2021 Formula 2 Championship

2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship

Previous

2020

Next

2022

Parent series:
FIA Formula 1 World Championship
Feeder series:
FIA Formula 3 Championship

Prema Racing entered the season as the defending Teams' Champions.

The 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship is a motor racing championship for Formula 2 cars that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship is the fifty-fifth season of Formula 2 racing and the fifth season run under the FIA Formula 2 Championship moniker. It is an open-wheel racing category that serves as the second tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category is scheduled to be run in support of selected rounds of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship. As the championship is a spec series, all teams and drivers competing in the championship will run the same car, the Dallara F2 2018. The championship is due to be contested over twenty-four races at eight circuits. It began in March 2021 with a round in support of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and end in December where it will support the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

A new chassis package was due to be introduced for the 2021 season, but in a bid to cut costs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lifespan of the Dallara F2 2018 chassis package was extended until 2023.

Prema Racing are the reigning teams' champions, having secured their second Formula 2 title at the final round of the 2020 season.

Entries

The following teams and drivers are under contract to compete in the 2021 championship. As the championship is a spec series, all competitors race with an identical Dallara F2 2018 chassis with a V6 turbo engine developed by Mecachrome. Teams compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli. The same eleven teams who competed during the 2020 season were retained for the next three-year cycle.

Entrant	No.	Driver name	Rounds
Prema Racing	1	Robert Shwartzman	1–4
	2	Oscar Piastri	1–4
UNI-Virtuosi Racing	3	Guanyu Zhou	1–4
	4	Felipe Drugovich	1–4
Carlin	5	Dan Ticktum	1–4
	6	Jehan Daruvala	1–4
Hitech Grand Prix	7	Liam Lawson	1–4
	8	Jüri Vips	1–4
ART Grand Prix	9	Christian Lundgaard	1–4
	10	Théo Pourchaire	1–4
MP Motorsport	11	Richard Verschoor	1–4
	12	Lirim Zendeli	1–4
Charouz Racing System	14	David Beckmann	1–4
	15	Guilherme Samaia	1–4
DAMS	16	Roy Nissany	1–4
	17	Marcus Armstrong	1–4
Campos Racing	20	Gianluca Petecof	1–2
		Matteo Nannini	3–4
	21	Ralph Boschung	1–4
HWA Racelab	22	Matteo Nannini	1
		Jack Aitken	2–4
	23	Alessio Deledda	1–4
Trident	24	Bent Viscaal	1–4
	25	Marino Sato	1–4
Source:

Driver changes

Prema Racing hired reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Oscar Piastri to replace Mick Schumacher, who graduated to Formula One with Haas F1 Team.

UNI-Virtuosi Racing signed former MP Motorsport driver Felipe Drugovich to replace Callum Ilott, who left the championship to become a test driver for Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari.

Carlin hired former DAMS driver Dan Ticktum to replace Yuki Tsunoda, who graduated to Formula One with Scuderia AlphaTauri.

Hitech Grand Prix fielded a new driver line-up. Nikita Mazepin graduated to Formula One with Haas F1 Team and Luca Ghiotto joined Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. They were replaced with Red Bull juniors Liam Lawson, who graduated from Hitech's FIA Formula 3 outfit, and Jüri Vips, who temporarily raced for DAMS in 2020 as a replacement driver.

ART Grand Prix signed FIA Formula 3 runner-up Théo Pourchaire, who briefly debuted in Formula 2 with HWA Racelab in the final rounds of 2020. He replaced Marcus Armstrong, who left the team to join DAMS.

MP Motorsport hired FIA Formula 3 graduates Lirim Zendeli and Richard Verschoor. Giuliano Alesi left the team and the series to join Super Formula Lights.

Charouz Racing System fielded a new line-up as Pedro Piquet vacated his seat and left Formula 2 after one year in the series, citing financial reasons. Louis Delétraz also left the team to join the European Le Mans Series. Charouz hired FIA Formula 3 graduate David Beckmann and former Campos driver Guilherme Samaia.

DAMS parted ways with Sean Gelael, who left Formula 2 after six years in the championship and its predecessor GP2 Series to join the World Endurance Championship. The team hired former Trident driver Roy Nissany to partner Marcus Armstrong.

Campos Racing hired Ralph Boschung, who deputised for the team at the final round of the 2020 season and previously raced for them in 2017. Boschung was signed alongside reigning Formula Regional European champion Gianluca Petecof. Jack Aitken left the team to compete in the GT World Challenge Europe series.

HWA Racelab entered a new driver line-up with FIA Formula 3 graduates Matteo Nannini and Alessio Deledda. Nannini will combine his Formula 2 campaign with a second season in FIA Formula 3. Artem Markelov left the team and the series after seven years in Formula 2 and GP2.

Trident signed FIA Formula 3 graduate Bent Viscaal to replace Roy Nissany.

Mid-season changes

Matteo Nannini left HWA Racelab and the championship after the first round, citing sponsorship reasons and his desire to focus on his FIA Formula 3 campaign. He was replaced by former Campos driver Jack Aitken for the Monaco and Baku rounds.

Nannini returned to the championship for the third round in Baku, replacing Campos driver Gianluca Petecof who left the team for budgetary reasons.

Calendar

A provisional calendar was published in November 2020. An updated version due to the postponement of the 2021 Australian Grand Prix, which required several Grands Prix to change dates, was revealed in January 2021.

Round	Circuit	Sprint races	Feature race
1	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	27 March	28 March
2	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	21–22 May	22 May
3	Baku City Circuit, Baku	5 June	6 June
4	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	17 July	18 July
5	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	11 September	12 September
6	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	25 September	26 September
7	Jeddah Street Circuit, Jeddah	4 December	5 December
8	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	11 December	12 December
Source:

Calendar changes

As a consequence of cost-cutting measures, the Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships will adopt a new format. The two championships will alternate between Grands Prix meetings and will no longer appear together on the support race bill. Although this will reduce the number of rounds, both championships will run three races at a Grand Prix instead of two, keeping the overall number of races the same as in previous years. The format change was designed to cut costs for teams competing in both championships by allowing them to rotate staff between each championship.

As the 2020 championship was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 calendar will feature substantial revisions:

• The Mugello round and one of the rounds at the Red Bull Ring, the Silverstone Circuit and the Bahrain International Circuit were removed from the schedule as these rounds were run in support of one-off Grands Prix.
• The Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps, Hungaroring and the second Red Bull Ring rounds were removed from the schedule to make way for the new weekend format.
• The Monaco, Baku and Yas Marina rounds will return after having been cancelled in 2020.
• The championship will make its début at the Jeddah Street Circuit and running in support of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, a brand-new event on the Formula 1 calendar.

The Circuit Zandvoort had been included on the 2020 calendar, but was removed from the schedule in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was initially expected that the round would feature on the 2021 calendar, but it was not included on the provisional calendar. The circuit was included on the Formula 3 calendar instead.

Regulation changes

Sporting changes

The weekend format is scheduled to be changed with two sprint races held on Saturday and the feature race with mandatory pit stop on Sunday. Qualifying will determine grid of the feature race and the first sprint race; the grid for the first sprint race will be set by reversing the top ten qualifying positions. The grid of the second race will be formed by results of the first sprint race, with top ten finishers reversed. The addition of a third race to the weekend schedule will see teams provided with an extra set of tyres.

Season report

Round 1: Bahrain

Guanyu Zhou set the fastest time in qualifying at the Bahrain International Circuit, giving him pole position for the feature race. Théo Pourchaire started the first sprint race from pole position by virtue of qualifying 10th, but he lost the lead to Liam Lawson at the first corner and later retired with mechanical issues. Lawson held the lead for the rest of the race to claim victory on his Formula 2 debut.

Jüri Vips started the second sprint race from pole position after finishing the first race in 10th place, but was overtaken by Zhou in the early laps. The safety car was brought out after Lawson and Felipe Drugovich collided, and a number of drivers elected to make a pit stop. Oscar Piastri, who started the race in sixth place, took the lead on the final lap to achieve his first Formula 2 race win. Second-placed Christian Lundgaard was demoted to ninth by a penalty for colliding with Lirim Zendeli, but was later reinstated to the podium after it emerged he had served his penalty during his pit stop.

Lundgaard took the lead of the feature race at the first corner from pole-sitter Zhou, but was later overtaken by Piastri. A safety car caused by Gianluca Petecof's fire extinguisher deploying allowed Marcus Armstrong to take the lead after all drivers had completed their mandatory pit stops. The lead then passed between Piastri and Richard Verschoor before Zhou, who was in sixth place after the pit stop phase, reclaimed first position with four laps remaining. Piastri was then eliminated from the race after colliding with Dan Ticktum. Zhou took the chequered flag to claim his first feature race victory in Formula 2. Zhou led the championship after the first round by 11 points over second-placed Liam Lawson.

Round 2: Monaco

Théo Pourchaire was fastest in qualifying at the Circuit de Monaco, with Guanyu Zhou starting the opening sprint race from pole position. Christian Lundgaard challenged for the lead until an engine failure halfway into the race forced his retirement, allowing Zhou to take his second consecutive race victory.

The second sprint race was run in wet track conditions. A pre-race engine issue forced pole-sitter Marcus Armstrong to start the race from the pit lane. Liam Lawson therefore started from the front, but lost the lead to Oscar Piastri at the first corner before retaking first place a few laps later. UNI-Virtuosi were the only team to change to dry-weather tyres, but Zhou and Felipe Drugovich lost large amounts of time before pitting again and returning to wet-weather tyres. Lawson crossed the finish line first, but was later disqualified for a technical infringement. Dan Ticktum, who had earlier passed Piastri for second place, was awarded the victory.

Pole-sitter Pourchaire controlled the feature race to become the youngest driver to win an FIA Formula 2 race. Robert Shwartzman had qualified and ran in second place before a slow pit stop dropped him out of the podium positions. Ticktum was forced into retirement in the closing laps after coming to a halt whilst battling Piastri for third place. After the second round, Zhou had extended his lead in the championship to 16 points over second-placed Piastri.

Round 3: Azerbaijan

Liam Lawson set the fastest qualifying time at the Baku City Circuit and Robert Shwartzman started the first race from pole position. Shwartzman controlled the race to take his first podium and victory of the season, whilst Lawson and Oscar Piastri were eliminated on the first lap due to an accident caused by Felipe Drugovich. The podium was completed by Dan Ticktum, who had overtaken four cars throughout the race, including third-placed finisher Guanyu Zhou.

Bent Viscaal started the second race on pole position, which also turned to be the 100th FIA Formula 2 race. Six drivers retired from the race, including championship leader Zhou after colliding with Ticktum at the first corner. David Beckmann took the lead from Viscaal early on, but was later passed by Jüri Vips, who claimed his first Formula 2 race win. Notable were the performances of Lawson, Piastri, Ticktum and Théo Pourchaire, with the former two taking seventh and eighth after starting from the back of the grid, and the latter two charging through the field after contacts on the opening lap to finish sixth and ninth respectively.

Vips took the lead of the feature race from Lawson at the first corner. Vips' frontrunning rivals were unable to challenge him due to penalties and collisions; Lawson was issued a time penalty for an aggressive defence against Pourchaire, and Ticktum was penalised after a collision that eliminated Marcus Armstrong and Pourchaire from the race. Pourchaire was later taken to hospital with a fractured arm. Second-placed Piastri was later handed a time penalty for an unsafe release in the pits. Vips took the chequered flag to claim his second consecutive victory. Despite failing to score in the feature or second sprint races, Zhou maintained the lead of the championship after the third round, albeit with his advantage over Piastri cut to five points.

Results and standings

Season summary

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	S1	Bahrain International Circuit		Lirim Zendeli	Liam Lawson	Hitech Grand Prix	Report
	S2			Ralph Boschung	Oscar Piastri	Prema Racing
	F		Guanyu Zhou	Robert Shwartzman	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing
2	S1	Circuit de Monaco		Jüri Vips	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	Report
	S2			Robert Shwartzman	Dan Ticktum	Carlin
	F		Théo Pourchaire	Guanyu Zhou	Théo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix
3	S1	Baku City Circuit		Théo Pourchaire	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Racing	Report
	S2			Oscar Piastri	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
	F		Liam Lawson	Dan Ticktum	Jüri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix
4	S1	Silverstone Circuit		Oscar Piastri	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Racing	Report
	S2			Oscar Piastri	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
	F		Oscar Piastri
5	S1	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza					Report
	S2
	F
6	S1	Sochi Autodrom					Report
	S2
	F
7	S1	Jeddah Street Circuit					Report
	S2
	F
8	S1	Yas Marina Circuit					Report
	S2
	F

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top eight classified finishers in the Sprint races, and to the top ten classified finishers in the Feature race. The pole-sitter in the feature race also receives four points, and two points is given to the driver who sets the fastest lap in both the feature and sprint races if that driver finishes inside the top ten. No point will be awarded if the fastest lap time is achieved by a driver who was classified outside the top ten. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint races as the grid for the first sprint race is set by reversing the top ten qualifiers and the grid for the second sprint race is based on the results of the first race.

Sprint race points

Points are awarded to the top eight classified finishers, excluding the fastest lap points which are given to the top ten classified finishers.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	FL
Points	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	2

Feature race points

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the pole-sitter and to the driver who sets the fastest lap and finishes in the top ten.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pole	FL
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1	4	2

Drivers' championship

Pos. Driver BHR MON BAK SIL MNZ SOC JDH YMC Points SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR 1 Oscar Piastri 5 1 19† 8 2 2 Ret 8 2 6 4 3 4 7 1 9 C 1 8 1 1 3 Ret 1 252.5 2 Robert Shwartzman 4 Ret 7 Ret 10 4 1 5 3 1 15 5 6 3 6 3 C 4 5 3 2 4 2 5 192 3 Jüri Vips 10 16 13 5 3 8 8 1 1 2 6 7 8 6 Ret 2 C Ret 3 Ret 6 12 Ret 8 120 4 Guanyu Zhou 7 3 1 1 15 5 3 Ret 13 Ret 11 1 2 8 2 DNS C 6 17 8 4 8 1 2 183 5 Dan Ticktum 8 Ret 2 6 1 Ret 2 6 8 8 3 2 Ret 11 3 1 C 5 7 4 10 6 4 6 159.5 6 Théo Pourchaire Ret 6 8 7 4 1 5 9 Ret 5 10 8 1 10 4 5 C 2 Ret 6 Ret 7 9 4 140 7 Liam Lawson 1 Ret 3 9 DSQ 7 Ret 7 6 7 5 11 5 4 Ret Ret C 7 2 Ret 9 5 6 20† 103 8 Jehan Daruvala 2 4 6 11 8 Ret 4 3 7 12 19 10 9 1 5 12 C 3 10 14 11 1 7 11 113 9 Felipe Drugovich 16 14 9 2 14 3 14 10 4 4 7 6 Ret 17 12 DNS C DNS 4 10 5 2 5 3 105 10 Richard Verschoor Ret 5 4 13 6 10 12 Ret 14 10 1 4 Ret 13 DSQ 8 C 8 Ret 11 10 56 11 Ralph Boschung Ret 17 15 4 5 6 6 Ret 5 14 Ret 14 14 9 14 6 C 19† 15 9 3 9 3 9 59.5 12 Christian Lundgaard 6 2 12 Ret Ret 12 11 Ret 9 3 13 21 3 14 10 7 C 9 6 15 7 15 18 15 50 13 David Beckmann 3 7 11 12 Ret 13 9 2 12 13 8 15 10 5 16† 15 C 10 32 14 Marcus Armstrong Ret 10 5 10 Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret 9 2 12 11 15 9 11 C 11 1 Ret 8 10 Ret 7 49 15 Roy Nissany 12 15 Ret 3 Ret 9 16 16 16 Ret 12 16 Ret 18 8 16 C 15 13 11 15 14 17 13 16 16 Bent Viscaal 13 12 17 14 11 11 10 4 17 16 Ret 13 7 2 15† Ret C Ret 9 2 12 13 10 12 34 17 Lirim Zendeli 9 Ret 18 15 7 Ret 13 Ret 10 11 9 9 15† 12 7 10 C 16 13 18 Marino Sato 15 8 14 19† Ret 14 18 13 15 NC 16 19 NC 20 Ret 14 C 14 Ret 13 18 19 16 17 1 19 Matteo Nannini 14 9 10 15 11 DNS 15 14 18 1 20 Jack Aitken 16 9 18 Ret 12 11 17 18 17 0 21 Guilherme Samaia 11 11 16 17 13 15 17 14 18 Ret 17 20 Ret Ret Ret 13 C 13 Ret Ret 17 16 12 16 0 22 Alessio Deledda 18 Ret Ret 18 12 17 Ret 15 19 Ret Ret 22 13 19 Ret 18 C 17 Ret Ret 20 18 Ret 19 0 23 Gianluca Petecof 17 13 Ret Ret Ret 16 0 Pos. Driver SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR Points BHR MON BAK SIL MNZ SOC JDH YMC

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position point(s) Italics Fastest lap point(s)

Notes:

• † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
• ‡ – Half points were awarded for the sprint race, as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.

Teams' championship

Pos. Team No. BHR MON BAK SIL MNZ SOC JDH YMC Points SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR 1 Prema Powerteam 1 4 Ret 7 Ret 10 4 1 5 3 1 164 2 5 1 19 8 2 2 Ret 8 2 6 2 UNI-Virtuosi Racing 3 7 3 1 1 15 5 3 Ret 13 Ret 127 4 16 14 9 2 14 3 14 10 4 4 3 Hitech Grand Prix 7 1 Ret 3 9 DSQ 7 Ret 7 6 7 127 8 10 16 13 5 3 8 8 1 1 2 4 Carlin 5 8 Ret 2 6 1 Ret 2 6 8 8 114 6 2 4 6 11 8 Ret 4 3 7 12 5 ART Grand Prix 9 6 2 12 Ret Ret 12 11 Ret 9 3 89 10 Ret 6 8 7 4 1 5 9 Ret 5 6 Campos Racing 20 17 13 Ret Ret Ret 16 15 11 DNS 15 37 21 Ret 17 15 4 5 6 6 Ret 5 14 7 MP Motorsport 11 Ret 5 4 13 6 10 12 Ret 14 10 28 12 9 Ret 18 15 7 Ret 13 Ret 10 11 8 Charouz Racing System 14 3 7 11 12 Ret 13 9 2 12 13 24 15 11 11 16 17 13 15 17 14 18 Ret 9 DAMS 16 12 15 Ret 3 Ret 9 16 16 16 Ret 24 17 Ret 10 5 10 Ret Ret 7 Ret Ret 9 10 Trident 24 13 12 17 14 11 11 10 4 17 16 9 25 15 8 14 19† Ret 14 18 13 15 NC 11 HWA Racelab 22 14 9 10 16 9 18 Ret 12 11 17 1 23 18 Ret Ret 18 12 17 Ret 15 19 Ret Pos. Team No. SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR SR1 SR2 FR Points BHR MON BAK SIL MNZ SOC JDH YMC

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Other points position Blue Other classified position Not classified, finished (NC) Purple Not classified, retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrawn (WD) Text formatting Meaning Bold Pole position point(s) Italics Fastest lap point(s)

Notes:

• † – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.
• ‡ – Half points were awarded for the sprint race, as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.

External links

• FIA Formula 2 Championship official website