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The streets of Monaco await Formula 2's young guns

24.05.17

F2 - 2017 Race of Monaco - Preview

F2, Formula 2, Monaco, FIA, Motorsport

Warm Up // Charles Leclerc – PREMA Racing
“First of all it’s quite hard for me to talk about the lap, because the only time I’ve gone round it is in a bus to go to school, or to come back home! It’s always a different view when you arrive at much higher speeds, and from a much lower view, and the bus driver doesn’t go on the racing line or else he would be in the wrong lane!

“But it’s going to be very, very special for me to drive in Monaco in front of my family and friends, and I love city tracks in general: I’ve done 2 in cars, Pau and Macau, and these are my 2 favourite tracks, so I have no doubt I will love Monaco as well. From the other drivers I hear it’s a really tricky track, and seeing it in real life I know it’s really tight, the speeds are quite quick, and it’s a bit bumpy in some parts of the track. It’s going to be interesting to drive it after watching the Grand Prix there since I was born really, and I’m really looking forward to it.

“PREMA has a simulator and we have been working on the circuit there, because for street circuits in particular it is really helpful to have some mileage to get as much information as possible, and every time I go running I’m going round the track in Monaco! Any information I can take is useful, and a big part of it will be to stay calm and not to overdo it: being at home I will probably have the tendency to overdo it a bit, but I’ll be working to stay calm and the team will help me with that.”

The Stakes        
The FIA Formula 2 Championship returns to the Principality of Monaco for the jewel of the calendar this weekend for the third round of the 2017 campaign for the most prestigious races of the year: the entire field dreams of winning around the fabled streets of Monte Carlo, and for two lucky drivers that dream will come true this week.

Last time out Charles Leclerc (PREMA Racing) and Nobuharu Matsushita (ART Grand Prix) took the honours in the second round feature and sprint races respectively in Barcelona: the Monegasque driver leading the standings from Oliver Rowland (DAMS) and Luca Ghiotto (RUSSIAN TIME), and will look to add to his points total in front of an adoring home crowd.

In the teams’ championship PREMA and DAMS share the lead just ahead of RUSSIAN TIME, with 8 of the 10 teams scoring points after 2 rounds: the fight between the teams is only likely to get hotter at a circuit that often brings unexpected results given the unusual qualifying process, and the proximity of the barriers. Add into that the prestige of a podium in the principality and the fight for honours should be tighter than ever.

Pirelli Quote 

Mario Isola: “Just as in Formula 1, Monaco is probably the most prestigious race in the Formula 2 season. It is not a demanding circuit on the tyres, which is why we bring the two softest available compounds to give the drivers as much grip as possible. Extracting the best from the tyres in qualifying is important to a good weekend as overtaking is difficult, but we have also seen great strategy calls produce top results in Monaco.” 

Noteworthy

  • Robert Visiou will race for Campos Racing in Monaco, replacing Roberto Mehri in car #12, having signed to drive for them for the remainder of the season.
  • Qualifying for Monaco is different to any other event: the grid will be split into 2 groups of odd and even numbered cars to avoid overcrowding during the session, with a ballot to decide which group runs first. Each group will have 16 minutes to set a time. The fastest driver overall will be on pole, the fastest from the other group will be in P2, with the rest of the field lining up behind each of these drivers on the grid in order of qualifying from their group.
  • Free Practice will be unchanged.
  • Nyck De Vries will have a 3 grid place penalty to apply following qualifying, as a result of his collision with Antonio Fuoco during the Sprint Race in Barcelona.
  • The F2 press conferences following the qualifying session and the Feature and Sprint Races will be held in the F1 press conference room near the entrance to the F1 paddock: times are available at the top of this preview.
  • The usual timetable is pushed forward a day in Monaco, with Formula 2 taking to the track on Thursday. Although Friday is generally known as Rest Day in Monaco, our Feature Race will take place before midday, the only race to be held on the day.
  • The Championship’s official website can be found here: www.fiaformula2.com

Most Improved 

Gustav Malja (Racing Engineering) +6 places gained in the drivers’ standings between Round 1 (Sakhir) and Round 2 (Catalunya).

Round 3 Timetable - Data (GMT+2)

Thursday
Free Practice: 12.00 – 12.45
Qualifying session (Group A): 16.15 – 16.31
Qualifying session (Group B): 16.39 – 16.55
Press conference: 18.00

Friday
Feature race: 11.30 (42 laps)
Press conference: 13.00

Saturday
Sprint race: 16.10 (30 laps)
Press conference: 17.50

Note: The FIA F2 press conferences take place in the F1 press conference room.

Season Stats
31
 Most laps led after Round 2 (Leclerc)
3 Highest number of podiums after Round 2 (Leclerc, Rowland)
4 DAMS have scored 4 podiums from 4 races  
3 Points difference between 1st and 3rd in the Teams’ standings