2023 Melbourne Formula 2 round
| Round details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 3 of 13 in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| File:Albert Park Circuit 2021.svg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Albert Park Circuit Melbourne, Australia |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course | Temporary street circuit 5.278 km (3.280 mi) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sprint Race | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Feature Race | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2023 Melbourne FIA Formula 2 round was a motor racing event held between 31 March and 2 April 2023 at the Albert Park Circuit. It was the third round of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship and was held in support of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Contents
Report
Background
The FIA Formula 2 championship made its debut in Australia alongside fellow feeder series, FIA Formula 3 Championship, supporting the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit.[1]
Championship standings before the round
Going into the round, Ralph Boschung led the Driver's standings for the first time in his career with 33 points, just by a single point ahead of Théo Pourchaire, who failed to score any points during the previous round in Jeddah. However, Ayumu Iwasa elevated three places up to third, with a total of 31 points and just two points behind Boschung.[2]
Campos Racing retained its lead in the Teams' standings, having scored a total of 51 points, with ART Grand Prix just a further two points adrift in second place. DAMS climbed up to third with 44 points, just one point ahead of reigning Teams' Champion MP Motorsport, which improved from sixth to fourth.[3]
Qualifying
The F2 qualifying took part in tricky conditions and had to be red-flagged twice. Initially, Oliver Bearman and Jak Crawford caused the first red flag by damaging their cars in separate incidents, but both drivers were able to continue the session. However, Ayumu Iwasa set the first proper benchmark by setting a time within the 1:46-mark to have a comfortable gap to the rest of the field with the session halfway over. Even though several drivers went for improvements for their last run, Iwasa was unbeatable as he set a time of 1:45.116, more than six tenths clear of both ART drivers Théo Pourchaire and Victor Martins, with the latter crashing his car into the barrier on turn 8 to bring out the red flag with two minutes remaining, cementing the final classification and, ultimately, Iwasa's third pole position in his Formula 2 career.[4]
Sprint Race
Drama already occurred before the race even started, when Ralph Boschung and Enzo Fittipaldi both gone off the track at turn 8, leaving both drivers being not able to start the Sprint Race. Polesitter Dennis Hauger got a great getaway at the start despite Jak Crawford trying to overtake the Norwegian driver around the outside of turn 11, but Hauger was able to defend. With increasing duration, Hauger and Crawford both were able to pull a gap from the remaining grid, whilst Arthur Leclerc and Kush Maini had a fierce battle for third place alongside a fierce midfield battle involving previous race winner, Frederik Vesti. On lap 14, the Safety Car came out as local hero Jack Doohan spun out of contention on the exit of turn 4. Due to slightly falling rain midway through the race, some drivers decided to gamble and used the SC period in order to pit for a new set of wet tyres, such as Roman Staněk and Théo Pourchaire, which eventually turned out to be a wrong decision. The race resumed with three laps to go, but the top 8 remained unchanged, meaning that Hauger took the checkered flag to win his third Formula 2 race ahead of Crawford and Maini (both drivers took their respective maiden F2 podium). The remaining points finishers were Leclerc, Maloney, Hadjar, Bearman and Vesti.[5]
Feature Race
Ayumu Iwasa, who took pole position earlier the weekend, managed to get a brilliant getaway from Théo Pourchaire and Victor Martins and was able to maintain the lead until at least the first Safety Car period occurring on lap 7, when Jak Crawford hit the barrier at turn 11 after a collision with Jack Doohan. Most of the drivers used the Safety Car being called out by pitting for fresher rubber. Notably, Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar collided on the pit lane after an unsafe release from the Prema team, giving Bearman a five-second time-penalty in the process. Over the course of the race, the top three were able to charge their way to the top again, whilst other drivers such as Frederik Vesti made the alternative strategy work by pitting under safety car conditions with seven laps remaining. Roy Nissany caused the second SC period by crashing into the wall out of turn 3. Just one lap later, Enzo Fittipaldi, who had pitted just a few moments earlier, crashed on the same spot as Nissany did after suffering a rear-left suspension failure. When the race resumed and the Safety Car went in, further drama took place on the front as Dennis Hauger (at the moment being in third place) had been hit by Victor Martins, for which the latter received a ten-second time-penalty after Hauger ultimately dropped out of contention. However, Vesti had a chance to challenge Arthur Leclerc for third place, but it was not enough as Leclerc's teammate Iwasa crossed the line to become the first repeat winner of the season, with Pourchaire and Leclerc completing the podium ahead of Vesti. The remaining points finishers were Maloney, Daruvala, Verschoor, Doohan, Maini and Correa finishing in tenth after Staněk received a time penalty. Not only Leclerc took his maiden podium in FIA F2, Iwasa also took the lead in the Drivers' Standings by winning the Feature Race, leading by eight points over Pourchaire.[6]
Classification
Qualifying
Notes:
- ^1 – Isack Hadjar received a three-place grid drop for Saturday's Sprint Race for impeding Roman Staněk during Qualifying.[8]
Sprint race
Notes:
- ^1 – Théo Pourchaire retired from the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
- ^2 – Ralph Boschung and Enzo Fittipaldi both had spun off on their way to the grid prior to the race. As a consequence, both were not able to take part in the Sprint Race.
Feature Race
Notes:
- ^1 – Roman Staněk originally finished tenth, but was later given a five-second time-penalty for overtaking Kush Maini under Safety Car conditions, dropping him out of the points to fourteenth.[9]
- ^2 – Oliver Bearman received a ten-second time-penalty for failing to serve a five-second time-penalty correctly.[9]
- ^3 – Victor Martins received a ten-second time-penalty for causing a collision with Dennis Hauger.[9]
- ^4 – Dennis Hauger retired from the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Standings after the event
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
Notes
- ↑ The Sprint Race was scheduled to be run for 23 laps, but was shortened to 22 laps due to the maximum race time being reached after multiple Safety Car periods.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
| Previous round: 2023 Jeddah Formula 2 round |
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2023 season |
Next round: 2023 Baku Formula 2 round |
| Previous round: None |
Melbourne Formula 2 round | Next round: 2024 Melbourne Formula 2 round |
