was plenty for the home fans to celebrate at Silverstone with British outfit UNI-Virtuosi Racing setting the pace for the majority of the weekend. Luca Ghiotto was the man to catch in free practice, and the Italian continued his pace in qualifying before teammate Guanyu Zhou went fastest to take pole and lockout the front row for the Norfolk-based team. Ghiotto edged ahead of the Chinese rookie in the opening lap before battling to take the first F2 Feature Race win of his career. Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken continued to give the British crowd reasons to be cheerful, pulling off audacious overtakes on championship leader Nyck de Vries and then Louis Delétraz to take the lead and secure his second victory of the season to rapturous applause.

De Vries (170 points) is still out in front in the Drivers’ Championship, but second-placed Nicholas Latifi (139) has closed the gap slightly to 31 points. Ghiotto (122) has leapfrogged Sérgio Sette Câmara (121) into third position by a single point. DAMS (260) are top of the Teams’ Championship though a solid weekend for UNI-Virtuosi Racing (227) have seen them narrow the gap to 33 points. French outfit ART Grand Prix are currently third with 176 points.

The Hungaroring hosts Round 8 of the championship, a technical track that tests both cars and drivers. With an average temperature of 28 degrees, strategy will prove a decisive factor in the warm weather and Pirelli are supplying the medium and soft tyre compounds. As we’ve seen all season, the racing on track should be just as hot in another incredible weekend of F2 action!

Warm Up // Nobuharu Matsushita – Carlin

“I really like the Hungaroring because it’s a really technical track. It’s not all about the high-speed corners, it’s also technically difficult, and so it’s really hard to try and put everything together during one lap. It’s a challenging track to drive.

“There’s not one specific corner that provides more of a challenge than any other. Every single corner is difficult. I guess that makes the whole circuit a specific challenge when compared to other tracks.

“Tyre degradation also plays a key role and you have to look after your tyres if you are going to survive until the end of the race. That all adds to the difficulty. I’d say the best place to overtake is in Turn 1. You have to be really smooth in Sector 3 to follow the guy in front, making sure you don’t make a mistake in the last corner, and then you can use the DRS to help you get past into the first corner. There are other places to overtake but that’s the easiest place to get a move done.

“I’ve won twice in Hungary and have had some of the best experiences of my career there at this level. I also did F1 testing there in 2017 with Sauber. I remember it was really hot, but it is a good memory! I’m really looking forward to going back and racing and I would really like to win there again.”

Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of F1 and Car Racing

“This the last round before the summer break but the FIA F2 Championship is already entering its closing stages, which provides even more pressure to obtain a strong result in Hungary. It’s a type of track that many of the drivers will be familiar with from their karting days: very tight and narrow, with the tyres constantly working. As a result, managing the compounds in the hot conditions will be vitally important, with an accent on strategy as well because it’s very tricky to overtake. It’s also going to be one of the most important qualifying sessions of the year: finding a gap on what’s often a crowded circuit will be essential as well.”

Season Stats

170 The number of points championship leader Nyck De Vries currently has so far this season, exactly the same number as reigning champion George Russell had at this stage last season. Russell was also driving for ART Grand Prix.

31 The points gap between Drivers’ Championship leader De Vries and second-placed Nicholas Latifi (139) at the top of the standings.

4 Only four drivers have been classified finishers in every race so far this season; De Vries,

Latifi, Jack Aitken and Anthoine Hubert.

5 Excluding DNF’s, the lowest Sérgio Sette Câmara has finished in a Feature Race this season is fifth.

Noteworthy

The F2 race lap record at the Hungaroring is 1:29.121, set by Antonio Fuoco with PREMA Racing in 2017

Guanyu Zhou became the first Chinese pole sitter in the history of F2 when he earned his very first pole position at Silverstone. The Chinese driver also became the first rookie of the season to earn pole position for a Feature Race

If Carlin qualify on pole position for Saturday’s Feature Race, they will become the first team in the history of F2 to claim Feature Race pole at the Hungaroring in two consecutive years

If Nyck De Vries wins this weekend he will match Artem Markelov for the record highest number of wins in the modern era of FIA Formula 2. A win in both races would see the Dutchman surpass the Russian

De Vries has finished on the podium at least once in every round of 2019 except one – the season opener in Sakhir back in March

Every driver that has won a Budapest feature race at this level and then gone on to win the championship in the same year has also gone on to race in Formula 1. Nico Hulkenberg did it in 2009, Pastor Maldonado in 2010, Romain Grosjean in 2011 and then Pierre Gasly in 2016

Ralph Boschung, who competed in the first five rounds of the 2019 F2 Championship with Trident, returns to the F2 paddock with the Italian outfit this weekend. The Swiss driver has already scored three championship points this term

The Feature Race at the Hungaroring will take place on Saturday morning as opposed to Saturday afternoon

Data (GMT+2)

Friday

Free Practice: 13.00 – 13.45
Qualifying: 16.55 – 17.25
Press conference: 19.00

Saturday

Feature race: 10.10 (37 laps)
Press conference: 11.30

Sunday

Sprint race: 11.25 (28 laps)
Press conference: 12.30

August 1, 2019

Home win for Jack Aitken; Arjun Maini 13th: F2

Louis Delétraz (Carlin), Jack Aitken (Campos Racing), Nyck De Vries (ART Grand Prix), the F2 Sprint winners on Sunday. An FIA F2 image

Silverstone, 14 July 2019: Jack Aitken gave British racing fans a reason to cheer at Silverstone, clawing his way from fourth on the grid for a first home win in the F2 Sprint Race. The Campos driver achieved his best finish since Azerbaijan, crossing the line ahead of Carlin’s Louis Delétraz and ART Grand Prix’s Nyck De Vries. Indian racer Arjun Maini, also of Campos Racing, finished 13th while the other Indian on the grid Mahaveer Raghunathan of MP Motorsport ended at the last.

Aitken got the better of another British driver at the race start, as he joined Delétraz and De Vries in lunging ahead of reverse grid pole-sitter Callum Ilott who was slow off the line. The trio flung themselves down the right of the Ferrari Junior and dropped him to fourth at Turn 1.

Delétraz made the best start of the three and headed the group going into Lap 2, as Aitken began to hone in on De Vries. The Brit unsettled the Championship leader and made his move, arrowing beautifully down the side of him, having taken a tow. The Dutchman briefly fought back, but bumped the back of the Campos car and handed over the position.

This left the Championship leader in view of Ilott, who took a peak at the right of the ART machine, however, the Briton appeared just short of the pace required for an overtake and remained in behind.

Feature Race winner Luca Ghiotto continued to display UNI-Virtuosi’s pace advantage at Silverstone, moving up to fifth with an overtake on Nicholas Latifi. The Italian had eyes on Ilott, but was unfortunately forced into a tyre change and returned from the pits at the back of the field, in an agonizing end to his weekend.

Back at the front, Delétraz had held a near 3s lead over Aitken, but the Campos man was running quicker and twice set a faster lap as he began to eat into the air between them. The Renault test driver whittled it down to DRS range within two laps and the strain on the Carlin was too much for Delétraz.

No sooner had the gap dropped beneath a second, had Aitken arrived in the shadow of the race leader, halving the time difference to under 0.5s. The 23-year-old looked up and glided down the side of Delétraz who was powerless to prevent the move.

From there, the order remained unchanged, as Aitken kept his cool in front and held on ahead of Delétraz. De Vries completed the podium in third to salvage something from Round 7, ahead of Ilott, Latifi, Mick Schumacher, Nobuharu Matsushita and Guanyu Zhou.

The drivers’ championship remains in the hands of De Vries, who leads Latifi by 31 points. Ghiotto is third on 122, ahead of Sérgio Sette Câmara on 121 and Jack Aitken on 113. DAMS top the teams’ championship on 260 points, with UNI-Virtuosi second on 227. ART Grand Prix sit third on 176, with Campos Racing fourth on 143 and Carlin fifth on 125.

De Vries will aim to pick up speed again in Budapest at the end of July, when the F2 Championship returns to action at the Hungaroring.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 7 Sprint Race classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing
2	Louis Delétraz	Carlin
3	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix
4	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
5	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS
6	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing
7	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin
8	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
9	Jordan King	MP Motorsport
10	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
11	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden
12	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix
13	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing
14	Dorian Boccolacci	Trident
15	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
16	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden
17	Sérgio Sette Câmara	DAMS
18	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Giuliano Alesi	Trident

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Jack Aitken (Campos Racing) – 1:39.993 on Lap 20

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Jack Aitken (Campos Racing)

July 14, 2019

Maiden feature race win for Ghiotto; Arjun Maini 12th: F2

Silverstone, 13 July 2019: Luca Ghiotto continued his return to form in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, following up his double podium placing at Spielberg, with his first ever Feature Race win. The UNI-Virtuosi man came out on top of a fierce battle with rival Nicholas Latifi, before building up a solid 5s gap ahead of the DAMS man, and third placed teammate Guanyu Zhou.

Indian racer Arjun Maini of Campos Racing could only finish 12th.

The Italian went wheel-to-wheel with his polesitting teammate when the lights went out and eventually cemented P1 at the end of Turn 2, edging ahead of Zhou. It was just as tight between the two DAMS behind him, as Sérgio Sette Câmara and Latifi battled it out for third.

Nobuharu Matsushita leapt to sixth at the start, slipping through the middle of Nyck de Vries, Callum Ilott and Jack Aitken. The session was briefly yellow flagged as returnee Dorian Boccolacci stopped off track and was forced into retirement.

When racing resumed, Latifi launched ahead of his teammate at Becketts for third, while Ghiotto stretched his lead over Zhou to a still narrow 0.7s. Latifi’s tussle for first would begin shortly after, as he made light work of the Chinese racer for P2 and ducked into the pits for a change of tyre.

The race leader pitted a lap later and returned just inches ahead of the Canadian in fifth, who had already warmed his rubber. The pair narrowly avoided a tangle when the DAMS’ driver bumped the back of the UNI-Virtuosi but they were able to retain control.

Ghiotto locked up at Brooklands upon their return to full speed, which allowed Latifi to make a move down the inside and lunge ahead. The Italian looked blisteringly quick all weekend though and began to eat back into the gap once his tyres got up to temperature. Eventually, he was able to slip down the inside of Latifi and reclaim the positon at Stowe.

On the alternate strategy, Nikita Mazepin and Tatiana Calderón were thrust to the front of the field and were battling to gain an advantage ahead of their late stop. Ghiotto dipped between the duo for P2 and put some breathing space between himself and Latifi.

Further back, Aitken had managed to recover from his slow start and rise as high as sixth ahead of Louis Delétraz, Ilott and Matsushita. The British driver could clearly sniff further points and arrowed in on Championship leader De Vries. Getting within DRS range, he flung his car down the inside of the Dutchman and made the move stick going into Turn 3.

This would be the last course of action as Ghiotto closed out his first win since Bahrain back in March, having amassed a strong 5s lead over Latifi. He swept through ahead of the Canadian, who was followed by the second UNI-Virtuosi of Zhou. Sette Câmara ran through next for an all UNI-Virtuosi and DAMS front four, ahead of Aitken in fifth. De Vries, Delétraz, Ilott, Matsushita and Jordan King completed the top ten.

De Vries retains control of the driver’s Championship on 160 points, ahead of Latifi on 133. Ghiotto moves up to third with 122 points, one ahead of Sette Câmara in fourth. Zhou completed the top five on 104. In the team’s Championship, DAMS are still in control on 154 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 226. ART Grand Prix are third on 166, ahead of Campos Racing on 126 and Carlin on 111.

Local hero Callum Ilott will start on reverse grid pole in tomorrow’s Sprint Race at Silverstone and will look to earn his first race win in front of a home crowd.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 7 Feature Race Classification

	DRIVER	TEAM
1	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
2	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS
3	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
4	Sergio Sette Câmara	DAMS
5	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing
6	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix
7	Louis Delétraz	Carlin
8	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
9	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin
10	Jordan King	MP Motorsport
11	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing
12	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing
13	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
14	Tatiana Calderón	BWT Arden
15	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport
16	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix
17	Giuliano Alesi	Trident
18	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden

	NOT CLASSIFIED

	Dorian Boccolacci	Trident

	OVERALL FASTEST LAP
	Sergio Sette Câmara (DAMS) – 1:40.858 on Lap 24

	FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
	Sergio Sette Câmara (DAMS)

July 13, 2019

UNI-Virtuosi’s Guanyu Zhou scored his first ever pole; Arjun Maini P14: F2

Silverstone, 12 July 2019: UNI-Virtuosi’s Guanyu Zhou scored his first ever pole position in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and the first this season for a rookie, at Silverstone in Round 7. The team followed up P1 in Free Practice to score a front-row lock-out, with Luca Ghiotto following his teammate in second and Dams’ Sérgio Sette Câmara nabbing third.

Louis Delétraz was the first out onto a cool Silverstone circuit, but it was DAMS who were hottest in the early exchanges, when Sette Câmara and Nicholas Latifi claimed P1 and P2. Their time at the top was short lived, as UNI-Virtuosi continued to show their searing speed in Round 7. No sooner had Ghiotto taken provisional pole, had his teammate Zhou stolen in.

The duo remained at the top of the pile as everyone returned for fresh rubber. Mick Schumacher attempted to replicate Anthoine Hubert’s strategy in Austria by diving out of the pits early and hitting an empty track, however, his flying lap was disrupted by traffic as others also returned ahead of time.

This ensured Zhou retained his control of pole going into the final five minutes. The Chinese racer held just a 0.012s lead over Ghiotto, who clearly had the pace to mount a challenge. Neither of the DAMS could topple them on their final laps and were forced to settle for third and fourth.

With time nearly out, Ghiotto had set a purple first sector on his final tour of the circuit, but a wobble towards the end of his lap cost him valuable time and ensured Zhou secured his first pole position in the Championship. The pair were followed by Sette Câmara, Latifi and Delétraz. Callum Ilott, Nyck De Vries, Jack Aitken, Nobuharu Matsushita and Hubert completed the top ten.

UNI-Virtuosi will aim to continue their British dominance during tomorrow’s Feature Race, which begins at 3.45pm local time.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 7 Qualifying classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	1:38.182	11
2	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	1:38.410	11
3	Sérgio Sette Câmara	DAMS	1:38.511	11
4	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1:38.519	10
5	Louis Deletraz	Carlin	1:38.547	11
6	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:38.549	10
7	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix	1:38.613	12
8	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing	1:38.686	11
9	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin	1:38.877	11
10	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden	1:39.046	11
11	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:39.071	11
12	Jordan King	MP Motorsport	1:39.225	11
13	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing	1:39.227	12
14	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing	1:39.512	12
15	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1:39.574	10
16	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix	1:39.615	12
17	Dorian Boccolacci	Trident	1:39.622	12
18	Sean Gelael	PREMA Racing	1:39.790	11
19	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden	1:40.530	12
20	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport	1:41.725	11

July 13, 2019

Arjun Maini, 7th fastest in F2 Free Practice; Ghiotto on top at Silverstone

Luca Ghiotto (ITA, UNI VIRTUOSI). An F2 image

Silverstone, 12 July 2019: Indian racer Arjun Maini of Campos Racing clocked the 7th fastest time even as Luca Ghiotto carried his Austrian form into Round 7 to achieve his highest session placing since Barcelona, lapping quickest in FIA Formula 2 Free Practice, at Silverstone. The Italian followed up his pair of podium finishes in Spielberg with P1, ahead of DAMS’ Nicholas Latifi and teammate Guanyu Zhou. The other Indian in the F2 field Mahaveer Raghunathan was 19th for MP Motorsport.

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz duo Juan Manuel Correa and Callum Ilott set the early pace, immediately going under 1m 43s. The session was then briefly yellow flagged as Sean Gelael and Louis Delétraz made contact around Turn 6, which forced the PREMA man to retire from Free Practice.

British duo Jack Aitken and Jordan King fleetingly led proceedings, until Nyck De Vries and Sérgio Sette Câmara took turns at the top of the table, before ducking into the pits for a freshen up.

Ghiotto made the most of an emptying circuit to claim P1 ahead of De Vries and Sette Câmara, with a time of 1:39.166. Jack Aitken and Latifi both made attempts on his time, but neither could match him and settled for second and third.

With the session coming to a close, the Italian’s teammate Zhou demonstrated the pace of the UNI-Virtuosi machine this weekend and raced round for third place, nestling behind Ghiotto and Latifi. They were followed by Aitken, Sette Câmara and De Vries. Meanwhile, Arjun Maini made a return to the top seven in just his second round this season, beating Delétraz, Nobuharu Matsushita and King.

Ghiotto will look to continue his resurgence when the cars hit the track for qualifying at 3.55pm local time.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Round 7 Free Practice classification

	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Luca Ghiotto	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	1:39.166	18
2	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1:39.281	20
3	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	1:39.327	18
4	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing	1:39.554	17
5	Sergio Sette Camara	DAMS	1:39.622	20
6	Nyck De Vries	ART Grand Prix	1:39.692	22
7	Arjun Maini	Campos Racing	1:39.899	20
8	Louis Deletraz	Carlin	1:40.034	21
9	Nobuharu Matsushita	Carlin	1:40.039	22
10	Jordan King	MP Motorsport	1:40.062	21
11	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing	1:40.141	17
12	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix	1:40.154	21
13	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1:40.452	19
14	Callum Ilott	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:40.735	22
15	Dorian Boccolacci	Trident	1:40.779	17
16	Anthoine Hubert	BWT Arden	1:40.789	21
17	Juan Manuel Correa	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:40.878	21
18	Tatiana Calderon	BWT Arden	1:41.841	20
19	Mahaveer Raghunathan	MP Motorsport	1:42.792	19
20	Sean Gelael	PREMA Racing	2:00.608	3

July 12, 2019

Arjun Maini, Mahaveer Raghunathan to race in F2 during the British GP week-end

Silverstone, 11 July 2019: Two Indian racers talented Arjun Maini and regular Mahaveer Raghunathan will feature in the F2 race, run as a support race during the British GP weekend and as the teams and drivers of the F2 paddock land at the former airfield of Silverstone for Round 7 of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, two weeks after the sensational action in Austria’s Styrian Alps.

Arjun Maini, will be racing in the second and last of his two races in F2 championship this season while MP Motorsport’s Mahaveer Raghunathan returns to F2 this weekend having served a one-event suspension that saw him miss both races in Austria for amassing 12 penalty points for infringements during Virtual Safety Car periods.

Carlin’s Louis Delétraz went fastest during practice for the first time this season, before Championship leader Nyck de Vries pulled off a masterclass in qualifying to take pole position early in the session. Nobuharu Matsushita chased the Dutchman down superbly in the last few laps to earn his first F2 Feature Race win, calling it the best drive of his entire career over the radio as he took the chequered flag. The ‘firsts’ continued in Sunday’s Sprint Race, as Sérgio Sette Câmara and his DAMS machine took victory for the first time in 2019. The Brazilian leapt to the front from third on the grid and put in a measured display to stay there until the end.

De Vries (152) has pulled further ahead in the Drivers’ Championship, and now has a 37 point lead over Nicholas Latifi (115). Sérgio Sette Câmara (107) has climbed to third, just eight points behind his teammate. DAMS lead the way in the Teams’ Championship with 222 points, though second-placed UNI-Virtuosi Racing (182) have closed the gap to 40 points. ART (158) are 22 points further behind in third.

Round 7 of the season takes place at Silverstone Circuit, famed for its high speeds, fast corners and long straights. Race strategy will be crucial as teams and drivers look to get the best possible performance from Pirelli’s hard and soft compound tyres. A number of British drivers will hope to enjoy victory on home soil, but the rest of the grid will have designs of their own in what should be another incredible weekend of F2 action.

Warm Up // Jordan King – MP Motorsport

“I’ve always been quite successful at Silverstone. My first ever car race was there in Formula Palmer Audi and I got pole and finished second which started off a good love affair as they say! I suppose the highlight at this level is winning there in back in 2016. I probably had the best part of 50 people there – friends, family and partners. It felt good to be there with lots of people who had come on the journey with me and who had supported me.

“I enjoy Silverstone. It is a real pleasure to drive. It’s an old-school circuit and there is something special about driving there – with it being your home Grand Prix it’s like a double win. From what you see as a driver, the fans look amazing, there’s plenty of colour in the crowd and you like to think that all the union flags in the grandstand are for you.

“It’s really fast and it’s physically one of the hardest tracks of the year on your neck, shoulders and arms. It’s tricky with all the high-speed corners and tyre degradation is normally quite high. That makes for another interesting aspect to the racing angle.

“Although it’s high-speed and it’s hard to follow through the corners you can still overtake. The two main overtaking spots are into Brooklands and Stowe but battles go on for more than a couple of corners.

“I used to be a lot more stressed about the smaller details but now I’m just driving for the moment, to help the team, push the guys forward. I’m still setting goals and trying to achieve things but I’m not going into qualifying thinking ‘I have to be top five’ because it’s unnecessary pressure. I’m just going out and driving the best that I can.”

Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of F1 and Car Racing

“Silverstone is known as the ‘home of British motorsport’ so it’s a very significant race for many teams and drivers in the F2 championship. The biggest question mark will be the new asphalt, which nobody has had a chance to drive on yet, while the weather in England at this time of year is also often variable. We expect quite a big performance gap between the two nominated compounds in Formula 2, which should hopefully lead to some interesting strategies. The soft will need careful management on this demanding circuit but will offer a considerable performance advantage.”

Season Stats

37 The points gap between Championship leader Nyck de Vries (152) at the top of the standings and Nicholas Latifi (115) in second place.

4 The number of times a DAMS driver has picked up bonus points for the fastest lap this season. Sérgio Sette Câmara and Nicholas Latifi have both done it twice.

357 The number of racing laps completed so far this season.

95 The number of laps De Vries has led so far this season in his ART Grand Prix machine.

Noteworthy

The F2 race lap record at Silverstone is 1:42.512, set by Nobuharu Matsushita with ART Grand Prix in 2017

Matsushita’s Feature Race win in Austria is not only his first ever Feature Race victory but also Carlin’s first win since Lando Norris won the opening race of the season in Bahrain last year

That victory means all three British teams (UNI-Virtuosi Racing, BWT Arden and Carlin) have won at least one race this season going into their home event

The British round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship is also the home event of Callum Ilott of Sauber Junior Team by Charouz, Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken and MP Motorsport’s Jordan King

Dorian Boccolacci, who competed in the first five rounds of the 2019 F2 Championship with Campos Racing, also returns to the F2 paddock with Trident this weekend. The French driver has previously raced for the Italian outfit in GP3.

Seven different drivers have won races this season: Aitken, Matsushita, Nyck de Vries, Sérgio Sette Câmara, Nicholas Latifi, Luca Ghiotto and Anthoine Hubert

If De Vries wins this weekend he will match Artem Markelov for the record highest number of wins in the modern era of FIA Formula 2. A win in both races would see the Dutchman surpass the Russian

De Vries has stood on the podium six times in the last five events, including three wins, the longest current podium streak in the championship. Sette Câmara is next best with three podiums from three events

Mick Schumacher battled brilliantly during the Sprint Race in Austria. Starting 18^th on the grid he finished fourth and might have grabbed his first F2 podium had it not been for good defending from De Vries in third

Data (GMT+1)

Friday
Free Practice: 11.55 – 12.40
Qualifying: 15.55 – 16.25
Press conference: 18.00

Saturday
Feature race: 15.45 (29 laps)
Press conference: 17.05

Sunday
Sprint race: 10.00 (21 laps)
Press conference: 11.05

July 11, 2019