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The entire three-day F1 weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) will be packed with plenty of excitement as the Formula 2 season kicks off and the 2020-21 season of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East (PSCME) comes to a close.
F2 is widely accepted to be F1’s leading feeder category, with many of its top drivers graduating to even greater success in the top flight.
This year’s F1 rookies, AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda as well as Haas drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, all raced in the F2 support races in November and December last year.
“F2 drivers and teams are fresh off after pre-season testing at BIC, which was their first and only chance to get a good indication of where their 2021 challengers are ahead of the new campaign, which is set to be different from past years,” a BIC spokesperson said, in a statement.
“From 2021, each F2 event will comprise three races instead of two. A pair of sprint races will now take place on the Saturday of each weekend and will both consist of 120km or 45 minutes, whichever comes first.
“The Feature Race will then take place on Sunday morning ahead of the F1 Grand Prix. It will remain over 170km or more than an hour long, whichever comes first, and will keep a compulsory pit stop, in which all four tyres must be changed.”
Drivers are not the only ones who may be jumping from F2 to F1 – as the idea of sprint races is being floated around F1 paddocks, with active support from some of the top team principals.
Mattia Binotto, Ferrari’s F1 chief, has endorsed the idea and revealed that sprint qualifiers may be tested out this year at certain race weekends.
“By having a little race on Saturday, we will have a large increase in audiences,” added Toto Wolff, Mercedes team boss.
“I’ve seen it in DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters), in touring cars that we were almost able to double the TV audiences with a second race.
“I think if done in a responsible way at tracks that you can overtake without putting too many gimmicks to it – reverse grid is absolutely something we wouldn’t support – I think we should give it a go and be really honest with ourselves.”
In addition, the PSCME, based at BIC, offers the region’s home-grown driving talent an opportunity to realise their racing potential while enhancing personal circuit experience.
It features the region’s leading drivers, all competing in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The season finale will be staged in support of the F1 Grand-Prix.
The first two rounds of the season were also held at BIC, both supporting Bahrain’s F1 double-header last year. Two more races are to be held, each over 17 laps, with the first on the Saturday of the weekend followed by the second on Sunday.
The second sprint will be a memorial race dedicated to Austrian motorsport legend, the late Walter Lechner, “who was a great friend to BIC and the Bahraini motorsport community, having established the championship in 2009.”
Lechner passed away in December last year.
Races and practice sessions for both F2 and the PSCME will kick off on Friday and run till Sunday.
l For a detailed schedule, turn to Pages 4 and 5.
