Award shootout to use F2 cars
The 22nd running of the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award will use six Formula 2 cars to assess the drivers as part of a radical shake-up to the single-seater format of the competition, this week's AUTOSPORT magazine reveals
Autosport Awards
The Autosport Awards are a series of awards presented by motor racing magazine Autosport to drivers that have achieved significant milestones each season. Some of the presentations are selected by the general public via a reader's poll.
A fleet of 425bhp Williams F1-built machine will replace Formula 3 cars, which were used in the Award from 1996 to 2004 and since '08 - Formula Renault 3.5 racers having been used from 2005-07.
The move will allow the Award shootout to put the six finalists on track at the same time and add extra elements to their assessment.
Previously, drivers have had to pair up for simultaneous runs in the single-seaters - a time-consuming process that has left the results prone to being skewed by changing weather conditions.
F2 chief Jonathan Palmer, a former chairman of the Award's judging panel, said: "The single-seater is the most important part of the evaluation, but it's been frustrating to have to run drivers in batches because of the resources that have been available.
"Even if we tested in Spain the track conditions would vary with temperature. Comparing drivers in different weather conditions and at different times complicates the whole process. Using six F2 cars will allow the judges to compare drivers in the same cars at the same time."
Palmer will provide the cars and a full team of F2 engineers to run them. He also hopes to shake up the format of the Award final by introducing qualifying runs, race-distance simulations, mock pitstops, and technical appraisals of the drivers' feedback.
A seventh car should also be used so that a frontrunner from the F2 championship can set a benchmark lap time for the finalists to aim at.
"This gives us a real opportunity to get creative with the appraisal," added Palmer.
"We can do more running and give the judges a huge amount more data with which to evaluate the drivers.
"It could also make the whole process more transparent, which I think it needs. Now we can say, 'Here are the lap times, here is the feedback, this is the winner and why.'
"It's very exciting and a big leap forward for the Award."
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