Event

Formula 2 2024 season: How track conditions affected the F2 result in Australia

by Samarth Kanal

5min read

RaceTeq delivers in-depth Formula 2 technology reports from every round of the 2024 championship, delving into the factors that ultimately decide victory. 

The third round of the season was held in Australia, where track conditions and reliability shaped the result.

Why did Dennis Hauger’s weekend end with a crash on Sunday?

There was plenty of rubber laid onto the track with Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Australian Supercars, Porsche Carrera Cup and a couple of demonstration vehicles taking to Albert Park over the 2024 Australian Grand Prix weekend. 

That extra rubber should have made for better grip around Albert Park, which is a street circuit with several tricky high and medium-speed corners and a relative lack of run-off area. 

This weekend, however, a few incidents caught drivers out, not just in F2, but F1: Mercedes driver George Russell’s accident towards the end of Sunday’s Grand Prix made headlines as he hit the barriers at Turns 6 and 7.

In F2, MP Motorsport driver Dennis Hauger was caught out at the very same complex of corners when, just after exiting the pits, he locked up and hit the barriers at the end of the feature race on Sunday – ending his chase for a podium and potential victory. 

Why were conditions so tough at Melbourne, and what was the cause of Hauger’s race-changing crash? 

continues below

Paul Aron (left), Isack Hadjar (centre) and Zane Maloney (R) on the podium in Melbourne

Championship leader Zane Maloney, who finished third in the feature race, explained: “It was so cold… the [feature] race was four hours earlier than yesterday [during the sprint race]. I said like five times on the radio just on the reconnaissance laps to the grid that this race, if there’s one for chaos, this is the one.”

Maloney sympathised with Hauger as he went on to explain that it was difficult to get the Pirelli prime tyres (medium compounds in Australia) up to temperature towards the end of the feature race given air temperature was relatively low, at 18 degrees Celsius. If the tyres don't get up to the adequate temperature – their working window – then they will be much stiffer and offer less grip. 

Paul Aron, who finished second in the feature race, added that wind wasn’t the cause of the crash. He said: “The wind was strong but I think Dennis’s crash wasn't due to the wind like Zane said; it was really hard to get tyre temperature, especially on the mediums. Going out of the pit lane, it took some time. I saw him locking up into Turn 6 and then he just went off.”

Aron said he was aware that he had to be cautious warming up new tyres on the Albert Park surface having pitted for soft tyres late in the previous day’s sprint race. He immediately felt the effect of the cold conditions in the pitlane.


“But I think this is what Formula 2 is about and, in a sense, if you get it right, it's really fun."

Hauger’s team MP Motorsport concurred with the F2 drivers’ comments as it said cold tyres were to blame for the Norwegian driver’s race-ending crash. 

Pepe Marti said it was “exceptional” that Campos had experienced numerous reliability issues in Saudi Arabia

Reliability issues begin to sting

 
The new Formula 2 car retains the same Mecachrome V6 engine and Hewland six-speed gearbox as in previous seasons, and teams have experienced reliability issues this season. 
 
Campos’s weekend in Saudi Arabia was hampered as Isack Hadjar’s car went into ‘safe mode’, which limits the engine RPM to avoid damage, during both races – while Pepe Marti’s drag reduction system (DRS) failed to work during the feature race at Jeddah. 
 
“I don’t mean to put the blame on anyone else, but my team, we were checking statistical data: I think they had zero mechanical failures since 2019, so to have three problems engine-wise in a week and one DRS problem in a weekend is to me, exceptional,” said Marti.

To have three problems engine-wise in a week and one DRS problem in a weekend is to me, exceptional

Pepe Marti

, Campos Racing

Car, Innovation, Power, Event

Formula 2 2024 season: Bahrain kicks off a new era

“I’m not putting the blame on anyone else but it’s a new car, so there are going to be things that are going to have to be restructured or replaced – how often do we get F1 teams that go out on track and they’re like ‘oh we have an overheating issue, it’s 95 degrees over target temperature’ – so that’s going to happen every so often. 

“My team is trying its best to work around and understand what the source of the problem is. You try to inform Mecachrome, you try to inform Dallara as quick as possible so they can also work on it if it’s their part of the problem, and if it’s our part of the problem then my engineers have been working nonstop since Jeddah. 

“We have to trust them a lot and we go out on the track we expect [something]… [but] it’s not like that. To have that confidence that everything is working fine. Sometimes that’s the case and sometimes it won’t be. From my side I’m not concerned; I know the team are great mechanics, great engineers...

In Melbourne, there were eight retirements during the two races but all of them were down to on-track accidents. Prema’s Oliver Bearman however fell to 16th in qualifying due to an undisclosed technical issue.

Related articles

Car, Innovation, Power, Event

Formula 2 2024 season: Bahrain kicks off a new era

Motor, Innovation

From brutality to efficiency 
– how the F1 turbo engine evolved

Event

2024 Formula 1 World Championship drivers' and constructors' standings

Are you getting the latest in-depth tech insights, articles and reviews?

Sign up for a weekly newsletter and we'll make sure you're fully up-to-date in the world of race technology

By signing up, I acknowledge that I have read and understood the content of the RaceTeq Terms & Conditions

Motorsport technology uncovered. Features, news and interviews on the latest innovations in Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, Le Mans, Dakar, and Goodwood.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • All Content © RaceTeq 2024
  • All Rights Reserved