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Formula 2 2024 season: Putting the focus on F2’s Mecachrome engines in Italy
by Samarth Kanal
5min read
The 2024 Italian Formula 2 round was characterised by changes to Monza and the first race with the low-downforce F2 package - while this high-speed track put the onus on the Mecachrome V6 engines.
Car, Future, Motor
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In this F2 report, we therefore look at those factors that shaped the weekend - and include an exclusive interview with Mecachrome CEO Christian Cornille as he explains how the supplier works to ensure reliability, performance, and parity.
On track, Prema’s Oliver Bearman emerged victorious in the Saturday sprint race and Invicta Racing’s Gabriele Bortoleto took a shock win in Sunday’s feature race.
Starting 22nd, Bortoleto enjoyed a great deal of fortune as the safety car was deployed early in the race, just after his rivals had pitted. This gave the Brazilian a prime window to take the mandatory pitstop and an estimated benefit of nine seconds when he traversed the pitlane - while his rivals had to slow down considerably to join the safety car.
Bortoleto also secured half a point in the sprint race after finishing in a dead heat with MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger for eighth.
Here are the key technical stories from the 11th round of the F2 season at Monza.
Invicta Racing driver Gabriele Bortoleto celebrates his feature race win at Monza, which moved him 10.5 points behind leader Isack Hadjar
The new surface at Monza appeared darker than before, with flatter kerbs and more gravel on the runoff areas at the first and second chicanes
How the new Monza surface affected the F2 weekend
Ahead of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend, the entire Monza track surface was resurfaced with the addition of narrow gravel strips and flatter entry kerbs in the runoff areas at the first and second chicanes.
The consequence of this was a smoother track surface; the bumps of Monza had been ironed out. Drivers generally appreciated this but some criticised the changes for doing away with the character of this historic circuit.
“Now it’s just like the other tracks. It’s good on one hand because there’s consistency but historic tracks have character, and this kind of takes away from it,” said sprint race winner Bearman.
Low-downforce F2 wing makes its debut
The new low-downforce F2 wing - with a significantly smaller plane for lower drag and higher speed - debuted at Spa-Francorchamps, but most teams refrained from using it there.
Instead, it was expected to make its first proper appearance in Italy. Indeed, every team utilised the new low-downforce rear wing.
With lower drag, teams benefited from higher top speeds and better acceleration, which was crucial at Monza where there are long straights.
Drivers generally felt that the low-downforce wing worked well at Monza and, as expected, the lower downforce at the rear of the car meant there was less load on the rear tyres and less grip - which meant more sliding and movement through corners and braking zones.
Hitech’s Paul Aron with the low-downforce rear wing on his car - characterised by the ‘peak’ at the middle and a much smaller plane
The current Mecachrome turbocharged V6 engine produces up to 620 horsepower. Image courtesy of FIA
How are F2 engines allocated - and how is reliability ensured?
Monza is a circuit on which F2 drivers spend around 80% of the lap on throttle, which means it’s very demanding on the engine.
The 3.4-litre turbocharged V6 power unit is provided by French manufacturer Mecachrome - which has supplied engines to the championship since it began.
We spoke to Mecachrome CEO Christian Cornille to find out how the supplier allocates engines to teams, and how it has addressed creeping reliability issues in recent years.
“Every year at the beginning of the season, the championship organiser allocates one or two engines to each team,” says Cornille. “And it's totally by chance. Some drivers keep the same engine throughout the year, covering 9,000 kilometres in a season without changing it.
“Sometimes, drivers request horsepower verification, and we do that whenever required. Each time we have a problem with an engine, we have people on-site at each track to help the team maintain the right level and verify the engine.”
The current engine is rated to 620 horsepower at 8,750 rpm and, if an engine is found to have a horsepower deficit compared to the benchmark, it is replaced.
“Last year, out of the 30 engines we produced for the season, we had two engines with a difference of two horsepower. We were obliged to change them because even for just one horsepower, we are obliged to change the engine and deliver another one,” says Cornille.
F2 drivers have always been vocal - within the rules of the championship - about reliability issues.
This year we’ve seen a few reliability problems pop up. For example, championship leader Isack Hadjar retiring from both Jeddah races when his car went into ‘safe mode’, while recently, in Belgium, his title rival Paul Aron bowed out with his car billowing smoke on the final lap of the feature race.
Cornille explains that 2022 was perhaps the most attritional year for F2, and those issues have mostly been ironed out.
“We had a difficult year in 2022, primarily due to issues with one supplier in the US who transferred their activity from one plant to another during the COVID period and made some big mistakes in the production of parts.
“It was a disaster for us because we faced many difficulties and many engine failures. Now, this is over,” he asserts.
“The level of reliability is quite good. Since the beginning of the year [to the end of the 2024 Belgian feature race], we've had four incidents overall, which is still too many because we aim for zero defects, but sometimes with suppliers, we can't foresee everything inside the parts. If a part doesn't meet the drawings, we could have some difficulties.”
F2 and F3 will meet the FIA’s 100% sustainable fuel standard from 2025 onwards
F2 cars cover more than 4,060 kilometres per season if they finish every race - and F2 engines are designed to cover more than double that mileage
The Mecachrome CEO adds that his firm has done a “tremendous job” in working with the FIA and Aramco's fuel that complies with the FIA’s 100% sustainable fuel standard.
“At the end of the day, I believe Mecachrome has not disadvantaged any driver. We try our best to deliver the same engine to all drivers with very narrow performance margins, and I think we did a tremendous job in achieving that,” he says.
The F2 engine is built to cover more than 9,000 kilometres, more than double the race distance, over a season, and Cornille says numerous drivers keep the same engine throughout the year, with Mecachrome constantly verifying their powerplants’ horsepower outputs.
Now, Mecachrome has to implement its engine into the next-generation of F3 car - a process with a very short turnaround as the first F3 cars will be delivered to teams by December 2024.
“We had some difficulties integrating our engine into the new [F2] car, but we succeeded. We did a very good job with the chassis, and we have a good partnership with Dallara,” says Cornille.
Of course, Mecachrome has to support its current engines while ensuring the new F3 engine can be packaged within the new car - while also meeting the FIA’s 100% sustainable fuel standard.
With Azerbaijan, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi concluding the 2024 F2 season, for now Mecachrome must ensure its engines can withstand the high-speed challenges to come.