The FIA Formula 2 Championship is heading to the hills of southern France to the Le Castellet region where the drivers will take to the Circuit Paul Ricard for the first time since 2019 after the championship’s promoters announced the addition of the circuit to the 2022 calendar.
The addition comes after the cancellation of the 2022 Russian Grand Prix following Russia’s invasion of neighbouring country Ukraine and F2 was set to support the Grand Prix in September.
Regarding the announcement, F2 CEO Bruno Michel told journalists, “Since it was announced that we would drop one event, we have been working on finding a venue to replace it, keeping in mind the costs. Le Castellet came out as the best option, and we are really pleased to return to the Circuit Paul Ricard.”
“With this added round, we go back to fourteen events as announced before the start of the season. This means that the 2022 season calendar is the most sizeable one we have had since the start of the FIA F2 back in 2017.
“It will be a very busy month of July for the teams and the drivers, but a very exciting one for the fans and everyone involved in F2.”
ART Grand Prix’s Nyck de Vries won the Feature Race at Paul Ricard the last time F2 machinery raced around the circuit on his way to the 2019 championship crown. The late and great Anthoine Hubert then took victory in the Sprint Race the following day after winning the second Sprint Race in a row for the Frenchman.
With the first three rounds of the 2022 championship already out of the way, this is what the updated calendar looks like for the rest of the season:
- Round Four: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – 20-22 May
- Round Five: Circuit de Monaco – 26-29 May
- Round Six: Baku City Circuit – 10-12 June
- Round Seven: Silverstone Circuit – 01-03 July
- Round Eight: Red Bull Ring – 08-10 July
- Round Nine: Circuit Paul Ricard – 22-24 July
- Round Ten: Hungaroring – 29-31 July
- Round Eleven: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps – 26-28 August
- Round Twelve: Circuit Zandvoort – 02-04 September
- Round Thirteen: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza – 09-11 September
- Round Fourteen: Yas Marina Circuit 18-20 November