Two driver changes took place in Yas Marina as Formula 2 returned after a two months’ absence. We look at each driver’s performance and give ratings out of 5 stars.
We try to be fair to the drivers and rate a 5 as the perfect weekend, 1 and 2 as room for improvement. 3 would be considered a weekend with some positives and a 4 as a good performance.
Dennis Hauger *****
Already confirmed as moving to MP Motorsport next season, Hauger was one of the guys who finished on a high. From 7th in qualifying, he maintained position on the reverse grid to finish fourth in the Sprint Race, then repeated the same result in the Feature Race to demonstrate, probably for only the second time this season, consistency across the whole weekend.
Jehan Daruvala *****
After a poor qualifying result Daruvala found himself in the barriers after a couple of corners in the Sprint Race. He made no progress in the Feature Race either, unable to improve on his championship position from last year.
Jack Doohan *****
Another lacklustre weekend for the Australian, who has not enjoyed many easy weekends this season. Taking fifth place on the grid was a good starting point, but he only scored a handful of points with a P7 in the Sprint Race, while his Feature Race ended with a pit crew error.
Marino Sato *****
The Japanese driver endured a horrible weekend, after coming close to the top ten in Monza. This time out he did not qualify, thanks to a spin, and finished a lowly 19th and 15th in the two races, which ensured his team were overtaken by DAMS in the teams’ championship.
Liam Lawson *****
Qualifying ninth certainly put Lawson within a great chance of victory on Saturday, but a podium on Sunday was much less guaranteed. He achieved both, equalling his highest-scoring result of 2022 and leapfrogging to third in the standings. This is what Lawson is capable of, and had he kept this level of performance throughout the season we’d be talking of a completely different championship.
Logan Sargeant *****
Clearly under pressure, because he needed to finish at least sixth in the championship standings to secure the Super Licence points necessary to be promoted to F1 next season, and with his rivals on his tail both on points and on track, Sargeant stayed out of trouble and drove calmly throughout the weekend. He scored decent points, and lost out to his team mate in the battle for P3 in the championship but surely ends the year as the driver with the greatest reward awaiting him.
Marcus Armstrong *****
Beat his team mate in qualifying and in the Sprint Race, which both finished outside the points, but not in the Feature Race. He scored two points in what probably was his final F2 race, in a journey which started with high hopes as a Ferrari protégé and ends with a different career path ahead of him.
Juri Vips *****
A mediocre weekend all-round by the Estonian, a season of what-ifs, and a final race which also appears to be the end of a chapter for him.
Frederik Vesti *****
A poor qualifying result compromised his race results when his team needed both of its drivers to perform well to snatch the team’s title. In a season of highs and lows, this was one of the lows coming right after one of the highs; if he can have only the latter, next year will be a different story.
Theo Pourchaire *****
The team leader did not live up to expectations on the final race weekend. He moved backwards in the Sprint Race and unfortunately retired from the Feature Race, one of those inconsistent weekends which hampered his title chase.
Felipe Drugovich ******
The newly-crowned champion, now racing in Aston Martin overalls, capped the season in style by taking two podiums and only just missing out on a win. Despite no need for it, he pushed as hard as ever and extended his lead in the drivers’ standings to a whopping 101 points.
Clément Novalak *****
Certainly did nothing to help his team in their quest for the teams’ title, but luckily for him, Drugovich’s work was enough. It’s hard to sum up his season, he hasn’t really shown progress despite the occasional good results.
Olli Caldwell *****
Caldwell ended the season with his fourth retirement in the past six races, and had no pace in the Sprint Race, either; an eloquent finish to his season.
Ralph Boschung *****
Having just been confirmed for another season with Campos, his weekend was a poor one and not how he would have wanted to celebrate his renewal. Hopefully, 2023 will bring more points to the pairing, but the early signs aren’t too positive.
Roy Nissany *****
What a way to return after being banned from competing in Monza! Nissany almost qualified on pole, and finished in the points in both races. Sure, he did go from second to tenth in the Feature Race…
Ayumu Iwasa *****
Pipped his team mate to pole position, his second, and won the Feature Race, also his second, after enduring Drugovich’s pressure for the whole race. Unfortunately, he compromised his Sprint Race result in the early stages.
Richard Verschoor *****
Somehow brought his Trident home in the points for the ninth race running, including yet another podium. Give this man a race-winning machine!
Zane Maloney *****
The F3 runner-up had a very promising début weekend by keeping out of trouble and finishing in the midfield but ahead of a few other drivers with plenty more experience.
Enzo Fittipaldi *****
A point was all he needed to overtake Daruvala and finish seventh in the championship standings, but the newly-Red Bull junior‘s season has been impressive even taking into account a bad finale.
Tatiana Calderon *****
Having had now four weekends to show her second shot at F2 was deserved, it’s now impossible to say so. She qualified last, eight tenths slower than the nearest rival, and finished last on track in both races. Sure, the team’s tyre strategy in the Feature Race was baffling, to say the least. This didn’t help the overall performance of her or the car.
Juan Manuel Correa *****
The American’s return to F2 fairytale was somewhat mitigated by the disappointing results he achieved: 17th in qualifying, 18th in the Sprint Race and 17th (second-to-last) in the Sprint Race.
Amaury Cordeel *****
Cordeel’s inexplicable rise through the pecking order continued in Abu Dhabi, where he scored points twice for the first time and also took his best result with P5, thanks to a P3 start on the reverse grid. It seems strange to say this given how badly his season was going when he was banned for reaching 12 points on his licence, but he deserves a second season in F2.
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited
