The FIA Formula 2 championship returns to the south of France this weekend where the twenty-two brightest talents will battle it out in round nine of the 2022 season.
It marks the first time the racing series has taken to the Circuit Paul Ricard since 2019 and Logan Sargeant breaks down what he loves about the high-speed French circuit and his thoughts as he chases his third consecutive Feature Race win.
The Story So Far
Felipe Drugovich still sits at the top of the standings, even after scoring just the one points finish in Spielberg with a fourth place in Saturday’s Sprint.
The weekend started with Jake Hughes setting the pace in Free Practice, clearing the rest of the field by four tenths. Théo Pourchaire was second quickest with second to tenth being separated by just two and a half tenths.
When it was time for Qualifying, Frederick Vesti proved to be the best and it was the Danish driver who put it on pole position for the first time in his Formula 2 career at the Red Bull Ring.
With Hitech Grand Prix’s Marcus Armstrong qualifying tenth, he started on reverse grid pole position in Saturday’s Sprint Race and cruised to a victory with not much pressure from behind.
It was the Kiwi’s second win of the season and the third of his F2 career.
Sunday’s Feature Race didn’t disappoint either. Early morning showers gave the drivers a headache when deciding on which tyres to start the race on, slicks or wets?
A few drivers gambled on the slicks on a rapidly drying track but it was Richard Verschoor who made the most of it, overtaking his way to first after starting from ninth place on the grid.
However, after stopping shortly after the chequered flag fell, the Dutch driver was later disqualified after being unable to provide race scrutineers with enough of a fuel sample, handing Logan Sargeant the win.
Carlin have now crept up into second place in the teams’ standings behind MP Motorsport with just six points separating the top three teams.
What Happened Last Year?
As mentioned previously, 2019 was the last time we saw Formula 2 machinery take to the track in Le Castellet.
It was the DAMS driver of Sérgio Sette Câmara who took pole position, his first of the 2019 season.
The late Anthoine Hubert took his second and final win in Formula 2 during the sprint race, with the talented Frenchman beating Juan Manual Correa and Zhou Guanyu to the finish after twenty-one laps.
The Feature Race was won by eventual 2019 champion Nyck de Vries, with the ART Grand Prix driver getting the better of the pole sitter Câmara who finished second with Jack Aitken in third.
One man who is in fine form and could replicated Nyck de Vries’ F2 triumph is Sargeant who has found himself in second place in the drivers’ standings behind Drugovich.
The Williams junior has won here before in the 2018 Formula Renault Eurocup series and feels that it is a circuit which has “suited me in the past”.
Sargeant goes on to explain, “I particularly like the last sector of the track, starting with the flat-out right-hander into the long double right of turn 11 which is one of the most challenging corners we face this year.”
The American driver has gelled well with Carlin in his rookie season of F2 his confidence in the car and his team is growing race by race.
“Management is important on the Pirelli tyres, but I feel like we’ve done a really good job at that at every round so I’m quite confident on that side of things.”
“We’re looking at some extremely high temperatures at Paul Ricard so that’s an extra variable to think about, but I think that it will be fairly similar to what we’ve been facing all year.”
With Circuit Paul Ricard being another traditional race track on the calendar after a string of street circuits to start the season, it means that there will be a lot more overtaking opportunities available to the quicker drivers.
“Starting at turn 1, it’s a good opportunity. Both the inside and outside line can work there. The chicane in the middle of the circuit it another great overtaking opportunity and if you are overtaken into that chicane, you can fight back into the exit.”
Track Facts
Distance: 5.842km (3.630 miles)
Total Turns: 15
DRS Zones: 2
Available Tyre Compounds: Hard/Soft
Lap Record: 1:42.226 by Lando Norris in 2018 (Carlin)
2019 Pole Position: 1:43.138 by Sérgio Sette Câmara (DAMS)
Weekend Schedule
- Free Practice: Friday – 10:35 BST (11:35 Local)
- Qualifying: Friday – 17:30 BST (18:30 Local)
- Sprint Race: Saturday – 17:00 BST (18:00 Local)
- Feature Race: Sunday – 08:35 BST (09:35 Local)
