Photo: FIA
Formula 2’s sprint race in Melbourne was “processional”, with few battles for position either side of virtual and real safety car periods.
Hitech GP’s Luke Browning had to settle for finishing third, the same place he had started from, as overtaking opportunities never opened up for him as the drivers ahead did not make mistakes he could capitalise on.
He ended every green flag lap within DRS range of Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli, but he never had a proper chance to launch an attack. The closest he came was at turn three as lap three’s VSC period ended, but he was still far from making a move.
“There’s not a whole lot I could do, unfortunately, to overtake today,” Browning said. “It was quite processional up and down the grid unfortunately, but that is just the nature of drivers not making big mistakes and the standard of F2 right now is super high.
“It was tough to overtake today, but equally I think the pace was super strong. It makes a big difference following cars around here with the overheating. And I was right behind Leo for a lot of the time, so I think if I’m unleashed tomorrow, I could have a good race pace.”
Drivers could assess how quickly they got their tyres up to temperature following restarts, but with the longest uninterrupted run of green flag action being seven laps there was inadequate data to make accurate statements on race pace.
Despite the overtaking difficulties that may remain, Browning is committed to move forward from sixth on the grid in the feature race and does not rule out winning it after Isack Hadjar was victorious in it from eighth last year.
“It’s close. Anything’s possible. It’s F2,” he mused. “The feature race is the exciting one, so anything’s possible. I think the pace is good, but equally it’s very much in the forefront of my mind that I want to make no mistakes this year, and taking home some good points finishes in the first half of the year is the goal.”
Fornaroli embraced second place as a reassuring result after having “a lot of doubts this winter” ahead of his first F2 season.
“I’m happy with the result,” he stated after finishing runner-up from reversed-grid pole. “Unfortunately, I lost the lead before T1. Then I tried in all the ways to retake that P1, but we lacked a bit of pace today. But still, first race with Invicta, podium, so happy about today.”
Had he kept the lead at the start, the safety car interruptions may have given Fornaroli a chance to fend off the superior pace of AIX Racing’s race-winner Joshua Duerksen like he did with Browning. However, he still felt “it was going to be difficult because he was really quick today”.