INDIA in F1

Tag: Formula 2

  • Sette Camara heads Monza Free Practice; Arjun Maini 8th fastest

    Monza, 31 Aug 2018: Sergio Sette Camara secured the fastest time in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Free Practice session at Monza, Italy, clocking in a 1:33.810 during the final stages as the wet circuit began to dry over the course of the allotted running. The Carlin driver beat RUSSIAN TIME’s Artem Markelov to the top of the timesheets by 0.048s, as the Russian driver brought out a yellow flag at the end of the session. DAMS’ Alexander Albon completed practice in third place.
    Following heavy downpours earlier in the day, the session began under wet track conditions, and home hero Luca Ghiotto was first on the road with a set of wet tyres – accosted by BWT Arden pairing Maximilian Günther and Nirei Fukuzumi. After the first exploratory laps, a dry line showed signs of appearing as Sean Gelael set the first timed lap in the 1m45s before Markelov shunted him off of top spot.
    Markelov’s teammate Tadasuke Makino was first to try a lap on the medium-compound slicks, leading a series of reconnaissance efforts as the field looked to make a switch to the dry tyre. Eventually, Louis Delétraz and Arjun Maini decided to bite the bullet and commenced a series of timed laps on slicks – Delétraz dipping below the 1m40s to beat Markelov’s benchmark by over four seconds, then hacking a further two seconds out of his time.
    Makino and MP Motorsport’s Dorian Boccolacci then emerged on the road, and the Frenchman elevated himself into first with a 1:36.781 before the Japanese ace went a second and a half faster. Boccolacci then returned to the top, but was quickly displaced by Lando Norris until Ghiotto beat the British driver – who had participated in Formula 1’s morning practice session for McLaren – by fractions of a second.
    Returning to the top, Markelov beat Ghiotto by 0.03s and was then able to extend his advantage by almost a second as the circuit continued to improve with the increased running. However, he was beaten to the punch by Sergio Sette Camara, who found a smidgen of time over his rival to clinch control of the session. Any hopes of further improvement throughout the session were ended by Markelov, who spun at the first chicane and became beached on the sausage kerb, bringing out a yellow flag at the opening sector.
    Albon fired his way up to third before the chequered flag, beating Makino’s time while Ghiotto was fifth in front of his home crowd. The Campos Vexatec Racing driver’s compatriot Antonio Fuoco was sixth, while championship leader George Russell claimed the seventh best time ahead of Maini. Norris and Boccolacci completed the top 10 runners.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 10 – Monza, Italy – Free Practice Classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    LAPTIME
    LAPS
    1
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    1:33.810
    11
    2
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:33.858
    13
    3
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    1:34.287
    13
    4
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:34.646
    11
    5
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:34.677
    12
    6
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    1:34.793
    11
    7
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:34.812
    11
    8
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    1:34.817
    13
    9
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    1:34.828
    11
    10
    Dorian Boccolacci
    MP Motorsport
    1:34.848
    15
    11
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    1:34.932
    11
    12
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    1:34.958
    14
    13
    Louis Delétraz
    Charouz Racing System
    1:35.216
    18
    14
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:35.461
    13
    15
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:35.480
    15
    16
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:35.568
    12
    17
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    1:35.677
    11
    18
    Maximilian Günther
    BWT Arden
    1:35.954
    12
    19
    Alessio Lorandi
    Trident
    1:36.559
    12
    20
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing

  • Nicholas Latifi takes lights-to-flag victory; Arjun Maini 8th: F2 Sprint race

    Canadian driver scores first win of 2018 in Belgium

    Nicholas Latifi led from lights to flag for victory in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, converting a reverse-grid pole into his first win of 2018. Disappearing into the distance in the opening laps, Latifi was well ahead of a final-lap battle for second place, which was ultimately won by Carlin’s Lando Norris who was able to hold off Latifi’s DAMS teammate Alexander Albon – who joined the duo on the podium.

    In cold, sunny conditions, Latifi enjoyed a strong getaway at the start as Feature Race winner Nyck de Vries rocketed off the line to swoop from eighth to third by the first corner. Meanwhile, Norris briefly surged ahead of Artem Markelov for fourth before dropping behind the Russian as Albon drew closer, as continued battles down the field made for a frenetic first lap. At the opening of the next lap, Latifi’s lead over second-placed Luca Ghiotto stood at 1.2s.

    Norris was all over Markelov once more by the end of lap 2, and attempted to fire past on the Kemmel Straight – although the RUSSIAN TIME driver was resolute in his defence. The British driver kept pushing, and his persistence was rewarded two laps later as he found his way past on the back straight with DRS, while de Vries cannoned past Ghiotto ahead of them.

    Although de Vries was quick, Latifi was able to extend his lead to 3.1s, while Ghiotto fell into the clutches of Norris and Markelov – both passing the Italian ahead of the race’s midpoint. Albon was next to challenge the Campos driver, having overcome the threat of championship leader George Russell earlier on in the race. A wide moment at Raidillon for Ghiotto on the tenth lap was all Albon needed to charge past, allowing the Thai driver to chase after Markelov.

    Latifi seemed untouchable at the front, and despite de Vries’ best efforts, the Canadian was able to keep his lead completely intact, before beginning to build it up even further in the final five laps. Further down the field, the action raged on; BWT Arden’s Maximilian Gunther had seemingly started to struggle with tyre wear and was easy pickings for the trio of Tadasuke Makino, Louis Delétraz and Arjun Maini before retreating to the pitlane.

    With three laps remaining, de Vries had fallen five seconds behind Latifi and was beginning to drop back towards the chasing Norris. Albon, meanwhile, had passed Markelov to begin his pursuit of Norris – bringing the Russian in tow to set up a thrilling final-lap showdown for the second position. De Vries was in an uncomfortable position as the three cars behind him hunted him down with DRS, and the Prema driver lost places to both Norris and Albon into Les Combes.

    Albon wasn’t quite done and was immediately looking to cruise past Norris into the downhill run to Bruxelles. However, he had to concede defeat as Norris was inch perfect in keeping Albon at bay, and the pair crossed the line 10 seconds behind Latifi. De Vries managed to hang on from the advances of Markelov on the final lap, while Ghiotto was a further 8.7s behind the pair. Russell was seventh, beating Maini who had masterminded a late surge to eighth to dispatch Sergio Sette Camara late on.

    In the Drivers’ Championship, Russell’s lead to Norris has been slashed to just five points, with the leader sitting on 188 points. Albon remains third with 161 points. Carlin continue to lead the Teams’ Championship with 307 points, with ART Grand Prix second on 249. DAMS are third with 216. The next round will take place at Monza, Italy next weekend from the 31 August – 2 September.

  • De Vries surges to pole position at Spa; Arjun Maini bogged down to P15: F2

    Dutchman overcomes deleted time to secure quickest lap in Belgium
    Spa Francorchamps, 23 Aug 2018: Indian racer Arjun Maini is bogged down with technical issues and could only qualify on P15 even as Nyck de Vries produced a scintillating lap to secure pole in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Qualifying Session at Spa in Belgium here on Saturday.
    Setting the fastest middle sector by some margin en route to a 1:56.054 time, the Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing driver watched the final five minutes from the pitwall, and saw his time remain unbeaten as ART Grand Prix’s George Russell will start alongside the Dutch driver in Sunday’s Feature Race. Sergio Sette Camara for Carlin will start third.
    A cool, overcast session began with Trident’s Arjun Maini first out of the blocks, leading Lando Norris, Jack Aitken and Sette Camara onto the circuit for the first round of laps. The honour of setting the first timed lap belonged to de Vries, but the Dutchman immediately hit trouble as his subsequent flying lap of a 1:56.450 was deleted for exceeding track limits. Norris then briefly took the reins, before Russell leapfrogged his championship rival to lead the first half of the session.
    Having lost his time, de Vries sought vengeance and wasted no time in returning to the circuit having pitted for fresh tyres. Rejoining an empty track, thanks to the customary lull in running at the session’s midpoint, de Vries immediately put the hammer down and – thanks to a middle sector almost half a second faster than anyone else – fired his way up to the provisional pole.
    De Vries then retreated to the pits and was left to watch the final five minutes of the session with his team as the rest of the field looked to beat his benchmark. Russell, Norris and Alexander Albon all seemed to be on course to overturn their deficits after each set impressive first sectors, but de Vries’ middle sector was untouchable, leaving all three to find themselves some way adrift.
    Sette Camara then challenged, but the Brazilian’s time was only good enough for third as de Vries began to celebrate with the PREMA engineers with moments left on the clock. His pole position was cemented as Antonio Fuoco came to a stop on the Kemmel Straight, followed in short order by Norris who pulled up at the side of the road on the exit of Pouhon.
    Alongside de Vries, Russell claimed his fifth front-row Feature Race start of the season, with Luca Ghiotto separating the Carlins of Sette Camara and Norris for fourth place. Albon was sixth with Fuoco seventh, while Nirei Fukuzumi enjoyed his best qualifying session in F2 with eighth. Louis Delétraz and Artem Markelov completed the top ten.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 9 – Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – Provisional Qualifying Classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    TIME
    LAPS
    1
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:56.054
    8
    2
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:56.457
    8
    3
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    1:56.594
    8
    4
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:56:611
    10
    5
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    1:56.723
    7
    6
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    1:56.878
    10
    7
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    1:56.930
    9
    8
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    1:57.169
    10
    9
    Louis Delétraz
    Charouz Racing System
    1:57.183
    10
    10
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:57.266
    9
    11
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:57.394
    10
    12
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:57.515
    10
    13
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    1:57.596
    10
    14
    Maximilian Günther
    BWT Arden
    1:57.635
    8
    15
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    1:57.718
    10
    16
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    1:57.754
    10
    17
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:57.773
    10
    18
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:57.878
    10
    19
    Alessio Lorandi
    Trident
    1:58.174
    10
    20
    Dorian Boccolacci
    MP Motorsport
    1:58.338
    11

  • Albon wins Silverstone Feature Race: F2

    Silverstone, 8 July 2018: Alexander Albon took his second FIA Formula 2 Championship victory in the Feature Race at Silverstone, Great Britain, the DAMS driver capitalising on a slow pitstop for polesitter George Russell to clinch the win by 9.783s. ART Grand Prix’s Russell collected a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane en route to second, as Antonio Fuoco of Charouz Racing System collected third place.
    Maintaining his lead at the start, Russell immediately began to build a gap over Albon in the opening stages of the race as he sought to exert control over the pace early on. Behind them, Artem Markelov made an early play for seventh place by passing Arjun Maini into the Maggotts-Becketts complex before closing in on Lando Norris, with Maini remaining in contention.
    Russell grasped the early fastest laps to keep Albon outside of DRS range, building a 1.5 second lead by the third lap, while Louis Deletraz battled teammate Fuoco for third place. Maini – having retaken seventh from Markelov – began to challenge Norris, capitalising on a mistake from the British driver at turn 2 to dive down the inside for sixth. The Indian driver then proceeded to go after Sergio Sette Camara in his pursuit of early progress.
    At the end of lap 6, the leading pack all pitted to trade their worn soft tyres for the harder compound. Cue pitlane dramatics, as a problem with the right-rear wheel gun prompted a slow stop for Russell, gifting the lead to Albon. Russell’s misery was compounded after receiving a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, while his ART teammate Jack Aitken was simultaneously handed the same sanctions.
    Stopping the lap after, Deletraz ended his brief time in the lead and was followed in by Maini and Norris, who both endured miserable pitstops – Norris stalling in the box – to drop down the order. Tadasuke Makino assumed the lead while running the alternate strategy, finding great pace on his hard-compound tyres to build a gap over Ralph Boschung, who occupied second.
    Albon, buoyed by Russell’s penalty, was able to eat into the gap of the drivers yet to stop, clearing Roy Nissany ahead of a mid-race virtual safety car; Nirei Fukuzumi came to a halt on the Hangar Straight, but his stranded car was quickly cleared by the marshals to offer a prompt restart to the race. Losing four seconds from his lead, Makino’s gap to Boschung was slashed – although the Swiss driver was quickly dispatched from second by Albon. Meanwhile, Deletraz was slow to react to the restart, and was under heavy fire from Sergio Sette Camara – whose run on the Charouz driver into Brooklands was impressively batted away.
    Sette Camara found his way through two laps later, clearing Deletraz and immediately setting after Fuoco in his pursuit of a second consecutive podium. Makino gave up the lead to Albon at the end of the 20th lap, who set a fastest lap which preceded a second VSC – Sean Gelael coming together with Norris at Brooklands to end the Indonesian’s day. The VSC period was quickly over, and Albon was able to open the lead to 2.5s.
    Having caught Fuoco, Sette Camara’s day was over after suffering from engine problems, pulling over at the side of the road with his car on fire. Quickly extinguished, the battle behind him on track stayed alight with Ghiotto clearing Deletraz for fourth on the entrance to Luffield – but Deletraz remained in the frame to take the fight to Ghiotto in the closing stages.
    Continuing to open the gap, Albon found almost five seconds in hand over Russell by the end of the race, and the Thai driver crossed the line to grab his second win of 2018. Despite his time penalty, Russell kept a sufficient gap to Fuoco to retain second place.
    Frustrated by Ghiotto’s tough defending, Deletraz passed the Italian driver on the final lap to recoup fourth place, as Markelov ended the day just 0.1s behind the Campos Vexatec Racing driver at the line. De Vries ended the day in seventh, ahead of Maximilian Gunther – who will take reverse-grid pole for tomorrow’s race – as Boschung and Norris completed the scorers.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 7 – Silverstone, Great Britain – Feature Race Provisional Classification
    Driver
    Team
    1
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    2
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    3
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    4
    Louis Delétraz
    Charouz Racing System
    5
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    6
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    7
    Nyck De Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    8
    Maximilian Günther
    BWT Arden
    9
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    10
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    11
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    12
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    13
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    14
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    15
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    16
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    17
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    Not Classified
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    Fastest laptime: George Russell (ART Grand Prix) – 1:44.448 on Lap 28
  • Markelov dominates in Spielberg Sprint Race; secures third win of 2018; Arjun Maini 10th: F2

    Markelov dominates in Spielberg Sprint Race; secures third win of 2018; Arjun Maini 10th: F2

    Artem Markelov wins sprint race at Spielberg on Sunday. An FIA F2 image

    Spielberg, 1 July 2018: Artem Markelov produced a display of dominance in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Spielberg, Austria, leading every lap en route to a third victory of the year; the Russian Time driver crossed the finish line 5.6s clear of ART Grand Prix’s George Russell. Finishing second, Russell assumed the championship lead, as Sergio Sette Camara took third place.

     Indian Racer Arjun Maini of Trident finished 10th.
    In cool, sunny conditions, Markelov led the field away at the start from teammate Tadasuke Makino, quickly leaving the Japanese driver in his wake and under attack from Sette Camara. Meanwhile, Russell – seeking to double up on victories over the Red Bull Ring weekend – quickly dispatched championship rival Lando Norris on the first lap, and then chased after Antonio Fuoco on the following lap to ease past the Charouz Racing System racer.
    Makino, weathering the storm from Sette Camara, started to nibble into Markelov’s lead as Russell continued his progress through the pack – clearing Alexander Albon as Fuoco followed him through. Setting a quick lap to catch Sette Camara, Russell thrust his way past the Brazilian to make the step up into the top three by lap 4. Norris was next to try and pass Albon, but the Carlin driver wasn’t able to make the same progress as Russell and remained glued to the DAMS driver’s gearbox.
    As Markelov stepped up the pace at the front of the field, Makino dropped back into the clutches of Russell, who made light work of the Honda development driver. Russell looked to wind Markelov in, but the Russian had already started to open up a strong lead, building a 2.8s buffer by the end of the ninth lap to give himself some breathing space. Meanwhile, the battle for third started to heat up, with Fuoco now on Sette Camara’s tail – but was unable to capitalise on a chance to overtake him into turn 4.
    Further down the field, Albon found himself conducting a large train of cars, which continued to grow throughout the race as the drivers sought to keep each other within touching distance. Conversely, Markelov continued to extend his advantage over Russell, sitting three-and-a-half seconds ahead by the race’s midpoint, with Makino holding onto third from Sette Camara – now free of the chasing Fuoco.
    Sette Camara then squeezed past Makino to take control of third, leaving him to fight against Fuoco. The Italian attempted a move around the outside of turn 4, but Makino held his nerve and held on, before having to concede defeat a lap later. As tyre degradation started to bite, the closely-collected pack behind Albon began to fight for the lower reaches of the points, Norris making a long-awaited pass on the Thai driver – who promptly reclaimed fifth two laps later as the McLaren reserve driver began to struggle.
    Checking out, Markelov continued to build his advantage over Russell, entering the final five laps with a five-second lead. Although Russell attempted to eat into his lead, Markelov flexed his muscles and kept the British driver in the shade, taking a superbly-managed victory for his third visit to the top step in 2018. Russell finished second, adding to an impressive haul of points across the weekend to take control of the championship lead from Norris, as Sette Camara completed the top three.
    Fuoco, losing time at the end of the race, narrowly finished ahead of Albon – who also cleared Makino as the Japanese driver took sixth. Santino Ferrucci took seventh after a late fight with Nicholas Latifi and Nirei Fukuzumi, as the BWT Arden driver narrowly missed out on the final point.
    As F2 has reached the halfway point of the season, Russell will go into next weekend’s round at Silverstone with 132 points – a 10-point lead over Norris – as Markelov leaps up to third in the championship with 94 points. Carlin continue to lead the teams’ title with 208 points, with ART Grand Prix second on 181. Charouz Racing System move up to third with 126 points – three more than fourth-placed DAMS.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 6 – Spielberg, Austria – Sprint Race Provisional Results
    Driver
    Team
    1
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    2
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    3
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    4
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    5
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    6
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    7
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    8
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    9
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    10
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    11
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    12
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    13
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    14
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    15
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    16
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    17
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    18
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    –
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    –
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
  • Russell tops Free Practice at Spielberg; Maini 17th

    Russell tops Free Practice at Spielberg; Maini 17th

    George Russell tops Round 6 Free Practice on Friday. Image by Zak Mauger / FIA Formula 2

    Spielberg, 29 June 2018: ART Grand Prix’s George Russell opened the FIA Formula 2 Championship round at Spielberg, Austria with the quickest time in Free Practice, setting a 1:14.159 in the first 15 minutes of the session to spend the majority of the running in first place. DAMS’ Alexander Albon slotted into second place, missing out on Russell’s time by two tenths as Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) took third.

    On a fully-dry circuit, after the rain had fallen earlier in the day, Jack Aitken (ART) was first onto the track – quickly followed by compatriots Russell and Lando Norris (Carlin). The first few drivers opened the session with reconnaissance laps, leaving Santino Ferrucci to set the first hot lap. Bringing the pace into the 1m16s, Aitken dumped the American driver out of top spot before Ferrucci reclaimed the early advantage.
    Albon then thrust his way past Ferrucci’s benchmark by over half a second, before Norris became the first man to break into the 1m14s. Control over the session then began to change hands multiple times; Nyck de Vries (PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing) pipped Norris for the top spot before Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) burst past the Dutchman to lead the way. The trio was then put in the shade by Russell, who pumped in the best time of the session at the 15-minute mark to lead proceedings.
    Russell’s lap was under fire from Albon, but the Thai driver couldn’t surpass his championship rival despite a session-best middle sector. Looking to cement his advantage ahead of the pack, Russell began to go even quicker, but ran wide at the penultimate corner and was ultimately unable to improve.
    The timing boards remained stagnant thereafter as the focus switched to race pace, with further drivers getting caught out on the final sector; Artem Markelov (RUSSIAN TIME) hopping over the kerb and briefly becoming airborne, while Aitken was a frequent visitor to the run-off. In the final ten minutes, Nirei Fukuzumi (BWT Arden) came to a stop on the exit of Turn 4, prompting a virtual safety car period which ended any hopes of further improvement from the drivers – Russell remaining at the top of the session.
    Albon and Merhi beat Sette Camara to the top three, as de Vries completed the session fifth ahead of Norris and Antonio Fuoco of Charouz Racing System. Markelov was eighth quickest, with Aitken and BWT Arden’s Maximilian Gunther completing the top ten.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 6 – Spielberg, Austria – Free Practice Classification
    Driver
    Team
    Time
    Laps
    1
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:14.159
    27
    2
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    1:14.321
    25
    3
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    1:14.418
    24
    4
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    1:14.510
    26
    5
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:14.603
    24
    6
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    1:14.631
    24
    7
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    1:14.649
    24
    8
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:14.809
    21
    9
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    1:14.838
    19
    10
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    1:14.845
    25
    11
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    1:14.853
    28
    12
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:14.993
    21
    13
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:15.122
    25
    14
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    1:15.318
    21
    15
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:15.359
    27
    16
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    1:15.401
    26
    17
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    1:15.488
    26
    18
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    1:15.591
    18
    19
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:15.796
    21
    20
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing

  • De Vries charges to first win of 2018 with large margin; F2 Sprint; Arjun Maini 11th

    Le Castellet (France), 24 June 2018: Nyck de Vries was rampant in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Le Castellet, France, storming to his first championship win of 2018. Making a number of crucial overtakes at the beginning of the race, the PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing driver won by 9.6 seconds over second-placed Louis Delétraz, as Luca Ghiotto collected consecutive third place finishes. Indian racer Arjun Maini  of Trident team, finished 13th in Sprint Race.
    Feature Race winner George Russell was immediately thrust out of contention having encountered technical difficulties, before a flurry of unfortunate events preceded the start – Nirei Fukuzumi was unable to pull away for the formation lap, in which Jack Aitken spun and was unable to get going. At the start, polesitter Tadasuke Makino was immediately swamped by the cars around him, falling to fifth as fellow front-row starter Nicholas Latifi assumed control of the lead, with Delétraz, de Vries and Ghiotto slotting in behind the Canadian driver.
    Delétraz immediately displayed a pace advantage over Latifi, winding the lead to within DRS range as de Vries dropped back – giving the Swiss driver free reign to challenge into the Mistral chicane; a lap three attempt to pass served as a reconnaissance mission, with Delétraz taking advantage on the following tour of the circuit to breeze past Latifi for the lead. No sooner had the DAMS driver lost the lead, he had de Vries to contend with as Déletraz scampered up the road from the pair.
    On the sixth lap, Latifi lost out once more at the same corner as de Vries made a successful play for second, immediately working on overturning Delétraz’s advantage – which now stood at 2.3s. Behind them, Makino was in danger of haemorrhaging further positions to the chasing Antonio Fuoco and Sergio Sette Camara, before a mechanical problem left the Japanese driver to retreat to the pitlane. The battle quickly returned to three contenders, as Lando Norris cleared Maximilian Gunther and subsequently charged up to the rear of Sette Camara.
    At the midpoint of the race, de Vries had unlocked further pace from his PREMA car and started to close in on Delétraz with a clear speed advantage over the Charouz driver. Further down the field, Sette Camara was throwing the kitchen sink at Fuoco, who proved to be uncooperative in the Brazilian’s pursuit of progress through the pack. The action continued around the midway mark, Latifi falling further down the order after Ghiotto wrested control of third.
    On lap 13, de Vries was immediately on the back of Delétraz, and the Dutchman forced his way through at turn 5 to seize control of the lead – quickly building a solid buffer to consolidate his position. Sette Camara’s efforts to pass Fuoco were less successful, allowing Norris to enter the frame and peeling his Carlin teammate’s attention away from the back of the Ferrari junior driver.
    Norris then made a move on Sette Camara into the Mistral chicane and, although he faced resistance over the following corners, the British driver retained his position and wrested control of sixth. Meanwhile, de Vries was imperious in the lead, opening a heady advantage to Déletraz – who had begun to struggle, losing time to the chasing Ghiotto.
    With the battle among the front three stagnating, Latifi’s regression through the field left him to fall victim to Fuoco, with Norris next to get the Force India reserve driver in his sights. Making a pass ahead of turn 1, Latifi attempted to regain the slipstream from Norris to switch back, but instead clipped his rear and locked up heavily with front-wing damage to fall down the order.
    Avoiding the various skirmishes behind him, de Vries breezed to victory with almost ten seconds in his pocket over Delétraz, who crossed the line just two-tenths ahead of Ghiotto. Fuoco held on for fourth, with Norris and Sette Camara unable to clear the Charouz driver. Alexander Albon recovered to seventh, with Latifi rounding out the top eight.
    Norris continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship with 104 points, his lead slashed to 11 points by George Russell as Nyck de Vries now occupies third overall with 75 points. Carlin continue their lead of the Teams’ Championship with 172 points, while ART Grand Prix occupy second with 140 – with DAMS sitting third with 105 points.
    The next round will take place from 30 June – 2 July from Spielberg, Austria, with the verdant hills around the Styrian mountains providing a stunning backdrop for what promises to be another thrilling weekend.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 5 – Sprint Race Provisional Classification
    Driver
    Team
    1
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    2
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    3
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    4
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    5
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    6
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    7
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    8
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    9
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    10
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    11
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    12
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    13
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    14
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    15
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    16
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    17
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    18
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    —
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    —
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix

  • Russell, the ART GP driver grabs third F2 win in dry/wet race; Arjun Maini 11th

    La Castellet, 24 June 2018: George Russell produced a stunning drive in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race at Le Castellet, France, overcoming tricky conditions and a late assault from Sergio Sette Camara to clinch his third victory of the season. Carlin’s Sette Camara pushed Russell all the way to the finish, while MP Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi secured his second podium of the year with a third place finish from P15 on the grid.
    Indian racer Arjun Maini of Trident finished 11th.
    With the threat of rain looming, the formation lap got underway with Antonio Fuoco requiring a quick jump-start from a mechanic as the lights turned green, earning himself an immediate stop-go penalty in the process. At the lights, Russell produced an immaculate start to maintain the lead into turn 1, as Sette Camara surged into second ahead of Alexander Albon while both Lando Norris and Artem Markelov stalled on the grid.
    Immediately, rain started to appear, catching a number of drivers out on the opening lap as the track surface quickly became slippery – Nicholas Latifi having a momentary off before Luca Ghiotto suffered from a spin – luckily pirouetting to face the right way. After just three laps, Russell made his advantage at the front clear, opening a 3 second gap to Sette Camara, with Albon remaining in pursuit of the pair.
    With conditions getting more difficult with each passing lap, a number of drivers endured moments off the circuit. Jack Aitken passed Louis Déletraz for fourth place at the start of lap four, but later went off at Signes having lost grip and allowing the Swiss driver to challenge once more – with Nyck de Vries, Sean Gelael and Roberto Merhi joining the same battle. With the cars ahead of him sustaining their own forays off the circuit, Merhi managed to tentatively make his way through the pack – Gelael’s spin bringing out the first virtual safety car.
    At the front, Russell elected to remain on his supersoft tyres, while Norris, Aitken and Roy Nissany made gambles on the wet-weather tyres – Norris and Aitken returning for slicks one lap later as the rain began to clear. With the front two yet to stop, Albon pitted for the medium compound, returning to the circuit sixth before a second VSC period – brought out for the stranded Ralph Boschung, who stopped on the start-finish straight.
    At the end of the VSC, Albon put his fresh tyres to work and set about winding Russell and Sette Camara in. Passing Déletraz, the DAMS driver sustained a mechanical issue which ended his progress and left him to retreat to the pits. This left Sette Camara free to challenge Russell, the former pitting at the end of lap 17 to attempt an undercut on the ART driver’s advantage. Covering him off, Russell collected fresh mediums on the following lap, retaining the lead with a 3.4s advantage – with the yet-to-pit de Vries in third.
    With the stops completed, the pendulum was arguably in Sette Camara’s favour, and the Brazilian clocked a new fastest lap to reel Russell in. The British driver hit back, opening up the lead once more, and the two were left unchallenged at the front after de Vries made his pitstop on lap 24 – having opted for an alternate strategy by starting on the medium tyres. This shuffled Merhi up to third, with de Vries dropping behind Fuoco – who had battled to fifth despite his earlier penalty.
    As the race entered its final five laps, Sette Camara began to turn the screw on Russell, taking chunks out of the race leader’s gap before locking up at the Mistral chicane and carrying on. Having been investigated by the stewards, Sette Camara was deemed not to have gained an advantage, leaving him to bear down on Russell once more in the dying stages.
    On the final lap, Russell managed to avert being within Sette Camara’s DRS range, but struggled to keep him behind; on the final corner, Sette Camara made a last-ditch lunge down the inside, but Russell held on to cross the line to claim his third F2 victory, Sette Camara having to be content with second on his return from injury. Merhi, having kept his nose clean in the early stages, clinched third – albeit 32 seconds further behind – while Ghiotto shook off his early spin to finish in fourth.
    Fuoco took fifth place from de Vries – who claimed the fastest lap – with Louis Deletraz leaving the Dutchman in a Charouz Racing System sandwich, while Nicholas Latifi claimed eighth place at the death from Tadasuke Makino; the RUSSIAN TIME driver made a move on Latifi on the final lap at the Mistral chicane, but the Canadian refused to give up and streaked past Makino on the outside of turn 10 to clinch reverse-grid pole for tomorrow’s Sprint race, as Nirei Fukuzumi captured the final point.
    With further chances of rain in tomorrow’s race, and with many of the championship’s front-runners occupying places further down the grid, there’s certainly everything to play for on Sunday morning.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 5 – Le Castellet, France – Feature Race
    Driver
    Team
    1
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    2
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    3
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    4
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    5
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    6
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    7
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    8
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    9
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    10
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    11
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    12
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    13
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    14
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    15
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    16
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    17
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    —
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    —
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    —
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing

  • F2: Artem Markelov scores stunning victory in feature race; Arjun Maini finishes fifth

    Monte Carlo, 25 May 2018: Artem Markelov produced a masterclass performance in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race at the Circuit de Monaco, as the RUSSIOAN TIME driver weathered drama and a pair of safety car periods to secure victory by 10.7 seconds over Sean Gelael. The PREMA driver took advantage of the alternate strategy to take second, as Roberto Merhi did likewise to grab the final podium place available.

    Nineteen cars took to the grid after Sergio Sette Camara was ruled unfit to start following his incident in Thursday’s qualifying session. In a hot, humid Monte Carlo, the race was put on ice almost immediately after the start; the safety car was brought out after Luca Ghiotto was helped into the wall by Antonio Fuoco off the line, as polesitter Alexander Albon preserved his lead of the race from Nyck de Vries and Markelov. Once Ghiotto’s stricken Campos Vexatec Racing car was cleared, Albon dictated the restart to remain ahead of de Vries, while Markelov was left to fend off from Arjun Maini after Fuoco was quickly handed a drive-through penalty.

    De Vries began to throw the kitchen sink at Albon, before yellow flags flooded the Rascasse hairpin for George Russell, who hit the wall having botched an overtake on Nirei Fukuzumi. With the threat of a safety car – which remained off-track after the ART Grand Prix car was quickly put out of harm’s way – the supersoft runners began to filter into the pits; Lando Norris, Gelael, Louis Delétraz and Merhi peppering the pitlane with stops for soft tyres.

    Norris then brought out a second safety car on lap 13, attempting an overtake on Ralph Boschung at the Anthony Noghes corner and bundling the Swiss driver into the wall – Norris earning a drive-through as a result. Subsequently, leading pair Albon and de Vries both attempted to pit under the safety car; the two found the pitlane entry too tight for both cars and collided – Albon ending up facing the wrong direction and de Vries sustaining damage.

    The end of the safety car period shuffled Markelov to the front of the field, and he began to fire in a series of hot laps to build a gap over Maini. De Vries, the lead runner to have completed their mandatory stop, lost eighth to teammate Gelael before haemorrhaging a further raft of positions – the Dutchman calling it a day after 20 tours of the circuit. This left Gelael as Markelov’s benchmark as he sought to build a gap ahead of his own pitstop.

    Dropping the hammer, Markelov had preserved sufficient life in his soft tyres to open the gap up to Gelael, eking out as much time as possible to complete his stop. Behind him, Fuoco, Aitken and Fukuzumi all blinked first, pitting while Markelov was setting further hot laps. With his lapped teammate Tadasuke Makino looming larger in his sights, Markelov came in for supersofts at the end of lap 34, crucially emerging ahead of Gelael.

    Gelael had soon slashed the deficit to two seconds as Markelov needed time to bring his tyres up to temperature, but the Russian soon took advantage of his softer-compound rubber to light the timing boards up with best sectors, opening up his advantage to cross the line with a 10.7s advantage over the Indonesian. Having also pit before the safety car on the alternate strategy, Merhi capped off a well-managed drive to clinch third – he and Gelael claiming their first F2 podium finishes.

    Having also benefitted from the option-prime strategy, Louis Delétraz swept home in fourth for his first points of the season, while Maini emerged ahead of Norris after his stop to grab fifth. Jack Aitken was seventh, while Fuoco recovered from his drive-through to eighth. Nicholas Latifi, having stopped the latest of anyone, clinched ninth from the final row of the grid, while Fukuzumi beat BWT Arden teammate Maximilian Günther to 10th.

    Fuoco will start Saturday’s Sprint Race from eighth position and, without mandatory pitstops to make, drivers will undoubtedly have to take more risks to progress through the field. With the streets of Monaco keen to punish the slightest mistake, Saturday’s race promises to be just as exciting.

    Albon handed grid penalty for Sprint Race

    Following today’s FIA Formula 2 Feature Race, Alexander Albon was found guilty of causing a collision. When entering the pit lane for his mandatory pit stop, the DAMS driver collided with Nyck de Vries, who was making his entrance to the pits at the same time. The contact sent Albon into a spin, before he later retired from the race. The Dutchman from PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing also stopped his run a few laps later, his car sustaining damage after the collision.

    As a consequence, Albon was handed a five-place grid drop for tomorrow’s Sprint Race in Monaco. He will henceforth start from last position.

  • Albon grabs third successive pole in Monaco qualifying, beating de Vries by 100th of a second  

    Monaco, 24 May 2018: Alexander Albon took his third consecutive pole position in an action-packed FIA Formula 2 Championship qualifying session at Monte Carlo here on Thursday. The DAMS driver clocked a 1:21.727 lap to stave off Nyck de Vries by 0.01s for the fastest time while Artem Markelov (Russian Time) will start from third in tomorrow’s feature race. Indian racer Arjun Maini who clocked fourth fastest in the second group of the split qualifying session for an overall 8th. He will start in P8 and will be looking to turn the trend of the past couple of races.
    Group A Qualifying session
     Qualifying was split into two groups, with Santino Ferrucci leading the first half of the field out onto the circuit, with Markelov and Lando Norris in hot pursuit. Norris soon passed the pair to record the first flying lap, Jack Aitken challenging his compatriot’s time, but the pack soon retreated to the pits to put on sets of fresh supersoft tyres.
    Markelov – one of the first to make the switch to new tyres – beat Norris’ time, but the Carlin driver seemed destined to put the Russian in the shade with a pair of purple opening sectors. However, the Brit hit the wall on the exit of the Piscine complex, breaking his front wing and ending his hopes of securing pole position. Ferrucci briefly led the session before Markelov reclaimed top spot, the RUSSIAN TIME driver looking busy at the steering wheel throughout the lap.
    Albon then hurled his way to the head of the timesheets, overcoming Markelov’s benchmark by a tenth to grab first place – the Thai driver’s time holding firm in the final stages of the session.
    Group B Qualifying session
    The second group then took to the circuit moments later, Arjun Maini first on scene ahead of George Russell and Sergio Sette Camara – Maini opening with the first flying lap. Sette Camara challenged with a quick first sector, but the Trident driver’s time was ultimately beaten by de Vries before the mid-session pitstop phase.
    Once the field had collected new tyres, Sette Camara dipped below de Vries’ time before the Dutchman attempted to charge back, but came across a slow Luca Ghiotto while on a quick lap. Undeterred, de Vries used the next lap to surge to the top of the timesheets of the second group, just one hundredth of a second behind Albon’s previous benchmark. With little chance of anyone improving, the second session came to an abrupt end with moments left on the clock after Sette Camara hit the wall at turn 1 to bring out a red flag.
    With the results aggregated, Albon and de Vries occupy the front row, with Markelov starting alongside Sette Camara behind them. Antonio Fuoco starts from fifth, ahead of countryman Luca Ghiotto. Maximilian Günther and Arjun Maini start tomorrow’s race from seventh and eighth, while Ferrucci and Ralph Boschung complete the top ten.
    As the current title contenders are dispersed among the grid, and with the potential for a drama-filled event, tomorrow’s race promises to provide plenty of intrigue amid the streets of Monte Carlo.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 4 Qualifying – Monte Carlo, Monaco
    Group A
    Driver
    Team
    Time
    Laps
    1
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    1:21.727
    9
    2
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:21.834
    11
    3
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    1:21.948
    10
    4
    Maximilian Günther
    BWT Arden
    1:22.194
    10
    5
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    1:22.408
    10
    6
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    1:22.569
    11
    7
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    1:22.597
    11
    8
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:22.654
    11
    9
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    1:22.663
    7
    10
    Roy Nissany
    Carlin
    1:23.796
    10
    Group B
    1
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:21.737
    10
    2
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    1:21.901
    10
    3
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:22.241
    10
    4
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    1:22.263
    10
    5
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    1:22.307
    10
    6
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:22.420
    9
    7
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    1:22.707
    9
    8
    Louis Delétraz
    Charouz Racing System
    1:22.717
    10
    9
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:22.977
    11
    10
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:23.157
    10