Prime pace, automobile sizes, race weekends and extra in contrast

Formulation 1 has at all times relied on junior classes to feed it with the subsequent technology of drivers, and its groups are wanting to snap up the brightest skills inside them.

The “{old}” Formulation 2, a ruleset somewhat than its personal separate entity, would typically share grids with F1, earlier than a change in laws made the 2 their very own distinct championships.

The second-tier class was rebranded in 1985 as F3000, because the sequence switched to a naturally aspirated engine system and extended the lifetime of the Cosworth DFV lineage within the early years. Totally different engine and chassis suppliers got here and went all through F3000’s lifespan, with the likes of Reynard, Lola, Ralt, and March all producing vehicles earlier than the championship turned a single-spec system.

When the F3000 championship began to fade away amid decreasing curiosity from groups and a drop in high quality on the grid, the second tier was reborn in 2005. Bernie Ecclestone had sought to carry a junior championship onto the F1 undercard and, with Flavio Briatore and Bruno Michel, helped produce the GP2 Sequence.

GP2 turned the FIA Formulation 2 Championship in 2017, however most of the key hallmarks of the sequence from the early GP2 days have stood the take a look at of time. The GP3 Sequence, a third-tier class designed to compete with the myriad Formulation 3 championships round, joined the F1 invoice in 2010 and have become FIA Formulation 3 in 2019.

There are key variations in the best way that F2 is run relative to F1, with refined variations in format and bigger disparities in general automobile efficiency. Right here’s a have a look at the important thing areas the place F1 and F2 distinction.

F1 vs F2 – the primary variations

What’s the distinction between F1 and F2 vehicles?

In F1, every group designs their very own chassis to an outlined sequence of technical laws produced by the FIA. For the 2022 ruleset, the FIA up to date the wording of the laws to raised outline the bounding bins that the bodywork might be developed inside, and constructed a system extra congruent with the proliferation of CAD merchandise obtainable.

This includes a vary of security programs such because the roll hoop, the halo, and anti-intrusion panels that match across the monocoque. There are additionally influence buildings on the edges, entrance, and rear of the automobile to minimise the impact on the motive force contained in the automobile.

F2 is a single-spec sequence, and all groups use the Dallara F2 2018 mannequin. The minimal weight of the automobile and driver have to be 788kg and is kitted out with F1-standard security options such because the aforementioned crash buildings and the halo. Solely components offered by Dallara, Hewland, or these offered by the F2 promoter, can be utilized.

The F2 automobile options underfloor Venturi tunnels, which F1 adopted in 2022 after a 40-year ban on ground-effect aerodynamics. These should not as excessive because the designs seen in F1 however work in the identical means, and the automobile can be augmented by its entrance and rear wings to generate downforce. Like F1, the F2 automobile has a drag discount system (DRS) which works to the identical parameters as its mum or dad sequence.

F1 vehicles repeatedly go above 220mph in the course of the course of a race, whereas an F2 automobile can theoretically hit 208mph in full low-downforce trim, with DRS open.

What’s the distinction between F1 and F2 tyres?

Pirelli provides all championships on the official ladder to F1, with F2 and F3 additionally utilizing the Italian firm’s rubber.  

Two years earlier than they have been employed in F1, F2 started to make use of 18-inch tyres in 2020. The tyres in F2 are marginally narrower than their F1 counterparts, providing much less grip general as speeds are naturally decrease for the junior-series automobile. 

F2 has 4 dry-weather compounds of tyre: the arduous, medium, mushy, and supersoft – the primary three utilizing the identical white, yellow, and crimson color coding as in F1. The supersoft is denoted by purple textual content on the sidewall. 5 units of dry-weather tyres are provided for every spherical per automobile, consisting of two of these outlined compounds, and one set of “prime” tyres is to be handed again after follow. Three units of wet-weather tyres are additionally provided – F2 doesn’t have an intermediate compound. 

Tyre blankets are banned in F2, which implies that drivers should heat up their tyres naturally. This usually creates a bigger offset in the course of the pitstop phases, the place drivers leaving the pits are weak to those that have already accomplished laps on a brand new set. 

Each “prime” and “possibility” compounds – the tougher tyre being the prime, and softer being the choice – have to be used in the course of the function race and require a pitstop to alter them. Tyre stops are permitted within the dash however should not necessary. As solely two compounds of dry tyre are used per weekend, Pirelli and F2 determine which tyres might be used forward of the weekend. There could also be a single step in compound (eg. medium and mushy), or a higher step to create a bigger offset (eg. medium and supersoft).

The 620bhp Mecachrome F2 engine

Picture by: Sutton Pictures

What’s the distinction between F1 and F2 powertrains?

F1 has used turbo-hybrid powertrains since 2014, that includes motor generator models on the turbocharger and on the rear axle to type the hybrid element. The inner combustion engine is in a 1.6-litre V6 association. As of 2022, F1 engines use E10 gasoline, the place 10% of the gasoline’s composition is made up of biologically sourced combustibles.

The MGU-Ok in an F1 automobile produces as much as 160bhp, contributing to an general energy output of round 1000bhp. Figures differ between the 4 present powertrain producers in F1 – Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, and Purple Bull Powertrains – however all are believed to boast over 50% effectivity.

F2’s single-spec powertrain is produced by French producer Mecachrome, which was briefly concerned in F1 in 1998 and 1999 having taken over Renault’s engine programme. The Mecachrome unit is a 3.4-litre V6 – successfully the identical engine utilized by F3 however retrofitted with a turbocharger produced by Van der Lee. It produces roughly 620bhp, pushed by a six-speed Hewland gearbox.

To make sure equity in powertrain provide, the Mecachrome models are drawn randomly to groups as there’s prone to be a small variation in general energy output.

At present getting used as a take a look at mattress to help with F1’s growth of extra sustainable fuels, F2 makes use of a gasoline produced by Aramco with 55% of its contents produced from sustainable organic sources with a view to elevating that determine to 100% by 2026/2027. The Saudi oil model changed long-time provider Elf as the only producer of fuels for F2.

How a lot does F1 value in comparison with F2?

Formulation 1 lately has been topic to a price cap, which is price roughly $135million in 2023 with some minor changes for inflation and different ancillary prices. The price cap covers a lot of the growth and working prices, however excludes driver salaries, the salaries of the highest three earners on the group, journey prices, and advertising and marketing spend. Transgressing that cap, as Purple Bull discovered in 2022, comes with its personal vary of penalties relying on the extent of overspend.

A lot of this price range comes from FIA prize cash, investments, and sponsorship portfolio. Some groups, like Purple Bull and Mercedes, are self-sufficient with prize cash and sponsors and don’t require direct enter from their possession buildings.

F2 groups run to far smaller budgets and, as a result of the attain of the sequence is significantly extra restricted, groups hardly ever start seasons with a full portfolio of sponsors able to fund every entry. Thus, drivers are anticipated to pay for his or her rides, both via their very own sponsors or via a driver academy.

Relying on the group, F2 driver budgets can differ from €2m-€3m, and maybe even past that for a seat with the higher groups. To maintain prices down, F2 has restricted the variety of workers permitted to work on every automobile over a race weekend, and designed the automobile to be comparatively low-cost. A group should purchase a full F2 automobile, sans engine, for about €500k.

George Russell, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc are a few of the latest high-profile F2 graduates to make it into F1

Picture by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

How do drivers go from F2 into F1?

To race in F2, drivers should maintain a Grade A or B Worldwide FIA licence. They can’t conduct non-public exams in F2 equipment and are restricted to the collective exams provided by the sequence. There are additionally restrictions on what single-seater vehicles a driver can take a look at privately and, if a driver pulls double obligation in one other class, they have to decide to F2 within the occasion of any clashes.

Relying on a driver’s ending place on the finish of an F2 season, they might earn superlicence factors to help with their eligibility to race in F1. To realize a superlicence to race in F1, a driver must earn 40 factors.

The allocation of superlicence factors is:

These will be utilized cumulatively over a interval of three seasons.

F1 vs F2 weekend format

F1 has run with the identical base format for a variety of years, with FP1 and FP2 held on Fridays – every an hour lengthy. FP3, additionally an hour lengthy, is held on Saturday previous to the three-stage qualifying format that has been employed since 2006. An F1 race have to be held to a minimal of 305km (excluding Monaco) and final for now not than two hours, inside a three-hour window within the occasion of any crimson flags.

Dash weekends are completely different, nonetheless, and have modified for 2023. The only follow session opens the Friday classes, and is succeeded by qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix. Dash qualifying and race are each located on Saturdays, and 6 weekends in 2023 are to be run to the dash format so as to add variation.

F2 has a single follow session on a Friday lasting 45 minutes, with a half-hour qualifying session held later that day. That is successfully a time trial session the place drivers merely have to carry the quickest lap by the top of the session to realize pole for Sunday’s function race.

Many F1 groups have junior drivers within the F2 ranks

Picture by: Purple Bull Content material Pool

The dash race is held on Saturday, and makes use of the identical grid set in qualifying however with the highest 10 reversed. The lap depend is “equal to the least variety of full laps which exceed a distance of 120km (Monaco 100km)”, with factors handed out right down to eighth place on the finish to a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring system – and with a degree obtainable for quickest lap for these ending within the prime 10.

The function race completes the F2 weekend, and “shall be equal to the least variety of full laps which exceed a distance of 170km (Monaco 140km, Budapest 160km)”. This includes a necessary pitstop, and drivers should run each prime and possibility compounds within the race. The necessary cease doesn’t depend if a driver pits earlier than finishing their sixth lap. That is additionally not logged if a driver stops underneath a digital security automobile, except they have been already within the pits by the point the VSC was triggered.

F2 experimented with three-race weekends in 2021, however this was broadly unpopular because of the gaps it left within the calendar and was dropped in 2022. Previous to this, the function race was held on Saturday, with the outcomes taken and the highest eight reversed to set the dash race grid.