Formula 2 Report Cards: Italy (Imola)

The F2 paddock arrived at Imola, which was making its debut in the Championship. We also saw a driver change ahead of the weekend, with German driver David Beckmann returning to series at Charouz, replacing Cem Bölükbaşı. After missing the Saudi Arabian round with a concussion due to a heavy crash in Practice, the Turkish driver broke a rib in a crash at the F2 in-season test in Barcelona and was forced to sit out of another round.

With the series in Italy, the drivers were plunged back into the European climate as mixed conditions dominated the weekend, and true to chaotic form very few drivers found consistency whilst many went from heroes to zeros and vice versa across sessions. Here are the report cards from round 3:

Top of the class:

Théo Pourchaire – Qualifying: 7^th | Sprint: 7^th | Feature: 1^st

The Frenchman was head and shoulders above everyone else when you reflect on the weekend results, despite doing very little in the race. Not that this is a criticism though, because building a Championship fight is all about maximising results when you’re not right at the front.

He was nearly seven-tenths off poleman Jüri Vips in qualifying, but his time was still good enough for 7^th on the grid for Sunday’s Feature Race. In the reverse grid Sprint Race, Pourchaire slipped from 4^th to P7 and was largely invisible.

The Feature Race was a much better showing for the ART driver. Avoiding the start line contact between Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan and Prema’s Dennis Hauger meant Pourchaire was up to 5^th in the early stages, which soon became fourth as poleman Vips threw it into the wall at the Villeneuve Chicane.

Taking further advantage of a free pitstop under the resulting Safety Car, Pourchaire was down in 12^th but a virtual P3 when he first got by the Campos of Ralph Boschung on lap 18 and DAMS’ Roy Nissany crashed on the exit of Rivazza three laps later.

As the rest of the pack in front required stops, Pourchaire cycled to P1. So when the race was neutralised for a crash by Carlin’s Liam Lawson on lap 32, the Frenchman would ultimately seal victory as the race finished behind the Aston Martin Safety Car.

Whilst far from his best weekend in the series, it certainly helps that the 18-year-old didn’t chuck it into the wall under pressure as others did. The result means that he bounces back from a truly dreadful weekend in Saudi Arabia to now lead the Championship by two points from Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport).

Enzo Fittipaldi – Qualifying: 15^th | Sprint: 12^th | Feature: 2^nd

You could forgive Enzo for being a little rusty at the start of this season considering the extensive injuries he suffered in a start line crash at the 2021 Saudi Arabian F2 round, but Fittipaldi has been quietly improving and rewarded the family name with a maiden podium at such a historic track.

His weekend didn’t start off clean though, as he received a three-place grid drop for the Sprint race for impeding, but he still gained six places on where he started which was decent progress.

In the Feature Race, Enzo was one of the early stoppers from supersofts to medium tyres and this was the correct strategy to be on. He found himself 14^th on lap 21, but on lap 31 he was 7^th, then he picked off the Carlin of Logan Sargeant on the exit of Variante Alta to move up to 6^th.

He got by Boschung at the end of the pit straight to take a net 4^th before a late-race VSC/SC meant that Drugovich and Virtuosi’s Marino Sato missed the pit lane for their mandatory stops.

For Enzo, it meant that he was up to P2 and that was where he finished, marking an unlikely appearance on the rostrum. The result is by far his best in F2 and Charouz’s best finish in a Feature Race, beating the P3 achieved by Louis Delétraz at the Mugello round in 2020.

Frederik Vesti – Qualifying: 16^th | Sprint: 10^th | Feature: 6th

Perhaps an oddball addition to the list, but in a weekend where drivers struggled for consistency, the Mercedes junior was one of a handful of drivers to make significant progress in both races. Despite another mediocre qualifying, Frederik made a quick start to run 12^th in the opening phase of the race, and he would make up a further two places by the chequered flag.

Whilst 10^th didn’t yield any points on Saturday, it was his best result at that stage and gave him a much-needed boost which he took into Sunday. From 16^th on the grid, he was running on the fringes of the top 10 in the early stages of the race before pitting for medium tyres on lap 8 under the Safety Car.

He was down to 15^th before a chain of events triggered by the crash of net-race leader Roy Nissany. Vesti was up to 10^th on lap 31 as the alternate strategy drivers came into the pit, but a nice move on Sargeant, as well as some poorly timed pit stops for Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) and Marino Sato (Virtuosi), meant that Vesti crossed the line P6.

These were his first points in the series and was a second improvement on his best finish. If not for a late Safety Car caused by a crash for Liam Lawson (Carlin) it could have been even better for the Danish driver.

The struggle bus:

Amaury Cordeel – Qualifying: 18^th | Sprint: DNS | Race: 17^th

With his less than stellar F3 record, you wouldn’t be surprised to see Amaury near the back of the F2 field. Even trundling at the rear, he is still copping the attention of the Stewards. After crashing out on the Formation Lap of Saturday’s Sprint Race, Cordeel would receive three penalties as he somehow violated track limits six times in the Feature Race.

He received a five-second penalty on the fourth infringement, 10-second on his fifth and a drive-through on his sixth. In doing so, he picked up 5 penalty points which takes his total up to 9, after picking up four points in the previous round in Saudi Arabia for failing to slow for red flags in qualifying.

There are another 10 rounds to go and this leaves Amaury with a lot of time to avoid any more penalties as he is only 3 points away from incurring a race ban, thus far only the infamous Mahaveer Raghunathan achieved that feat in the series back in 2019, so Cordeel certainly doesn’t want to find his name on that list.

Jüri Vips – Qualifying: 1^st | Sprint 15^th (+FL) | Feature: DNF

A weekend that possessed a lot of promise soon turned into a pretty disastrous result as the Red Bull junior only took away the two points he scored for pole. He was in a class of his own in the treacherous conditions of Friday to set a 1:40.221, nearly two tenths clear of the rest of the field, but this wouldn’t last.

In the Sprint Race, his car hit anti stall on the exit of Variante Tamburello which caused him to drop to the back of the pack. He was only able to recover to P15. It is worth mentioning that he did set the Fastest Lap, although wouldn’t score points as he was outside the top 10.

His Feature Race was over quickly too. After dropping from 1^st to 4^th by the first corner, Vips got too greedy on the exit of Villeneuve Chicane and span into the outside wall, leaving the Estonian out of the race.

He leaves Imola down in 8^th place in the Championship, but there is still a long way to go and the one-lap pace is certainly coming together for Jüri, he just needs to iron out those errors.

Roy Nissany – Qualifying: 6^th | Sprint: 4^th | Feature: DNF

The Williams reserve took a step forward this weekend, despite being outqualified by his rookie teammate. He was 4 tenths off pole and just under two-and-a-half tenths off teammate Ayumu Iwasa, but Roy had a much better race on Saturday.

A quick start from P5 meant he was momentarily running 3^rd before Hauger retook the place around the outside of the exit of Variante Tamburello. Roy did pressure the Norwegian for much of the race but had to settle for 4^th, his best finish of the season.

His quick start on Saturday was eclipsed by an outrageous launch on Sunday as he went from 6^th to leading into the first corner. He was comfortably clear of the pack and was in line to win the race as the alternate strategy drivers still had to pit. Running in 10^th at the time, Nissany would crash on the exit of Rivazza and end up in the pit lane with broken suspension.

Seemingly under no pressure, the Israeli driver threw away an almost-certain maiden victory in the series, and there is very little worse for a racing driver than an embarrassing unforced error costing you a win. It may take some time to get over, but Nissany should still be able to take some positives away from Imola.

After an exciting weekend, we’ve got another mini-break before the series returns. The next round is at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in support of the Spanish GP on the weekend of 21^st & 22^nd May. Check in to see who stars and which drivers fumble the bag on their most familiar track on the calendar.