2019 Formula 2 Championship
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The 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship was the fifty-third season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also third season under the moniker of FIA Formula 2 Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula 2 cars that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It is an open-wheel racing category that serves as the second tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category was run in support of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
George Russell was the reigning drivers' champion, having won the title at the final round of the 2018 championship in Abu Dhabi. Russell would drive in Formula One for Williams in 2019.[1][a] Carlin were the reigning teams' champions, having secured their first Formula 2 title in Abu Dhabi. ART Grand Prix driver Nyck de Vries won the drivers' championship after the win in the Feature race at Sochi. In the teams' championship DAMS secured their first team title over UNI-Virtuosi Racing after the win in the Feature race at Abu Dhabi.
The season was marred by the death of French driver Anthoine Hubert during the feature race of the Spa-Francorchamps round on 31 August 2019. Hubert's death was the first fatality for a driver competing in FIA-sanctioned feeder series racing since Henry Surtees's fatal crash at Brands Hatch in 2009 in the FIA Formula Two Championship.
The Formula One theme song composed by Brian Tyler, which debuted in the 2018 F1 season, would now be used in Formula 2 broadcasts.
The season would see 8 different winners, with the top three in the championship, De Vries, Nicholas Latifi, and Luca Ghiotto, each winning 4 races. 3 races were won by Jack Aitken, and 2 races were won by Hubert, Sérgio Sette Câmara, and Nobuharu Matsushita. The only other race winner was rookie Mick Schumacher.
Entries[edit]
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2019 championship. As the championship is a spec series, all competitors raced with an identical Dallara F2 2018 chassis with a V6 turbo engine developed by Mecachrome. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.
| Entrant | No. | Driver name | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
 Carlin
|
1 |  Louis Delétraz
|
All |
| 2 |  Nobuharu Matsushita
|
All | |
 ART Grand Prix
|
3 |  Nikita Mazepin
|
All |
| 4 |  Nyck de Vries
|
All | |
| DAMS
|
5 |  Sérgio Sette Câmara
|
All |
| 6 |  Nicholas Latifi
|
All | |
| UNI-Virtuosi Racing
|
7 |  Guanyu Zhou
|
All |
| 8 |  Luca Ghiotto
|
All | |
| Prema Racing
|
9 |  Mick Schumacher
|
All |
| 10 |  Sean Gelael
|
All | |
 Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
|
11 | Callum Ilott
|
All |
| 12 |  Juan Manuel Correa
|
1–9 | |
| Matevos Isaakyan
|
11–12 | ||
 Campos Racing
|
14 |  Dorian Boccolacci
|
1–5 |
 Arjun Maini
|
6–8 | ||
| Marino Sato
|
9–12 | ||
| 15 | Jack Aitken
|
All | |
| MP Motorsport
|
16 | Jordan King
|
1–3, 5–12 |
| Artem Markelov
|
4 | ||
| 17 | Mahaveer Raghunathan[b]
|
1–5, 7–12 | |
| Pato O'Ward[c]
|
6 | ||
| BWT Arden
|
18 |  Tatiana Calderón
|
All |
| 19 | Anthoine Hubert
|
1–9 | |
| 22 | Artem Markelov[d]
|
11–12 | |
| Trident
|
20 | Giuliano Alesi[e]
|
All |
| 21 | Ralph Boschung
|
1–5, 8–9, 11 | |
| Ryan Tveter
|
6 | ||
| Dorian Boccolacci
|
7 | ||
 Christian Lundgaard
|
12 | ||
| Source:[2][6][3][7][8][9] | |||
Team changes[edit]
Russian Time left the championship after six years competing in Formula 2 and its predecessor, the GP2 Series. Their entry and assets were sold to Virtuosi Racing, who had operated the team. The new entry competes under the name "UNI-Virtuosi Racing".[10][11] Fortec Motorsports had been granted an entry to the Formula 2 grid in 2018, but were later given permission to defer their entry until 2019.[12] However, they were subsequently omitted from the draft entry list for the 2019 championship.[2]
Arden International entered into a partnership with Mercedes-affiliated team HWA Racelab.[13] Charouz Racing System formed a partnership with Sauber Motorsport, which currently runs Alfa Romeo's team in Formula 1.[2] The Sauber-Charouz partnership is not affiliated with Alfa Romeo's Formula 1 entry.
Driver changes[edit]
Lando Norris left Carlin and the series as he was promoted to Formula 1 with McLaren.[14] His seat was taken by Louis Delétraz, who left Charouz Racing System to join the team.[15] He was joined by Nobuharu Matsushita, who returned to Formula 2 after a year spent racing in the Super Formula Championship, to replace Sérgio Sette Câmara.[16]
Sette Câmara left Carlin to replace Alexander Albon at DAMS.[17] Albon left the championship to join Formula 1 team Toro Rosso.[18]
Arden drivers Nirei Fukuzumi and Maximilian Günther left the series. Fukuzumi moved to the Super Formula Championship with Dandelion Racing,[19] while Günther joined the Formula E championship with Dragon Racing.[20] Reigning GP3 Series champion Anthoine Hubert and GP3 Series regular Tatiana Calderón joined Arden in their place.[21]
Artem Markelov and Tadasuke Makino left Russian Time and the championship.[22] Both drivers moved to Japan to compete in the Super Formula Championship; Markelov joined Team LeMans while Makino joined Nakajima Racing.[19][23] Guanyu Zhou graduated from the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship, joining Russian Time's successors UNI-Virtuosi.[24] Zhou was partnered by Luca Ghiotto, who raced with Russian Time in 2017 and Campos Racing in 2018.[25]
Nikita Mazepin joined the championship with ART Grand Prix, the team he drove for when he finished runner-up in the 2018 GP3 Series.[26] Mazepin was partnered with Nyck de Vries, who left Prema Racing to join the team.[27] Mazepin and de Vries replaced 2018 series champion George Russell—who left the team and the championship to join Formula 1 team Williams—and Jack Aitken, who switched to Campos Racing.[1][28] Prema Theodore Racing named Mick Schumacher as de Vries' replacement. Schumacher continued his association with the team after he won the 2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship with them.[29]
Arjun Maini left Trident and the series to join RLR MSport in the European Le Mans Series.[30] Giuliano Alesi joined the championship with Trident, the team he raced for in the GP3 Series.[31] He was joined by Ralph Boschung, who left MP Motorsport before the Sochi round in 2018. Dorian Boccolacci also left MP Motorsport, joining Jack Aitken at Campos Racing.[32] Jordan King returned to the series with MP Motorsport, contesting the championship alongside his part-time NTT IndyCar Series campaign. Mahaveer Raghunathan returned to full-time competition for the first time since 2016, partnering King at MP Motorsport.[33] Callum Ilott and Juan Manuel Correa joined the series, both signing with Sauber Junior Team by Charouz.[2] Antonio Fuoco left Charouz and the series to join Formula One team Ferrari as a test driver.
- Mid-season changes
Artem Markelov made a one-off return in Monaco as a replacement for Jordan King at MP Motorsport, who was competing in the 2019 Indianapolis 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.[34] After collecting twelve penalty points on his racing license for incurring three Virtual Safety Car infringements during the Paul Ricard feature race, Mahaveer Raghunathan was banned from the series for the Red Bull Ring round.[35] Raghunathan's MP seat was filled in Austria by 2018 Indy Lights champion and 2019 IndyCar Series driver Patricio O'Ward.[3]
Shortly after the Paul Ricard round, Arjun Maini was announced to be replacing Dorian Boccolacci at Campos Racing for the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone rounds.[36] Marino Sato replaced Maini prior to the Spa round.[37]
After encountering funding problems, Ralph Boschung left Trident prior to the Red Bull Ring round. Former GP3 driver Ryan Tveter joined the team in Boschung's place.[38] Tveter was later replaced by Boccolacci. Boschung returned to the team ahead of the Hungarian round.[8]
BWT Arden was represented only by Tatiana Calderón at Monza after Anthoine Hubert's fatal accident.[39] Juan Manuel Correa, who was also involved in the incident, was forced to miss the rest of the season due to injuries.[40] Sauber Junior Team by Charouz did not replace him at Monza, running only Callum Ilott. Giuliano Alesi's car was impounded by Belgian authorities as part of their investigation into the accident at Spa, limiting Trident to a single entry for the next round. Ralph Boschung was stood down to allow Alesi to compete.[4]
For the Sochi and Yas Marina rounds, Matevos Isaakyan, who raced in the 2018 European Le Mans Series, took Juan Manuel Correa's seat at Sauber Junior Team by Charouz.[41] Artem Markelov replaced Anthoine Hubert at BWT Arden for the same rounds, although the Russian raced with #22 as the #19 had been retired for the remainder of the season in honour of the late French driver.[42]
Calendar[edit]
The following twelve rounds were scheduled to take place as part of the 2019 championship. Round 9 was abandoned. Each round consisted of two races: a Feature race, which was run over 170 km (105.6 mi) and included a mandatory pit stop; and a Sprint race, which was run over 120 km (75 mi) and did not require drivers to make a pit stop.[f] The 2019 calendar retained the same twelve rounds from the 2018 season.
| Round | Circuit | Sprint race | Feature race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir
|
30 March | 31 March |
| 2 |  Baku City Circuit, Baku
|
27 April | 28 April |
| 3 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
|
11 May | 12 May |
| 4 |  Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
|
24 May | 25 May |
| 5 | Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
|
22 June | 23 June |
| 6 |  Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
|
29 June | 30 June |
| 7 | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
|
13 July | 14 July |
| 8 |  Hungaroring, Mogyoród
|
3 August | 4 August |
| 9 |  Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot
|
31 August | 1 September |
| 10 | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza
|
7 September | 8 September |
| 11 | Sochi Autodrom, Sochi
|
28 September | 29 September |
| 12 |  Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
|
30 November | 1 December |
| Source:[43] | |||
Results[edit]
Season summary[edit]
Championship standings[edit]
Scoring system[edit]
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points were awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race as the grid for the sprint race were based on the results of the feature race with the top eight drivers having their positions reversed.
- Feature race points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole | FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
- Sprint race points
Points were awarded to the top eight classified finishers, excluding the fastest lap points which are given to the top ten classified finishers.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Drivers' championship[edit]
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Notes:
- † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Teams' championship[edit]
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Notes:
- † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Notes[edit]
- ^ Under the series' sporting regulations, the defending drivers' champion is not permitted to continue racing in the championship, so Russell would not be able to defend his title.
- ^ Mahaveer Raghunathan is an Indian driver competing under a Dutch license.[2]
- ^ Pato O'Ward is a Mexican driver competing under an American license.[3]
- ^ Artem Markelov raced with #22 when the team retired #19.
- ^ At Monza, Alesi drove the car which had previously been driven by Ralph Boschung after Alesi's car was impounded by Belgian authorities as part of their investigation into the accident at Spa-Francorchamps which resulted in the death of Anthoine Hubert. Despite this, Alesi ran with his usual number of 20.[4][5]
- ^ The Feature and Sprint races are time-certain. In the event that the full race distance cannot be completed, the Feature race will end after one hour and the Sprint race after forty-five minutes.
- ^ Nobuharu Matsushita set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Jack Aitken was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Luca Ghiotto set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Sérgio Sette Câmara was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Sean Gelael set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Nicholas Latifi was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
- ^ Nyck de Vries and Sérgio Sette Câmara recorded identical lap times (1:18.159), but de Vries set it earlier, so he was recognised as the fastest lap holder.
- ^ The race session was stopped on lap 2 and was not resumed, after a heavy accident involving Anthoine Hubert, Juan Manuel Correa, Giuliano Alesi and Marino Sato.[45] With less than two laps completed, regulations dictated that no points would be awarded.[46] No race results were published, and the race was declared abandoned.
- ^ The sprint race was cancelled following the death of Anthoine Hubert the previous day in the feature race.[47]
- ^ Mick Schumacher set the fastest lap, but did not finish in the top 10, so was ineligible to be the point-scorer for the fastest lap. Luca Ghiotto was the point-scorer instead for setting the fastest lap of those finishing in the top 10.
References[edit]
- ^ a b "George Russell joins Williams for Formula 1 2019". skysports.com. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d e "2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship ENTRY LIST Bahrain". fia.com. FIA. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ a b c "2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship ENTRY LIST Spielberg". fia.com. FIA. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ a b Larkam, Lewis (4 September 2019). "Trident to run one car at Monza due to Hubert crash investigation". crash.net. Crash Media Group. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
- ^ "04.09.19 - Edition 10 F2 Entry List". fia.com. FIA. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ "2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship ENTRY LIST Monaco". fia.com. FIA. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ "11.07.19 - Edition 7 F2 Entry List". fia.com. FIA. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- ^ a b "28.07.19 - Edition 8 F2 Entry List". fia.com. FIA. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ "24.09.19 - Edition 11 F2 Entry List". fia.com. FIA. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
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- ^ Benyon, Jack (25 November 2018). "Russian Time sells Formula 2 team". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
- ^ Kalinauckas, Alex (24 February 2018). "Fortec Formula 2 entry on hold for one year". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ "Arden International Motorsport and HWA Racelab to initiate Formula 2 co-operation". fiaformula2.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ^ "Lando Norris to drive for McLaren in 2019". McLaren. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
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- ^ Thukral, Rachit (26 November 2018). "Matsushita makes F2 return with Carlin". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ Allen, Peter (14 December 2018). "Sergio Sette Camara completes DAMS move for 2019 F2 campaign". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Allen, Peter (26 November 2018). "Alex Albon to race in Formula 1 for Toro Rosso in 2019". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ a b Klein, Jamie (19 November 2018). "Honda to switch F2 racers Fukuzumi, Makino to Super Formula in 2019". Autosport. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^ Smith, Sam (7 November 2018). "Guenther to Join Lopez at Dragon". e-racing365.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ "Anthoine Hubert joins BWT Arden for 2019 season". fiaformula2.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 23 January 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ Gillard, Aaron (14 November 2018). "Artem Markelov to bow out from FIA Formula 2 after Abu Dhabi finale". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. The Checkered Flag. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Thukral, Rachit (7 February 2019). "F2 frontrunner Artem Markelov switches to Super Formula for 2019". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ Allen, Peter (5 December 2018). "Guan Yu Zhou steps up to F2 with UNI-Virtuosi". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ Horton, Phillip (6 December 2018). "Luca Ghiotto completes UNI-Virtuosi's F2 driver line-up". motorsportweek.com. Motorsport Media Services. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (27 November 2018). "Mazepin earns F2 promotion with ART". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Allen, Peter (28 November 2018). "Nyck de Vries makes ART switch for 2019 F2 season". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ "Jack Aitken switches to Campos Racing". fiaformula2.com. Formula Motorsport Limited. 7 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (27 November 2018). "Schumacher joins F2 2019 grid with Prema". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ "RLR MSport welcomes India's Arjun Maini to 2019 ELMS and 24 Hours of Le Mans line-up". European Le Mans Series. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ Klein, Jamie (7 December 2018). "Alesi steps up to F2 with Trident". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (22 March 2019). "Boccolacci joins Renault junior Aitken in Campos's 2019 F2 line-up". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (22 March 2019). "2019 F2 field set as Jordan King rejoins MP Motorsport squad". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Allen, Peter. "Artem Markelov returns to F2 for Monaco as substitute for Jordan King". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
- ^ Lumb, Tim (23 June 2019). "Raghunathan race ban tops Paul Ricard F2 and F3 penalty list". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ "Arjun Msini returns to F2 with Campos Racing". FIA Formula 2 Championship. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (27 August 2019). "Campos signs fourth different driver of 2019". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
- ^ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (27 June 2019). "Tveter to make F2 debut with Trident". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ Benyon, Jack (1 September 2019). "Hubert's Arden team to run single F2 car at Monza". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ Malsher, David (2 September 2019). "Correa begins recovery after horror shunt at Spa". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
- ^ Costa, Massimo (17 September 2019). "Isaakyan a Sochi e Yas Marina, debutto in F2 con Sauber by Charouz" [Isaakyan debuts in F2 for Sauber by Charouz in Sochi and Yas Marina]. ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Allen, Peter (24 September 2019). "Arden signs Markelov to take Hubert's place in F2 line-up". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "2019 Season Calendar Confirmed". fiaformula2.com. FIA Formula 2 Championship. 5 December 2018. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ "F2 Fastest laps". results.motorsportstats.com. Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
- ^ "Spa F2 race cancelled after horrific accident". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. 31 August 2019. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "2019 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP SPORTING REGULATIONS". FIA. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "Anthoine Hubert killed in F2 crash with Juan Manuel Correa at Spa". guardian.co.uk. The Guardian. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.