A trip into the unknown for Formula 2 as Saudi Arabia plays host to the penultimate round of the season

Formula 2 travel to the Middle East for the final two rounds of the 2021 season with the brand new Jeddah Street Circuit welcoming the teams, drivers and fans for the first time.

After another long break, it is time to end the brilliant F2 campaign on a high as Saudi Arabia’s new track begins a season finale doubleheader.

Oscar Piastri after an impressive first six rounds of the season sees himself leading the way in the drivers’ championship with fellow Alpine academy driver Guanyu Zhou in second place, 36 points behind the Aussie in the standings.

Last time out in Russia, the weekend structure was chaotic as the weather played a massive part in seeing the second Sprint Race being cancelled.

Qualifying was run in dry conditions and it was the dominant Piastri who claimed pole position for the Feature Race on Sunday.

The first Sprint Race was won by Dan Ticktum as the Brit secured more important points as he looked to make a late surge up the drivers’ standings.

However, the most important race of the weekend and the one that handed the most points saw the championship-leading Piastri cross the line first.

The Aussie was joined on the podium by Theo Pourchaire in second and Jehan Daruvala in third, but most importantly, his closest rival in the standings, Guanyu Zhou, could only score eight points all weekend.

Jeddah Street Circuit will bring a new challenge for the drivers as they will be testing the track out for the first time since its opening.

There will also be a few new faces on the Formula 2 grid as Clement Novalak, Jack Doohan, Olli Caldwell and Logan Sargeant make their second-tier debuts.

Novalak, after a very successful Formula 3 campaign where he finished third in the final standings, replaces Lirim Zendeli at MP Motorsport and will race the final two rounds of this season alongside the whole 2022 campaign.

This will help the Frenchman a lot as he’ll be able to get a taste of the F2 machinery during a race weekend before his debut season in the category next year.

Doohan joins Novalak at MP Motorsport as the two teammates from Formula 3’s Trident team join forces once more. The F3 runner-up battled hard with eventual champion Dennis Hauger and will look to prove a point to potential teams in the paddock ahead of the new season.

Moving onto Caldwell who had a respectable season in Formula 3 as the Brit placed eighth in the drivers’ championship. It all fell apart for him at the back end of the season but he’ll be looking to right the wrongs in the final two rounds of the F2 season as he replaces David Beckmann at Campos Racing.

Sargeant is the final driver announcement ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the American hops into the HWA Racelab in the place of Jake Hughes. After making the switch from Prema to Charouz Racing, he scored over 100 points to finish seventh in the standings.

This weekend in Saudi Arabia will either be fantastic or complete chaos as a new circuit awaits the talented young drivers.

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