Welcome back to Austria! Where we see Round 2 of the Formula 2 championship get underway this weekend.
The Styrian hills are still alive with the sound of Mecachrome engines!
One week on from the first race of the 2020 season the drivers, teams and cars have remained at the Spielberg circuit. The circus came to town… and stayed.
It’s unusual times for Formula 2. Normally, the Monday after racing teams and drivers alike are either heading home or onwards to the next track.
This year, however, the racing calendar has been adjusted to incorporate as many races as possible, so there can be a viable championship.
In countries where Covid-19 guidelines have allowed the elite formulas to travel, the Red Bull Ring is one of two chosen tracks where back-to-back racing will occur (Silverstone being the other).
At just 4.318km in length the Spielberg circuit is one of the shortest tracks on the calendar.
The Feature Race will run for 40 laps (172.72km) and the Sprint Race, 28 Laps (120.904km).
The Fastest Lap record belongs to Charles Leclerc (1:13.396 – 2017 – PREMA). Will this coming weekend see that record beaten?
While, 2019 saw the Feature Race winner, Nobuharu Matsushita take the spoils during Saturday’s Feature Race, and Sérgio Sette Câmara enjoyed the top step with a Sprint Race win.
The first race of the 2020 calendar saw Callum Ilott hold his nerve to win the Feature Race battle between himself, Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher.
Rookie, Felipe Drugovich, won the Sprint Race in spectacular fashion, with incidents and accidents aplenty. After three separate Safety Car deployments, and frantic restarts, the Brazilian youngster held off the field and dominated proceedings to win his first Formula 2 race.
The focus for this weekend will be tyres. Compounds have been changed from the Hard prime choice and Soft option, used in Round 1. This weekend Medium and Supersoft tyres will be mandated.
Tyre strategy and management will be key to car performances and results this coming weekend.
We will be bringing you LIVE Lap by Lap action direct from our website insidef2.com – This weekend and every weekend after. Join us!
Here are all the times you need to know this weekend. All times are local (GMT +2)
Friday
- Free Practice: 12:55 – 13:40
Qualifying
- 17:00 – 17:30 – Qualifying Report will be live on insidef2’s dedicated Round 2 – Austria page.
Saturday
- Feature Race: Lights Out 16:45
- Feature Race: LIVE Lap by Lap. The live blogging session begins 15 minutes before Lights Out (Link Here)
- Sprint Race Standings and Report within one hour of the Chequered Flag via our dedicated Round 2 – Austria page.
Sunday
- Sprint Race: Lights Out 11:10
- Sprint Race: LIVE Lap by Lap – The live blogging session begins 15 minutes before Lights Out (Link Here)
- Sprint Race: race Standings and Report within one hour of the Chequered Flag via our dedicated Round 2 – Austria page.
Monday
- The Debrief will be published with all the action and reaction to the weekend’s action! We would love to get your opinions.
Comment your predictions for this race weekend @F2inside @1_LA on Twitter and join our ever growing community of Formula 2 fans!