George Russell addresses the ‘difficult’ issue that Formula 2 drivers face

Russell speaks up about the ‘technical’ differences and the ‘lack’ of data in F2

The majority of the F1 grid participated in F2 before making the jump to the pinnacle of motorsports. Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri are among those who have won the F2 championship and now race full-time in F1. F2 helps young drivers learn to develop their racing style and also supports F1 around 14 races during the year, this is to prepare them for the full-length 22 (all depending) races a year.

However, when moving up there are a variety of differences. The first obvious one being the aerodynamics (F2 being smaller and simpler) and the fact F2 is a spec series. F2 cars all run on the same Dallara chassis and the only difference in teams is the driver and the cars set-up. F1 on the other hand is a car built from scratch and has over 14,500 parts.

The other main difference is the speed that these cars can go at, F2 cars are capable of going up to 200mph (320 km/h) and 600 horsepower. When compared to an F1 car there is a clear difference with F1 cars able to go up to 230mph (370 km/h) and has 1000 horsepower.

George Russell gives his opinion

George Russell spoke about what that jump from F2 to F1 felt like and how he thinks the lack of data is ‘difficult’ for drivers to settle into the grid when they take that leap.

“It’s definitely a huge step in terms of speed, But I think the biggest shock for me in getting to Formula 1 was on the technical front.

“You are dealing so much with all of the data in front of you, understanding the tyres, the tyre prep, the bulk temperature, surface temperature, all of those things that you had no idea about in Formula 2, because the information just purely wasn’t there. [I have] mixed feelings about the lack of data in F2, whether that’s a good thing or not,”

“But I think I would like to see those guys get the chance to have some of the sensors that we have in Formula 1 because, we know in Formula 1, a driver could be half a second a lap quicker, purely by getting the tyres in the right window or not.

“In Formula 2, with such limited track time – I wouldn’t say you were necessarily guessing, but you don’t really have that chance to learn and know exactly what’s needed for each situation. So that’s certainly difficult for F2 drivers.”