Racing Refresher: The Importance Of Formula 2

Two more weeks, do you realize that there are just two weeks left before international motorsport gets well and truly underway? No disrespect to WRC, Formula E and the Dakar Rally, but it really isn’t a motorsport season until an F1 race starts. 

It isn’t just F1 that gets started on July 5, however. Its two support series - Formula 2 and Formula 3 - will be running with its opening eight races too. Formula 2 is the final step in the ladder that takes a racing driver to F1, and there will be a promising Indian driver competing in it. So allow us to give you a lowdown on the FIA Formula 2 Championship leading up to its opening weekend. 

What is it?

Formula 2 is a single chassis make, single engine supplier, single tyre manufacturer….single (you get the drift) seater, open wheel series that has a history as long as Formula 1 itself. 

After the end of World War 2, grand prix racing returned with a couple of important new additions. Two formulas of regulations to which a grand prix car would be built (technical regulations) and raced (sporting regulations). Formula 1 and Formula 2 were written into the FIA’s rulebooks, with F1 being the apex single seat racing series. F2 was the more affordable of the two, to the point that in 1952 and 1953, when there were not enough entrants on the F1 grid, the world championship was run to F2 regulations. 

Since then F2 has been through some changes before its current avatar. Often sharing the same grid with F1 entrants, the series ran until 1984, after which it was replaced by the FIA Formula 3000 Championship.

Formula 3000 got replaced by the GP2 Series from 2005 until 2016. GP2 along with GP3 was an initiative by F1's former commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone, who was toying with the idea of starting a rival racing series to F1 called GP1. GP2 and GP3 were meant to be the supporting bill but Ecclestone's plan was more blustre than reality. 

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In 2017 we finally got to the current FIA Formula 2 Championship. Along with the Formula 3 championship, F2 now serves as a finishing school for an aspiring F1 driver. 

Much like how MotoGP has Moto3 and then Moto2 leading up to the Premier Class, which is where you get to see the likes of Marquez and Rossi do battle. 

How is it run?

F2 uses the same racing format as the erstwhile GP2 Series, in which drivers would have a 45 minute practice session followed by a 30 minute qualifying session on the Friday of a race weekend. The result of the qualifying session decides the grid for the feature race on Saturday, which runs to a distance of 180km. Drivers need to complete one compulsory pit stop and run at least one set of each dry weather tyre specification. 

The top eight finishers of the feature race start Sunday’s Sprint Race in the reverse order of where they finished the Feature Race. The Sprint Race is run to a distance of 120km, thereby making the total race distance for a weekend 300km.

The top ten finishers of a Feature Race get awarded points the same way the top ten finishers of an F1 race do; 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

Only the top eight finishers of a Sprint Race get awarded points; 15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. In addition to this, a driver gets awarded four points for scoring pole position for the Feature Race and two points for the fastest lap in the Feature and Sprint Race. 

This format is meant to test drivers’ ability to both lead from the front as well as charge through the field. 

With F1 due for a major technical and possible sporting overhaul in 2022, it isn’t clear what form F2 will take in the future. Its role as a showcase for future F1 talent is likely to remain intact.