Formula 2 reaches its climax as title-contention intensifies going into the last two rounds of the calendar

We are nearing the end of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, yet the title race goes on with four races and two Bahrain events to go.

The first Bahrain race will take place this Saturday, 28th November, with qualifying on Friday 27th November to determine the grid for the Feature Race.

Just 51 points separate the top six and we will look at each driver’s season and the numbers that they take into the final four races of the season.

1st- Mick Schumacher- Prema Racing

Credit: F2

The current Championship leader has had a fantastic year in Formula 2 and has a 22 point gap ahead of the UNI-Virtuosi driver in Callum Ilott.

The son of seven-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher qualified in fifth for the Feature Race but was unable to convert his good grid position into points. He went onto score points in the Sprint Race with a seventh-place finish.

The second weekend at the Austrian Red Bull Ring was better than the previous weekend. A ninth place in qualifying allowed the German to race up to fourth in the Feature Race. He failed to end the Sprint Race and only gained 12 points from that weekend.

He displayed pure class in Hungary. Qualifying in fifth for the first race of the weekend saw him take his first F2 podium as he followed with another podium in the Sprint Race and an extra 25 points added to his Championship tally.

An awful weekend in Silverstone saw him qualify third which was the only positive of that weekend. He managed to secure himself two points with a ninth-place finish in Feature Race but finished out of the points in the Sprint Race.

The second weekend at Silverstone was better for the Prema Racing driver. Qualifying eighth on the grid for the first race of the weekend, he managed to gain one position at finish seventh. In the second race, he finished an excellent second as he secured his third podium of the season and 20 points from that weekend.

In the following six races, he was on the podium five out of the six times and scored his first F2 win at Monza as he continued to charge for the Championship.

Mugello saw him rescue his title hopes well as he was only able to qualify P15 for the Feature Race. He rescued a fifth-place finish and followed up with a fourth-place finish in the Sprint Race.

Sochi saw Schumacher win for the second time this season as he sprung to the top of the Championship. He managed third in the Feature Race which shows how much he wants that Championship.

2nd- Callum Ilott- UNI-Virtuosi Racing

Credit: F2

Ilott has had a bit of a wobble recently, but no one can take it away from him that he has a very good chance of taking the Championship being only a race win behind Schumacher in the Championship.

The first race of the season and it was a win for Ilott from third on the grid. He didn’t manage to score points in the Sprint Race that weekend.

Moving onto the second weekend in Austria and he qualified third yet again. Two P5 finishes followed as he added 16 points to his Championship dreams.

Hungary handed the UNI-Virtuosi driver his first pole position of the season ahead of the Feature Race, but he was unable to convert that pole to a win as he finished in eighth. A reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race gave him another chance at a win, but he finished second in that race.

Two home Grand Prix weekends followed for the Ferrari Academy driver. A fifth-place finish in the first weekend’s Feature Race were the only points scored that weekend as he failed to finish the Sprint Race.

A P1 qualifying followed the next weekend as he converted pole into a win and then took a P6 finish in the Sprint Race.

It took Ilott until Monza to get back onto the podium. The Sprint Race was initially won by Dan Ticktum, but he was disqualified due to a fuel related issue and Ilott was promoted to first.

Sochi’s Feature Race he scored a third-place finish which has left the Brit 22 points behind Mick Schumacher in the driver’s standings.

3rd- Yuki Tsunoda- Carlin

Credit: F2

The Red Bull backed driver is currently third in the Championship on 147 points, 22 points behind Ilott and 44 behind leader Schumacher.

The quicker we glance over the first weekend in Austria the better. P12 in qualifying was followed by P18 in the Feature Race and P11 in the Sprint Race meant that he took no points that weekend.

A first pole position in the second weekend in Austria turned into a podium, but not on the top step and it was second for Tsunoda. He didn’t finish the Sprint Race that weekend.

Budapest was awful for the Carlin driver. 14th in qualifying, 16th in the Feature Race and 18th in the Sprint Race was another weekend to learn from for the Japanese driver.

Third place at Silverstone was followed by a first race win the following weekend in the Sprint Race which topped his two weeks in the UK.

Two consecutive fourth-place finishes ultimately frustrated Tsunoda as he took pole in Spa and converted that pole into his second race win of the season.

Monza treated Tsunoda to a P2 grid start as he just missed out on the podium and finished fourth. Mugello another learning curve weekend that saw him score no points.

A third pole position in Sochi saw him finish second and sixth in the two races before the F2 stopped for a two-month break ahead of the final races in Bahrain.

4th- Christian Lundgaard- ART Grand Prix

Credit: F2

The 19-year-old Danish driver has had a very good rookie season and is only two points behind Tsunoda the highest-placed rookie this season. So far he has collected 145 points and is 46 points behind Schumacher.

The first weekend in Austria saw the ART driver finish consistently. Fourth in qualifying turned in a fourth-place finish in the Feature Race and he finished fifth in the Sprint Race.

He won his first race of the season at the Red Bull Ring the following weekend in the Sprint Race. That weekend saw the score 25 points.

Budapest saw him fail to score points, but he returned with a bang at Silverstone. The first weekend saw him finish fourth in the Feature Race and second in the Sprint Race. A P2 grid start for the Feature Race enabled Lundgaard to get a podium again and another second-place, but a wobble in the Sprint Race saw him affected ever so slightly.

He failed to score points in Barcelona with two P11 finishes and in Spa he only scored two points as he finished seventh in the Sprint Race.

Two races in Italy followed, Monza and Mugello. Three podiums in four races put the Dane back on track as he looked to revive his Championship hopes.

Sochi saw another no points show for Lundgaard, but he will hope to dust the cobwebs off ahead of Bahrain and sprint for the finish line.

5th- Robert Shwartzman- Prema Racing

Credit: F2

The master of the so-called comeback racing. Shwartzman is another rookie that has had a fantastic season and deserves to be near the elites this season. Currently, he sits in fifth in the driver’s standings and is 51 points behind Schumacher on 140 points.

Two weeks in Austria saw him finish third and fourth in Week One and he took his first race win this season in the second week at the Red Bull Ring having qualified on the third-row in sixth.

Masterclass showing in Budapest saw the Russian start in 11th for the Feature Race and he managed to get himself all the way up to first place by the end. He topped off his weekend by narrowly missing the podium with a fourth-place finish in the Sprint Race.

Two weeks of the Silverstone track followed for the rookie as he only managed four points from four races which was an eighth-place finish in the second Feature Race of Silverstone.

Shwartzman qualified in second ahead of the Spanish Feature Race and held onto that second place as the chaotic race enabled him to claim his fourth podium finish.

That magic followed him to Spa as he took his third and final race win up to this point in a Sprint Race that he finished ahead of teammate and Championship rival Schumacher.

The next three races haven’t really gone to plan for the 21-year-old. Mugello saw him finish ninth in the Feature Race and fifth in the Sprint Race scoring him eight points.

Those eight points that weekend have been the last points he has scored up to now and he will be desperate to turn it around with a Bahrain masterclass that will propel him up the standings.

6th- Nikita Mazepin- Hitech Grand Prix

Credit: F2

Shwartzman’s compatriot, Mazepin is level on points with his fellow countrymen, but the three race wins puts the rookie ahead of the Hitech driver. Mazepin is also on 140 points which means he’s 51 points behind standings leader Schumacher.

He only managed one point from his opening four races in Austria which showed that Mazepin had a lot of hard work to put in until he was title-worthy.

P16 in qualifying for the Hungarian Feature Race showed that he still has a lot to learn, but a charge from 16th to second saw what the Russian is made of. He finished fifth in the Sprint Race as he secured 26 points from that weekend.

Mazepin managed to move one step better at Silverstone as he secured his first win at the first weekend in Britain. In total, he scored 44 points over the two weekends at Silverstone which really propelled his chances.

Spain didn’t treat him well only scoring four points as he hit back in Spa. He qualified in second and finished second in the Feature Race after a time-penalty cost him the race. In the Sprint Race, he narrowly missed on the podium as he finished fourth.

The first weekend in Italy he only scored one point with an eighth-place in the Feature Race. Mugello was a completely different story. A P14 to P1 charge happened in the Feature Race as he claimed his second F2 victory.

He scored a P2 last race in Sochi which was a fantastic result and especially at his home race which hopefully put Mazepin on the right track to get his killer instinct and drive his socks off.

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