Eight races to go. Will the Formula 2 season still offer the high drama it has so far?

Formula 2, like the rest of the grid, is on summer break, so it’s time to evaluate the season so far. The 2022 season has already had ten race weekends and things are getting interestingly dramatic.

As in Formula 3, the young drivers have two races during the weekend, one sprint and one main race. But in the main race, in dry conditions, a pit stop is mandatory. After qualifying, the top ten on the grid rotate.

Drivers’ championship standings

Brazilian Felipe Drugovich leads the championship with 180 points ahead of second-placed Théo Pourchaire of France. He has 159 points. Third place then belongs to Logan Sargeant of the USA with 119 points, and equal 100 points is Brazilian Enzo Fittipaldi in fourth.

F2 and F3 commentator Jiri Košta is also surprised by Felipe Drugovich’s performance. “He’s been doing great performances since his debut in 2020, but he fell off a lot last year. That’s why I’m surprised that he’s basically been leading the championship since the start of the season.” he said exclusively to Ruik.

But he didn’t have a good weekend last weekend at all. He took just seven points from the Hungaroring in Hungary, while Pourchaire took twenty-five. The Brazilian has been waiting for a win since Monaco and a podium finish since Baku, Azerbaijan.

The surprise of the season is definitely seventh Ajumu Iwasa. The Red Bull junior academy member won the main race in France and scored a respectable number of points in Hungary as well. Although he is 90 points behind the top spot, his performance is improving every day and he should have no problem staying in F2 next year.

On the other hand, in the lower positions we can find two talented drivers who have a great future in the queen of motorsport. “The biggest disappointments for me this year are definitely Jüri Vips (10th) and Liam Lawson (8th). Look how many races they buried themselves, plus there were technical problems in the pits etc.” comments Jiri Košta.

Moreover, Estonian Vips lost his Red Bull junior status after the incident we wrote about here. It’s also practically clear that he won’t race in junior F2 next year. 22 drivers out of 24 managed to score points, with only Cem Bölükbasi and Amaury Cordeel scoring zero.

Team championship standings

The best team after 20 races is the ART Grand Prix team made up of Théo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti. The French stable has 250 points and is 43 points ahead of second-placed team Carlin. Just one point behind the pair of Liam Lawson, Logan Sargeant is the pair representing the MP Motorsport stable, Felipe Drugovich and Clément Novalak.

The Czech team Charouz Racing System holds seventh place. However, if a better quality driver sits next to Enzo Fittipaldi, Antonín Charouz’s team could attack the podium among the constructors. The worst performing team is newcomer Van Amesfoort Racing, which scored just 24 points.

Like F1 and F3, the Formula 2 season will return to action at the end of August in Belgium. After that, the drivers will move to the Netherlands, Italy and then Abu Dhabi to close the season. Many points are still in play and the title fight is far from decided.

Source: FIA Formula 2