How F2 and F3's flawed format changes could prove shortlived

Formula 1’s two main feeder series underwent a radical overhaul for 2021, but there are already talks of the changes being reversed after they were panned by both team principals and drivers alike.

As the coronavirus pandemic left FIA Formula 2 and 3 teams struggling for cash, the FIA introduced a radical new format featuring fewer events but with three races each weekend instead of two in a bid to reduce costs. The governing body also hoped that by splitting the two series and ensuring they raced on separate weekends, that teams could share personnel.

The new weekend layout features two reverse-grid races, both on Saturday, while Friday’s qualifying session decided the grid for the first of those and Sunday’s feature race. In theory, these changes were also meant to make races more exciting and keep fans’ attention with action-packed weekends. But it didn’t quite work out the way it was planned.

The F2 calendar was flawed, with huge gaps between race weekends. After the first round in Bahrain at the end of March, there was a two-month wait until Monaco, with a similar gap between Silverstone in July and Monza this weekend. Teams then face another two month gap after Sochi before the last two rounds in Jeddah and Yas Marina. This led to complaints from many fans, who said the inconsistent spacing of races and more complicated qualifying format left them disinterested and disengaged from the series.

F3 has been luckier, with a more consistent approach of around a month between each event, and with the calendar spanning from May until the end of September rather than March until December.

Series boss Bruno Michel says pros and cons of the format and calendar have been identified and discussions for next year have begun with the FIA and Formula 1. A decision regarding the formats and the calendar is expected soon.

Logan Sargeant, Charouz Racing System and Jak Crawford, Hitech Grand Prix

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Michel has been quick to outline the benefits of the new system, which has seen F3 increase its visibility now it has a larger platform at F1 events, while he says fewer events has saved the teams money. But the teams say otherwise.

Rene Rosin is team principal of Prema Racing, the Italian powerhouse which has taken the teams' championship in both seasons of the modern F3 era, and also won the 2020 F2 title. The team currently leads both championships, with Oscar Piastri sitting atop the F2 standings while Dennis Hauger roars ahead more than 40 points in the lead in F3.

Speaking to Autosport, Rosin says although three races per weekend is “feasible on the edge” for F3, it is “way too much” in the more senior category. He also believes the new format “creates a bit of confusion” and makes it “difficult to understand how things are moving forward”.

Rosin added that the way the points are distributed is also unbalanced, and says the feature race prize should be more than the combined total of the sprint races.

“Honestly, I would prefer going back to two races, and a bit more rounds,” he says. “F3 is different, we are using the European season of Formula 1, so the gaps are not that massive. But if you look at F2, we are going from Silverstone to Monza two-and-a-half months. So that's quite bad.

"It has been very difficult to share personnel between both championships - we were only able to share one person during the whole season. In terms of budget, it has been more or less the same" Adrian Campos Jr

“The gaps are not helping at all. They're making people forget what happened the previous events, they're also making spectators not enjoy the continuity. There is quite a bit of loss of interest from my point of view, while if we're doing races more close to each other, it’s a bit better for the interaction with the fans. So this is something that should be taken into account.”

He added: “If you consider F1, this year, is doing 22 rounds because they dropped one. In F2 we have eight rounds and the drivers who want to step from Formula 2 to Formula 1 are missing nearly all the European races. So, they need the knowledge of the circuit from the feeder series and let them prepare in a high-performance car.

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“Now, we have nice races – we have Monaco, we have Abu Dhabi, we had Jeddah, we have Sochi. But on the other hand, we are missing Spa, we are missing important circuits for the drivers’ skills.”

Start action, Theo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix leads

On the money side of things, Rosin says that although logistics costs are lessened, the format means more spare parts are necessary: “To be fair, we have a reduction of cost of logistics, because we are in less places, that is true. But on the other hand, having three races means we need more spare parts.

“Also, because we need to be ready in case of a crash between race one and race two, and between race two and race three, to able to change parts and do stuff quickly. At the moment, we are analysing the data, we are doing the financial statement and mid-season report, and honestly, we only saw about the two races less logistics cost, which is not a big effect on the budget.”

Adrian Campos Jr, boss of the eponymous team founded by his late father Adrian Campos that also runs across both series, agrees that the three-race format is “very intense” and that any accidents make things more difficult for those in the garage. He also says the move has had little impact on budget for the Spanish outfit, with savings on travel “something small compared to the whole budget.”

“It's a lot more stressful, I have to say - three races during one weekend,” Campos tells Autosport. “And the negative things are that in the case of F2, having only eight races and so separate is something that the teams and drivers didn't like it too much, and I know they are pushing to see if this can change at some point.

“F3 is more or less the same. It's not so much difference of races, but I always like to have more weekends and go to more tracks, and not having only seven race meetings as we had this year.

“They did it at the beginning to try to share some personnel and this way try to save some budget, but at the end, these championships are so high level that you need to have personnel exclusively in each championship to be able to [perform].

“At the end it has been very difficult to share personnel between both championships - we were only able to share one person I think at the end during the whole season, and it's difficult to do it with more. In terms of budget, it has been more or less the same.”

Ralph Boschung, Campos Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Campos also agrees that the gaps in the calendar are an issue for the series, adding: “I have to be honest, personally, myself, I would prefer to be together again, F2 and F3. It’s less travel and it makes your life a bit easier.”

The data also suggests that the changes have done little to improve the on-track action, despite the reverse-grid qualifying system designed to make it more exciting and allow more midfielders a chance.

Examining the number of positions gained by each driver in F2 suggests the racing could even have been more exciting in 2020 – just four drivers have gained more than 30 positions across the season so far in 2021, compared to eight in 2020. Nobuharu Matsushita was the driver to gain the most positions last year with 60 overall, while in 2021, Lirim Zendeli has gained just 36 positions so far to take the same accolade.

Matsushita also gained the most positions in one race last year, starting 18th in the first race at Catalunya before moving up 17 places to take the win. Richard Verschoor climbed the same number in 2021, moving from P22 to P5 in the second sprint race in Bahrain.

"Now, we have nice races [in F2] – we have Monaco, we have Abu Dhabi, we had Jeddah, we have Sochi. But on the other hand, we are missing Spa, we are missing important circuits for the drivers’ skills"Rene Rosin

In 2020, Callum Ilott lost the most positions of any driver, dropping 35 places across the season, while so far this year Christian Lundgaard has conceded 19 so far.

It could be argued that the format change has worked better in that sense for F3.

In 2020, Bent Viscaal gained the most positions of any driver over the year, with a total of 56. But Arthur Leclerc has already smashed that record this season, despite having another round left to go, climbing 66 spots over the 18 races which have taken place.

Last year, two drivers gained 20 places apiece in separate races to make up the most spots in one race - Alexander Smolyar gained 20 positions in the second Hungaroring race, while Olli Caldwell gained the same number in the second Monza race.

Arthur Leclerc, Prema Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

In 2021, that figure was again beaten by Leclerc who gained 21 positions during the second sprint race at the Red Bull Ring, where he moved from 27th to sixth.

F3 has also seen a bigger impact on places lost overall – Logan Sargeant lost 30 last season, while David Schumacher has already dropped 60 with a round to go.

Many drivers also agree that the changes are flawed. Jack Doohan, who sits second in the F3 standings, says he would have preferred to keep the old format, as the new layout can put the top drivers at risk in the reverse-grid sprint race.

“I would have chosen the format from last year,” he said. “Only on the aspect that in all years previous, if it’s the feature race where it gets reversed to the sprint race, or this year where it’s qualifying reversed for sprint race one, where it was reversed, you would start in the points – they’d reverse the top 10 and you’d start 10th.

“If you’d start 10th and finish 10th you were still in the points. Whereas this year they reverse the top 12, but only the top 10 are in the points, so if you finished 12th you’d get no points but you’ve just qualified on pole.

“That’s one aspect which is a little difficult. And also then you’re a little further back, so you have the guys in 15th, 14th and 13th that are all doing their uttermost to get into the top 12, and they’re particularly going to be taking huge risks, because it changes their weekend completely starting from P13 or starting from pole, from just getting that one position, whereas we’re in a position where we’ve had a whole week to set-up and everything to lose.

“From a championship perspective, it doesn’t help. Definitely, it makes things a lot more risky, whereas last year and years previous, you had the feature race straight away, solid points in the bag, and then you had the sprint races where it was top eight and top 10, so no matter where you started there, you’re in the points.

Jack Doohan, Trident

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“With this format, you have the first two races on Saturday which can go really wrong and then leave a lot depending on Sunday, when in previous years you were able to have that promising first race where you start where you qualify from initially, and then make some adjustments for the second race.”

Doohan's ART rival Frederik Vesti says that although the new format does give more chances to drivers who might struggle with pace in qualifying, it is a “bit disturbing for the championship and the drivers – it’s a bit random sometimes”.

"It gives a chance to people who don’t qualify well in each round, which is in some ways good, but also a bit of a thing we need to think about in the future if it’s what we really want" Frederik Vesti

“It’s back and forth and if you have a bad race in race one, you will lose a lot in race one and two,” he says. “Some people are close in the top five because they’ve scored well in race one due to the reverse grid.

“I think it gives a chance to people who don’t qualify well in each round, which is in some ways good, but also a bit of a thing we need to think about in the future if it’s what we really want. But of course, it’s the guy who does the best job and wins the race on Sunday who most likely scores the most points, so it’s still the same.

“I think things could be improved for next year but we’ll see what happens.”

Now sitting at the halfway point in the F2 season, and with just one round left of F3 this year, all arrows point to another reform in the format. There is no reason why the two series need to stick to the same layout, but whatever happens, it is clear on all sides that something needs to change.

This experiment might have been worthwhile, but it could turn out to be short-lived after all.

Guanyu Zhou, Uni-Virtuosi Racing, Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing

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