Formula 2 Monaco Preview

The Formula 2 championship is making its return to the iconic Circuit de Monaco for the 9th time in F2 history. 

(Image credit to MARCA)

The Track:

The prestigious motorsport circuit, that winds through the streets of Monaco - including Monte Carlo and La Condamine - will be the host for this raceweek in the F2 championship and with a new driver in the lead of the championship, the feeder series will be looking to have an exciting weekend ahead.

It's a 3.337 km long track featuring 19 turns and notable sections like the iconic Grand Hotel Hairpin and the Casino Square that will be the first of four street circuits on the F2 calendar.

As mentioned above, the Grand Hotel Hairpin - often known as the Fairmont Hairpin - is one of the many recognisable places on the circuit. The hairpin is Turn 6 on the track and is the slowest and tightest corner on the entire Formula 2 calendar, forcing drivers to slow down to roughly 50 km/h.

Special Rules For This Weekend:

To avoid excessive on-track traffic, the 22 drivers will be split into two groups (Group A for even-numbered cars and Group B for odd-numbered cars) with each group running for 14 minutes.

For the feature race on Sunday, the driver with the absolute fastest time across both groups claims pole position. The fastest from the other group then starts from second. The starting positions then alternate back and forth from the two groups in order of pace.

Whereas for the sprint race on Saturday, the top 10 finishers from the combined qualifying results are reversed to set the grid. 

However, because qualifying is split into two groups, a crossover system is used that allows a driver from the slower qualifying group to start on pole. Here the driver who finished fifth in the slower group will be starting on pole for the sprint, while the driver who finished fifth in the faster group lines up in second.

Drivers To Look For:

The new championship leader, Gabriele Mini will be a driver to look for. The Italian driver finished in P2 in last year’s sprint race and is known as a standout driver on street tracks

Kush Maini is another driver to look for as he will be hoping to find some redemption in this weekend’s racing after a difficult start to the season. Maini won the sprint race last year, making him the first Indian driver to do so.

The reigning F3 champion and the driver currently second in the standings, Rafa Câmara, is a driver worth mentioning. He was leading the championship before Montréal and is known for his raw race and qualifying pace.

Schedule (All timings in CEST):

Thursday:

Practice - 15:00 - 15:45

Friday:

Qualifying Group A - 15:10 - 15:24

Qualifying Group B - 15:34 - 15:48

Saturday:

Sprint Race - 14:15 - 15:00

Sunday:

Feature Race - 09:35 - 10:35

Article written by Laura Friis