2017 Barcelona Formula 2 round

The 2017 Barcelona FIA Formula 2 round were a pair of motor races held on 13 and 14 May 2017 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain as part of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. It was the second round of the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship and was run in support of the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix.

  2017 Barcelona Formula 2 round
Round details
Round 2 of 11 in the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Layout of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
LocationCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
CoursePermanent racing facility
4.655 km (2.892 mi)
Feature race
Date 13 May 2017
Laps 37
Pole position
Driver Charles Leclerc Prema Racing
Time 1:29.285
Podium
First Charles Leclerc Prema Racing
Second Luca Ghiotto Russian Time
Third Oliver Rowland DAMS
Fastest lap
Driver Artem Markelov Russian Time
Time 1:34.294 (on lap 29)
Sprint race
Date 14 May 2017
Laps 26
Podium
First Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix
Second Oliver Rowland DAMS
Third Nicholas Latifi DAMS
Fastest lap
Driver Nicholas Latifi DAMS
Time 1:34.811 (on lap 3)

Report

Background

The Catalunya round marked the second round of the season and the first to be staged within the European continent. Following the previous round in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc entered the second round as the championship leader, with Artem Markelov and Oliver Rowland in second ad third respectively. Campos Racing announced a driver-change for the Catalunya round, with former-Formula 1 driver, Roberto Merhi replacing Stefano Coletti after only one outing for the Monégasque driver. This turned out to be a one-off for Merhi, although he later returned to race with the Rapax team.

Pirelli supplied the field with P Zero Orange hard tyres and P Zero Yellow soft tyres for the round. The abrasive surface as well as the demanding nature of the track meant that tyres played a vital role in the races - as much as they did in the previous round in Bahrain.[1]

Practice and qualifying

The conditions for practice were optimal, opening the door for fast lap times. Leclerc topped the timing sheets in free practice with a time of 1:29.974, followed closely by former teammate, Alexander Albon. Albon completed a time just 0.042 of a second off of Leclerc and given the strong performance in pre-season testing, looked set for an equally strong weekend ahead. In third was another debutant in Sergio Sette Camara, who was half a second off of Leclerc.[2]

The immaculate conditions remained for the qualifying session, where Leclerc took his second pole position in succession. Jordan King set the initial benchmark with Nyck de Vries right behind him. As time went in qualifying, the times started to tumble until eventually Luca Ghiotto set a time of 1:29.478 to go fastest and seemed sure to be the pole position time. Elsewhere around the track, Artem Markelov's fire extinguisher let loose in his car, hampering his run and Nabil Jeffri ground to a halt, owing problems with his car. This subsequently brought out the red flag with six minutes remaining. Once the session resumed, the remainder of the field looked forward to eclipse Ghiotto's time. Alexander Albon improved his time to take fourth, but Leclerc went purple in the final two sectors to go two-tenths faster than Ghiotto and take the pole position for the second time in succession.[3]

Feature Race

Leclerc led into turn one, but found himself under fire from Ghiotto and Albon after locking up. Ghiotto lunged down the inside into turn four, but couldn't make the move stick. The battle ensued for the next few corners as Leclerc struggled to maintain a rhythm following the lock-up. Artem Markelov and Antonio Fuoco came together at the end of the first sector which caused damage to Fuoco's front wing. He along with Johnny Cecotto came in for an early pitstop owing to damage brought on in the opening laps after having run into the back of Louis Deletraz at the end of the opening lap. Leclerc began to pull away from Ghiotto, who began to fall into the clutches of Albon, who subsequently made a move into turn one and took second place from Ghiotto. Leclerc pitted on lap seven, along with Matsushita, leaving Albon with the lead of the race. Canamasas ground to a halt on lap 10 owing to problems with the car. Despite this, he did not pull off the track to retire - instead remaining on the track and gesturing to the marshals asking for a push-start. The dangerous position of the car initially brought out the virtual safety car and eventually, the safety car itself. Eventually, the mercurial Spaniard conceded defeat and retired from the race. As the race resumed, Leclerc and Ghiotto began to scythe through the pack. Rowland eventually pressured Albon into a mistake to take the lead of the race, although both still had an impending pitstop to make. Eventually, the leaders made their stops, handing the lead once again to Leclerc. With the fresh rubber, Albon and Rowland were staging a comeback with both drivers challenging for the podium toward the latter stages of the race. Rowland gained on the third-placed Matsushita and eventually passed him on the main straight with use of DRS. Jordan King and Artem Markelov engaged in an epic battle for eighth spot which ultimately saw Markelov prevail to take the spot and pole position for the sprint race. For Charles Leclerc though, the win was rather comfortable and proved once again that he and the Prema outfit looked to be the team to beat for this years championship.

Sprint Race

Nicholas Latifi made a blinder and shot through to the lead heading into turn one. Ralph Boschung stalled on the grid and contact between Nyck de Vries and Antonio Fuoco brought out the safety car before the end of the first lap. As the race resumed, Latifi maintained a relatively comfortable lead as the race remained stagnant for some laps. After a lock-up from Malja, Matsushita took second place and proceeded to pursue Latifi, whilst Rowland passed him further down the circuit. After battling for a number of laps, Leclerc finally passed Albon for fifth place and soon thereafter passed Malja for fourth. Latifi seemed to have had the race wrapped up until lap 22 when he ran wide and speared off into the gravel. He recovered and got back on track, but not before Matsushita passed him for the lead. His teammate Rowland passed him further down the circuit, as well. Matsushita remained in the lead and took his first win of the season, with the DAMS pair of Rowland and Latifi taking the remaining slots on the podium.

Classifications

Qualifying
Pos. No. Driver Team Time Gap Grid
1 1 Charles Leclerc Prema Racing 1:29.285 – 1
2 5 Luca Ghiotto Russian Time 1:29.478 +0.193 2
3 18 Nyck de Vries Rapax 1:29.550 +0.265 3
4 15 Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:29.585 +0.300 4
5 8 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 1:29.732 +0.447 5
6 9 Oliver Rowland DAMS 1:29.744 +0.459 6
7 20 Norman Nato Arden International 1:29.790 +0.505 7
8 2 Antonio Fuoco Prema Racing 1:29.834 +0.549 8
9 10 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:29.885 +0.600 9
10 7 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:29.975 +0.690 10
11 3 Louis Delétraz Racing Engineering 1:30.046 +0.761 11
12 11 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:30.065 +0.780 12
13 6 Artem Markelov Russian Time 1:30.177 +0.892 13
14 14 Sérgio Sette Câmara MP Motorsport 1:30.231 +0.946 14
15 12 Roberto Merhi Campos Racing 1:30.389 +1.104 15
16 19 Johnny Cecotto Jr. Rapax 1:30.441 +1.156 16
17 21 Sean Gelael Arden International 1:30.772 +1.487 17
18 4 Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 1:30.814 +1.529 18
19 17 Sergio Canamasas Trident 1:31.148 +1.863 19
20 16 Nabil Jeffri Trident 1:32.303 +3.018 20
Source:[4]

Feature Race
Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time / Gap Grid Points
1 1 Charles Leclerc Prema Racing 37 1:02:33.684 1 25 (4)
2 5 Luca Ghiotto Russian Time 37 +3.730 2 18
3 9 Oliver Rowland DAMS 37 +11.146 6 15
4 7 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 37 +14.103 10 12
5 8 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 37 +17.319 5 10
6 10 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 37 +23.879 9 8
7 4 Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 37 +24.779 18 6
8 6 Artem Markelov Russian Time 37 +25.403 13 4 (2)
9 15 Jordan King MP Motorsport 37 +30.967 4 2
10 18 Nyck de Vries Rapax 37 +43.832 3 1
11 3 Louis Delétraz Racing Engineering 37 +50.283 11
12 11 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 37 +58.2011 12
13 2 Antonio Fuoco Prema Racing 37 +1:05.970 8
14 14 Sérgio Sette Câmara MP Motorsport 37 +1:05.9732 14
15 21 Sean Gelael Arden International 37 +1:08.333 17
16 20 Norman Nato Arden International 37 +1:09.241 7
17 19 Johnny Cecotto Jr. Rapax 37 +1:27.7841 16
18 16 Nabil Jeffri Rapax 37 +1:29.521 20
19 12 Roberto Merhi Campos Racing 33 Brakes 15
Ret 17 Sergio Canamasas Trident 8 Brakes 19
Fastest lap: Artem Markelov (Russian Time) – 1:46.038 (on lap 24)
Source:[4]

Notes

1.^ – Boschung and Cecotto Jr. received 20-second penalties after having been deemed to have insufficiently slowed for the VSC (Virtual Safety Car).[5]
2.^ – Câmara was handed a five-second time penalty during the race. Having failed to take the penalty earlier in the race, an additional five-second penalty was given.[5]

Sprint Race
Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time / Gap Grid Points
1 7 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 26 42:20.450 5 15
2 9 Oliver Rowland DAMS 26 +3.309 6 12
3 10 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 26 +4.621 3 10 (2)
4 1 Charles Leclerc Prema Racing 26 +9.177 8 8
5 15 Jordan King MP Motorsport 26 +15.333 9 6
6 4 Gustav Malja Racing Engineering 26 +17.987 2 4
7 5 Luca Ghiotto Russian Time 26 +18.092 7 2
8 8 Alexander Albon ART Grand Prix 26 +21.135 4 1
9 6 Artem Markelov Russian Time 26 +21.552 1
10 19 Johnny Cecotto Jr. Rapax 26 +30.744 17
11 17 Sergio Canamasas Trident 26 +31.549 20
12 12 Roberto Merhi Campos Racing 26 +34.434 19
13 20 Norman Nato Arden International 26 +35.271 16
14 3 Louis Delétraz Racing Engineering 26 +38.090 11
15 14 Sérgio Sette Câmara MP Motorsport 26 +39.446 14
16 21 Sean Gelael Arden International 26 +46.950 15
17 11 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 26 +50.226 12
18 16 Nabil Jeffri Rapax 26 +59.912 18
Ret 18 Nyck de Vries Rapax 0 Collision 10
Ret 2 Antonio Fuoco Prema Racing 0 Collision 13
Fastest lap: Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) – 1:34.811 (on lap 3)
Source:[4]

Standings after the round
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/05_May/P-Zero-Hard-and-Soft-tyres-for-Barcelona/
  2. http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/05_May/Leclerc-tops-free-practice-in-Barcelona-/
  3. http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2017/05_May/Leclerc-flies-to-Barcelona-pole-/
  4. "2017 FIA Formula 2 Spain results". FIA Formula 2 Championship. FIA Formula 2. 14 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 November 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  5. "ROUND 2 FEATURE RACE PENALTIES". FIA Formula 2 Championship. FIA Formula 2. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
Previous round:
2017 Bahrain FIA Formula 2 round		 FIA Formula 2 Championship
2017 season		 Next round:
2017 Monaco FIA Formula 2 round
Previous round:
2016 Catalunya GP2 and GP3 Series rounds		 Catalunya FIA Formula 2 round Next round:
2018 Barcelona FIA Formula 2 round
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