The F2 weekend in Hungary was a mixed bag, not only in terms of weather or on-track action, but also in terms of performance. If a driver performed great one day, it seemed predestined for something to go wrong another day. Meaning that most drivers will have something to feel content about whilst heading off on holiday, but equally will have plenty to mull over whilst on the beach with a cocktail in hand.
With that in mind, here’s the report cards from round 10 of the 2022 season:
Top of the Class:
Théo Pourchaire – Qualifying: 4th | Sprint: 9th | Feature: 1st
Pourchaire fell back to 16th whilst trying to avoid the mess that was turn 1 at the start of the sprint on Saturday, but he drove a brilliant recovery race – bagging Merhi on lap 8, before lunging at Beckman on lap 10. The Frenchman then moved up to 13th, before his advance was briefly stunted due to Calan Williams keeping the door shut. Théo persisted, however, and moved past the Australian with a crafty pass in turn 12 on lap 23. He then made quick work of Olli Caldwell with assistance of his DRS and ended up crossing the line 9th.
The Sunday was where it was at, though, as Pourchaire and title-rival Drugovich lined up alongside each other on the starting grid. The Frenchman swept past Iwasa and Drugovich in the opening round. Iwasa later found his way back to him and began breathing down the Frenchman’s neck, but both were forced into pitting sooner than planned by Drugovich, who went for an early stop. Both Pourchaire and Iwasa ended up jumping Armstrong in the pitlane, who had to be held into position longer than necessary to avoid traffic.
Pourchaire cut through the midfield like a knife through warm butter, managing to pull a gap of more than 10 seconds, which must have been a huge comfort in the last lap. A light drizzle forced the Frenchman to bring the car home cautiously to secure his win, but he still managed to steer 3.6 seconds clear of the man in second.
Enzo Fittipaldi – Qualifying: 9th | Sprint: 3rd | Feature: 2nd
Back-to-back podiums, need I say more? The answer is probably yes, but the results are pretty self-explanatory.
Enzo had a very strong start on Saturday, snatching the lead from Doohan with ease. A huge lock-up in Turn 2 meant Fittipaldi dropped back to third, however. Halfway through the race he managed to claw his way back into DRS range of the man in second, but couldn’t quite make a move stick, meaning he got to round out the podium rather than climb the second step.
The Sunday wielded a similar result, but it was a very different tale: Enzo risked it all on threadbare softs only for the Charouz strategist to pull a daring overcut out of the bag, meaning the young Brazilian returned right in the thick of the fight for the podium. He held himself well, but couldn’t quite catch up to the Frenchman in front, meaning he got to climb the second-highest step on the podium.
Frederik Vesti – Qualifying: 7th | Sprint: 5th | Feature: 4th
Despite finishing a position lower than he would on Sunday, the Dane’s performance on Saturday was stronger in terms of racecraft. Whilst not all his moves paid off, he was constantly on the ball and breathing down the necks of his competitors, clearly ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness. Especially Enzo Fittipaldi was kept on his toes.
On Sunday, Vesti earned himself a 5-second penalty in the early stages of the race for forcing Enzo Fittipaldi wide into turn 3 whilst they battled for 5th position, but with an alternate strategy and a late-ish stop on lap 26 the Dane still managed to pull a good result out of the bag by jumping from P9 to P4 by cutting past the likes of Armstrong and Drugovich with ease.
Struggle Bus:
Olli Caldwell – Qualifying: 13th | Sprint: 10th | Feature: 20th
Olli will be going into the summer break with a few more days to kick back and relax (or to train and refocus for the second half of the season) than his F2 colleagues. During the Feature race in Hungary he was given a penalty point. Said penalty point brings his tally up to 12, meaning he will have to sit out the next round.
He was awarded the penalty point (and a 5-second penalty) for leaving the track without a justifiable reason on several occasions (four to be exact). It is a shame that Olli will have to miss Spa-Francorchamps, not just because it’s an iconic track, but also because it leaves Campos Racing in quite a pickle. His teammate Ralph Boschung will most likely not be returning to the grid in time for the Belgian round of the championship, which means that Campos will have to find two replacement drivers to fill the seats of their regular line-up.
Nonetheless, Caldwell continued to his better qualifying pace with the 13th best time on Friday, something to bring into the final stretch of the season after his extended summer break.
Prema Racing
Dennis Hauger – Qualifying 8th | Sprint: DNF | Feature: 19th
Jehan Daruvala – Qualifying: 12th | Sprint: 17th | Feature: 11th
For Prema, neither race was much to write home about. On Saturday, Dennis Hauger got to start in P3 thanks to the reverse grid, but due to a slow getaway he found himself in a three-wide battle which quickly went awry and resulted in a retirement due to significant damage. Daruvala had a better start, jumping to P6 from P12, but he couldn’t hold the momentum. Things got a little ugly when he battled with Armstrong and forced the Kiwi wide at turn 1, earning Jehan a 10-second penalty and eventually bringing the car home in 17th.
On the Sunday Jehan Daruvala dropped to 15th from p12 in the first lap after going wide in turn 2. A pro-active strategy with an early stop was attempted, which did allow the Indian driver to recover a few places, but he remained out of the points as he crossed the line in 11th. Dennis Hauger simply couldn’t make the tyres work for him, unable to find a good rhythm and falling back to 19th after having two pitstops.
Richard Verschoor – Qualifying: 14th | Sprint: 18th (demoted from 16th due to penalties) | Feature: 8th
If this was a list only ranking drivers on their Sunday-performance, Richard Verschoor would most likely find himself back on the top half of this list. A strong drive and a long first stint allowed him to gain several positions on a track which many like to say is hard to overtake on. Enabling him to round out the first half of the season by adding a few more points to his tally.
Whilst his Sunday drive was decent, it’s his performance on the Saturday which lands the Dutchman on the bottom half of this list. Verschoor was handed first a 5-second penalty and later an additional 10 seconds for breaching track limits. Considering you only get penalised after colouring outside of the lines three times, it’s safe to say that he was toeing the line far too often.
The fact that these penalties were served incorrectly and resulted in further penalties is the icing on the already-awful-tasting cake. Sure, the rear jack man engaging the rear too early isn’t anything Richard can help, but it was enough to earn him a drive-through penalty. (A drive-through penalty which was later converted to a 20-second time penalty.) Add to that the 10-second penalty, and it results in over 30 seconds of lost time, which demoted him from p16 to p18.
The drivers and their teams will be able to go enjoy their summer break, and a bit of peace of quiet will be needed to prepare them for the triple header which will greet them straight after, with first up the race in Spa-Franchorchamps in 20-something days.
