FIA Formula Two Championship

The FIA relaunched the Formula Two Championship in 2009 as a way of promoting motorsport to young drivers unable to afford the larger budgets of other Formula One feeder series. The objective of Formula Two is to establish a clear system of progression for young and talented drivers wishing to reach Formula One.

For the 2009 season MotorSport Vision was handed the tender to co-ordinate and run the series. MotorSport Vision commisioned Williams F1 to design and build the chassis of the car.

Background to the Championship

The Purpose

Formula Two is a new international single seater championship, derived from an FIA initiative to provide young, talented drivers with the opportunity to compete in top-level racing on a competitive budget.

The FIA’s overall concern was that the cost of competing in motor racing at a level to progress directly to Formula 1 today is so high that it prevents many talented drivers from having the opportunity to participate. Compared to rival series, Formula Two will cost significantly less per season whilst allowing drivers to prove their skill and develop their racecraft in identical 1.8-litre Audi-powered turbocharged vehicles, designed by a six man team from Williams F1, led by Director of Engineering Patrick Head.

In September 2008 the FIA tender to supply the cars and operate the FIA Formula Two Championship was awarded to MotorSport Vision, which has years of experience of organising the Formula Palmer Audi Championship, in addition to running four major UK race circuits and the British Superbike Championship.

The F2 vehicles will be assembled and prepared between races at MotorSport Vision’s Bedford Autodrome facility, with testing sessions scheduled at circuits around the UK prior to the opening race of the inaugural championship in May 2009.

The Car

The survival cell is of carbon fibre composite construction. Safety is the number one priority and the car is being designed to comply with the 2005 FIA F1 Technical Regulations. Head protection will conform to the latest 2009 F1 standards. Amongst many other detail safety features, wheel tethers will be incorporated.

The aerodynamics have been evolved to produce a high level of downforce yet without losing too much front downforce when following other cars, to facilitate overtaking. To achieve this about 40% of the downforce will be produced from the underside, with full length ground effect tunnels, similar to a GP2 car. The aerodynamics have been developed using the Williams F1 CFD computer simulation which enables many different configurations to be tested without the need to actually build the parts and test in the wind tunnel. The car will have over 2000lbs of downforce at 150mph – compared with, for example, F3 at 1750lbs.

The Engine

The engine is a new turbocharged unit based on the Audi 1.8 litre 20 valve block and head, as used in Formula Palmer Audi. Whereas the engine in the FPA car uses standard road car components pretty much throughout, the F2 engine has been developed as a pure race engine. The crankshaft, con rods, pistons, valves and camshafts are all new components designed for high strength and light weight.The dry sump system has been re-designed so the engine sits 35mm lower than in the FPA car.

The turbocharger is an all new Garrett GT35 unit featuring roller bearings for improved response with an external wastegate with high speed closed loop pneumatic valve boost control for absolutely precise automatic boost control.

The engine management system is the latest Pectel ECU, the MQ12, which will provide vastly more capability than the unit in FPA.

Continuous maximum engine power will be 400bhp at 8250 rpm. The F2 car will feature overboost, with 450bhp being available for 6 seconds, 10 times during each race.

The gearbox is a new unit designed by Hewland specifically for Formula Two, the TMT. It has 6 speeds and paddle shift operation.

The performance of the F2 car will be between F1 and F3. Its closest rival in terms of lap time will be a Formula Renault 3.5.

Television

Television will be announced by MSV when contracts have been signed. All races will be broadcast live on the Formula Two homepage, [1]

Championship Format

Raceday

At each event there will be the following sessions:

 Practice 1    30 minutes  
 Practice 2    30 minutes  
 Qualifying 1  30 minutes  
 Qualifying 2  30 minutes  
 Race 1        40 minutes (110km)  
 Race 2        40 minutes (110km with pit stop)

In Race 2 it is planned that there will be a mandatory pit stop. Pit stops are a crucial part of F1 and it is considered that F2 can provide some valuable experience for the drivers on in-lap and out-lap pace, together with accuracy of positioning in the pit box and pit getaways.

No tyre changes will be required, as it is unnecessary and in F2 it would be wrong for a driver's result to be influenced by his pit crew.

Cars will be required to be stationary for a minimum of 10 seconds. On stopping, the driver must push a button to start the timer. A green light will illuminate after 10 seconds and the driver may leave the pit stop. The driver may make any changes to the set up he chooses during the stop.

Cicuits

The provisional Formula Two calendar will consist of eight races with two rounds at each race.

Rounds	Date	Circuit
1 & 2	31 May	Circuit de Valencia
3 & 4	21 June	Brno Circuit
5 & 6	28 June	Spa-Francorchamps
7 & 8	19 July	Brands Hatch
9 & 10	16 August	Donington Park
11 & 12	6 September	Motopark Oschersleben
13 & 14	20 September	Imola Circuit
15 & 16	1 November	Circuit de Catalunya

Points

Championship points will be awarded on the following basis, with all rounds to count:

 1st  10   
 2nd  8 
 3rd  6 
 4th  5 
 5th  4 
 6th  3 
 7th  2  
 8th  1

Prizes

The winner of the FIA Formula Two Championship will receive a full test with the AT&T Williams F1 team, which will be run in such a way as to seriously evaluate the driver with regard to their potential as a Formula One driver.

Drivers finishing in the first three places in the final classification of the Formula Two Championship will qualify for an FIA Superlicence.

Drivers

The first confirmed drivers were revealed by Motorsport Vision on 10 December as being former A1 Grand Prix driver Robert Wickens and World Series by Renault vice-champion Julien Jousse.

On December 12 Armaan Ebrahim was announced as a 2009 driver, becoming the first Asian driver to commit to the series.

Notes

"FIA invites tenders for F2", Pitpass F1 (13/07/2008).
"Palmer's MSV wins F2 contract", ITV F1 (15/09/08) .
"FIA picks Palmer as F2 supplier", grandprix.com (15/09/09).
"How Formula 2 can work", grandprix.com (18/07/2008).

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