After over 5000 km of development tests carried out by the FIA over the last year, the Formula 2 teams have finally had the opportunity to test the new generation single-seater which will make its debut in the 2024 season.
The main support championship of Formula 1 said goodbye to F2 2018 at the end of last championship, given that starting from this year there will be a car with radically renewed aerodynamics to get closer to the technical and stylistic concepts of the top series . Clearly there are also some particular solutions, such as the new rear wing which has different shapes from those of F1, with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of the DRS and reducing the formation of trains in the race. The teams finally had the opportunity to test the car in a first shakedown in Barcelona, albeit with only one car per team, therefore having to alternate the two drivers during the day.
Overall, during the six hours spent on the track the teams completed a total of 649 laps, divided into 286 laps in the morning session and 363 in the afternoon. The focus of the test was on verifying reliability and giving the teams the opportunity to make a first approach to the single-seater outside the simulator, given that this is the debut with the new car for the teams themselves.
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
First car on track during the shakedown
The most active driver was Prema rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who completed 53 passes during his shift. For the Italian, this shakedown also represented a further opportunity to gain greater confidence with a Formula 2 car, given that his only previous outing had been in the 2023 post-season tests in Abu Dhabi. Given the direct transition from Formula Regional to F2, it will be essential for Antonelli to get used to the increase in power, weight and aerodynamic load as quickly as possible to confirm himself as competitive already in the early stages of the championship.
The technical director of F2, Pierre-Alain Michot, declared that the shakedown represented a good first step in view of the start of the season, but also of the pre-season tests, thus being able to smooth out any small problems without wasting time during testing in Bahrain. “The purpose of this shakedown was for the teams to understand how the new car works, to make sure all the systems work well together and to understand how everything behaves,” he said.
“We are quite satisfied with the results achieved today. The teams managed to cover a lot of kilometres, which is a good first step.”
Michot said it was quite an emotional moment seeing the cars on track in the teams' hands for the first time and confirmed that there were no interruptions due to technical issues, meaning everything worked as expected. “One positive aspect is that all the cars returned to the pits with no technical failures, there were no red flags, meaning the cars performed as expected while the teams had a chance to start understanding how to work on these new single-seater”.
Clearly, being only at the beginning of this journey, there are still some details to be fully understood, although already in the shakedown the FIA had the opportunity to understand and fix some aspects: “There are still some small things to fix in view of the first official practice session, but that's normal. With eleven teams, there are eleven different ways of working. This allows us to learn even more about this car. We have already been able to correct some things for the afternoon session, but there are still some adjustments to make before the season opener, but we're not far from what we need.”
ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins was one of the few to make some statements at the end of the test and noted that the feeling of the car had not changed significantly compared to the previous model, an aspect that the Felipe Drugovich and Tatiana Calderone during the 5000 km of tests carried out together with the FIA.
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
F2 single-seater 2024
“I will be able to put my experience to good use for the new season. Everything went well, without reliability problems. It's a very positive start,” said the French driver, in his second season in Formula 2.
“Today was also about understanding the aerodynamics, because it is the most important change compared to the previous car, and starting to work on the set-up which will be important for when we go to Bahrain. We also checked that everything was working correctly on the car.”
“Naturally, the aim is to proceed gradually, not to damage the car and to make the most of the time on the track to develop and test various things, but I also pushed! I like it when you can push straight away, gain confidence. Honestly, I'm happy”, added the ART driver.
#Team #track #Barcelona #cars #debut
