Breaking news
FIA F2
F2 start issues now "history", claims Whiting
The FIA’s Charlie Whiting says the Formula 2 start issues which have plagued the series' new car as "history", after no stalls in two races in Hungary last weekend.
Jack Benyon Adam Cooper
Edited: Jul 31, 2018, 4:53 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
F2's new-for-2018 car has suffered clutch problems since the start of the year, as well as reliability issues relating to the turbocharged Mecachrome engine.
The number of drivers stalling on the grid in the early rounds prompted the FIA to introduce rolling starts on safety grounds for the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone races.
But last weekend in Budapest, where standing starts were used again following clutch and engine fixes, the series had two trouble-free getaways, despite stalls in practice and qualifying.
“I think we’ve overcome that problem now,” said Whiting after Sunday’s sprint race. “I was completely confident we can do a standing start, whether drivers make mistakes, we can’t prevent that.
“We saw two clean starts, I don’t think we need to discuss that more. It’s history. I think the changes that have been made to the engines, clutch control and the clutch itself appear to have worked.”
F2 was hamstrung by poor weather at the beginning of the year, affecting its ability to test, and series boss Bruno Michel says the start fixes are the result of continued work done across the season.
“It’s a result of a lot of hard work,” Michel told Motorsport.com. “There’s been massive improvement, we’ve noticed it and the teams have noticed it. When it’s a new car sometimes it takes a little bit of time.
“Our car is very complex and what you have to keep in mind all the time is we are supplying a car that is almost performing like Formula 1 but with one hundredth of what F1 costs.
“It’s getting more complex, there’s more electronics, the turbo, the technology is evolving a lot.
“This car is much more evolved than the previous one, it’s a massive change. Dallara, Mecachrome and [gearbox supplier] Hewland have all had to work together to make it work."
The series has made software changes throughout the season in a bid to combat some of its issues, but Budapest was the first venue at which new parts were introduced.
“We did a physical change on the clutch, we have a new clutch basket with a new diaphragm, which means less friction,” said F2 technical boss Didier Perrin. “That’s better for the clutch control.
“The second change we’ve made is to the engine mapping, the engine delivers more torque at the precise bite point.
“On top of that we have provided to the team a new clutch control setting which is precisely set to match the new clutch basket.
“The improvement is clear and the feedback from the teams is positive.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Fuoco labels F2 grid penalty a "joke"
Next article Merhi replaced by Boccolacci in MP F2 line-up
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jack Benyon
Aitken, Samaia make up Campos' F2 line-up
FIA F2
FIA F2
Aitken, Samaia make up Campos' F2 line-up
DiBenedetto intends to “turn heads” with Wood Brothers
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
DiBenedetto intends to “turn heads” with Wood Brothers
Tanak "learned a very good lesson" from Monte crash
WRC
WRC
Tanak "learned a very good lesson" from Monte crash
Latest news
F1 Mexico GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
F1 Mexico GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Unwell Kimi Antonelli skips F1 Mexico GP media day
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Unwell Kimi Antonelli skips F1 Mexico GP media day
Adding a stage, fuel cell mod all on table to fix superspeedway fuel saving
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Adding a stage, fuel cell mod all on table to fix superspeedway fuel saving
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC WEC 3 h
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe