Barcelona Preview: A return to familiar surroundings

Round 6 of this fascinating 2024 Formula 2 season takes place around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the drivers and their teams hoping to make the perfect start to the upcoming triple-header.
Coming off the back of the Monte Carlo race weekend, Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron is the new Drivers’ Championship leader, while Campos Racing top the Teams’ Standings.
But as they head to a venue where they had three days of in-season testing earlier this year, who will come out on top? Here is all you need to know…
FORM BOOK
With five podiums in the first five rounds, Hitech Pulse-Eight rookie Aron leads the way at the top of the Standings with 80 points – two ahead of Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar.
The Frenchman and Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney have the most wins so far this year with two a piece, but the Bajan driver is now third in the Championship after taking just one point from Monte Carlo.
Fresh from their podiums in the Sprint Race last time out, MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger and Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto round out the top five.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli is sixth for PREMA Racing just ahead of Zak O’Sullivan. The ART Grand Prix driver comes into the weekend fresh from his first Formula 2 victory in the Monte Carlo Feature Race.
In terms of the Teams’ Standings, the top five are separated by just 20 points. Campos sit atop the leaderboard with 104 points, nine more than Hitech in second, while MP are a further point behind in third.
Rodin are fourth with 85 points, while Invicta trail them by just one point in fifth. Last year’s top two PREMA and ART are sixth and seventh respectively and will no doubt be looking to close the gap to the top five.
FROM THE GRID – Kush Maini, Invicta Racing
“I think it’s a great test track, when you come through junior formulas you drive a lot in Barcelona, so it’s a track I think every driver knows it quite well. It’s a track you’re comfortable with, so for the first time in the car it’s an easy track to get to grips with. Obviously, I was with a Spanish team last year, so I lived in Spain, so Spain is always close to my heart, I really like the place.
“Overtaking is a bit more difficult than other circuits, but I think now with the last sector how it is, it’s quite fun, with the two high speed corners at the end it makes it quite physical as well, so I think if you get a good run out at the last corner, Turn 1 is a great opportunity. But it’s a track where you have to look after your tyres and try and attack at the end of the race when others are struggling.
WHERE TO WATCH US?
“I think obviously the option doesn’t last very long so you have to really look after them in your first stint on high fuel in the Feature race if you use that strategy. I remember last year I didn’t have any tyres left in the race, so that’s a learning point for me. So, going forward I am going to use that to try and not make the same mistake this year.
“I always hope to get pole, I think that’s a great thing to achieve in F2 with a Championship this competitive and a Feature Race win I think that’s where the big points are, so that’s a dream weekend.”
TECHNICAL PREVIEW
There are plenty of factors for the teams and the drivers to take into consideration this weekend, the first being the downforce levels. There is a long main straight, but the circuit is filled with tight and twisty sections and even though some are fast paced, the teams are likely to choose between a medium to high downforce setup.
The recent move to the high-speed corners that round out the lap will also be considered, but mostly for how much strain they will put on the tyres. On a track with a rough surface, tyre management will be key and could be the difference between a victory and being out of the points all together.
RACE STRATEGY
Pirelli will bring to the teams the same set of white-painted Hard tyres and the red-walled Softs that they ran during in-season testing in Barcelona in April and last year’s race weekend.
Last season’s winning strategy saw Oliver Bearman starting on the Softs before going long until the end on the Hards. However, others were able to make the alternate plan work with Victor Martins able to go long on the harder compound before switching on to the softer rubber late on to go from P7 to third.
Gareth Haynes, F2/F3 Pirelli Trackside Engineer
“The Hard should be the best tyre for Saturday’s Sprint race, but drivers will still have to keep an eye out for degradation across the front axle. As for the Feature Race, on paper, the best strategy would be to start on the Hard before switching to the Soft, but we actually expect the softer compound will be the favourite for the start. The Soft has proved to be pretty consistent and could even manage a relatively long first stint, allowing drivers to make the most of having more grip at the start and then maybe benefit from any eventual safety car appearance after lap six, to lose as little time as possible when changing tyres. So, there could be a mix of strategies which would inject some extra excitement into the race.”
STAT PACK