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Formula 2 has been without competition for nearly three months. The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds caused by the war in the Middle East froze the championship after just one round in Melbourne. But what happened in Australia was more than enough to keep the conversation alive, and what the teams are preparing in their garages for Monaco in June promises to be explosive.
The championship after Melbourne
Nikola Tsolov left Australia with the victory and the championship lead. The 19 year old Bulgarian turned the Rodin teammates’ collision Dunne and Stenshorne into the biggest story of his career: the first Bulgarian driver to win in Formula 2. He holds 25 points and a seven-point lead over Rafael Câmara, the F3 champion who aims to be the third consecutive driver to win both F3 and F2 with Invicta.
The championship is completely open. Câmara has Ferrari backing and the structure of the team that won the last two titles. Laurens van Hoepen of Trident shares second on 18 points. Ritomo Miyata is fourth and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak fifth. With 11 rounds to go, no one can sleep comfortably.
The biggest story: Herta is betting everything
This week in Europe’s paddocks, the conversation about Colton Herta remains as intense as when the season began. The American walked away from nine victories in eight IndyCar seasons to enter F2 with Hitech his sole mission: securing the four Superlicence points he needs to race in F1 with Cadillac.
His Melbourne debut was bittersweet a complicated practice and a self-graded “C minus” but he finished seventh and scored his first points. He needs a top-eight championship finish. With 11 rounds ahead, he is on track, but with zero margin for error.|
The big question before Monaco
Teams have been running the simulator for weeks. Monaco is the most atypical circuit on the calendar it doesn’t favour the fastest, but the smartest. Câmara won in the Principality during his F3 season. Tsolov has never raced there in F2. Herta faces his first major test on a track where experience matters as much as pace.
F2 returns June 4th. The championship is on pause. The ambitions are not.
Sources: FIA Formula 2 official, Formula1.com, Motorsport.com, FeederSeries, Formula Scout, SI.com, Crash.net, AutoHebdo
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