Preview – F2 Round 13 – Lusail |
The FIA Formula 2 Championship resumes this week and after a long 10-week hiatus we are more than ready for the first of two duels in the desert and the challenge of a brand-new venue for the series, the Lusail International Circuit.
With these two rounds – Abu Dhabi comes hot on Qatar’s heels next weekend – we’ll see an utterly compelling season brought to a potentially dramatic conclusion. Several drivers are in contention for the title and in amongst those ‘chasing the dream’ is Hitech’s Paul Aron, currently holding fourth position on 133 points.
Rewind to the mid-point of the season and Paul was sitting pretty at the top of the standings, enjoying an 11-point lead and remarkable consistency that saw him net seven podiums in as many rounds, as well as nine consecutive points finishes. It was, and continues to be, an impressive F2 debut for the Estonian.
Since Spielberg, in such a closely fought season, in an incredibly competitive Championship, he has had a tougher run and he will be looking to Qatar to reverse his fortunes. Just two points separate him from Maloney, who is third in the standings, and while Paul faces a Herculean challenge to overthrow the top two, we never say never.
In the Teams’ Standings, Hitech is currently sixth, but the mountain to a top-3 placing is by no means insurmountable at 19.5 points adrift.
Though not in the fight for the Drivers’ title, Amaury Cordeel has his own objectives for the season’s final foray, including adding to his tally of five points-scoring rounds so far.
Both drivers have been hard at work in the sim and gym in the intervening weeks since Baku. With so much riding on the final two rounds, and a new racetrack to understand, the 10-week break has actually been quite intensive for Paul, Amaury, and the wider F2 team. Every practice, qualifying, Sprint and Feature will be critical as things go down to the wire.
The Lusail International Circuit is located north of Qatar’s capital city of Doha. The track is 5.419 kms in length and is fast and flowing, designed primarily with motorcycle racing in mind. Its 16 corners are predominantly medium and high-speed, and over one kilometre of the track’s total length is made up of the main straight, which puts Turn 1 in the spotlight as a primary overtaking opportunity.
Another key variable is that this is one of the hardest tracks on tyres, similar to Silverstone and the Hard and Medium have been chosen to contend with these extreme forces. The track surface is only a year old so is very smooth, but in common with other desert venues, sand blown onto the track by the wind poses a challenge until the track is run in with each session and windy conditions are in the forecast for the weekend. Grip levels are likely to change from session to session so it will be non-stop learning and adapting for the drivers.
While each team will have conducted maximum preparation work in advance of this weekend, the fact remains that it will provide a more level playing field than other circuits we’ve raced at on multiple occasions, and it promises to be an event well worth waiting for.
Schedule
Friday 29 November
14:05 Free Practice
19:10 Qualifying session
Saturday 30 November
19:20 Sprint Race (23 Laps)
Sunday 1 December
15:20 Feature Race (32 Laps)
Grid set by reversing Top 12 of Qualifying Results
All times local
